George P. Marsh, in a lecture on the English language, said that “_redness_ is the name of a color,” and John Stuart Mill made a similar assertion about _whiteness_ in his book on “Logic.” Very little thought is necessary for the decision that neither _redness_ nor _whiteness_ is the name of a color, though each of the words includes such a name.
It is not fashionable nowadays to conclude with a moral, but this occasion is especially enticing, and here is the moral: Every proof-reader who cares for real success in his profession should cultivate the thinking habit, and learn not to jump to a conclusion.
Strictly speaking, the responsibility of a proof-reader, on any kind of work, should be very narrowly defined. In an ideal state of affairs it would never go beyond close following of copy in every detail. Even that is by no means always easy, and for a reason that should cause writers to be very lenient with proof-readers. This reason is that writers make much manuscript that is almost positively illegible, and are often careless in many details that should be closely attended to in the writing. But, since there is little ground for hoping that writers will ever generally produce copy that can be reproduced exactly, the question remains open, How much responsibility must the proof-reader assume?
A good illustration of the legal aspect of this question is found in Benjamin Drew’s book, “Pens and Types,” published in its second edition in 1889, as follows: “In an action brought against the proprietor of Lloyd’s paper, in London, for damages for not inserting a newspaper advertisement correctly, the verdict was for the defendant, by reason of the illegibility of the writing.”
“Illegibility of the writing” is a more serious stumbling-block even than most writers know it to be, although many writers do know that they are great sinners in this matter. Notwithstanding the fact that it has been a subject of wide discussion, much more might profitably be said about it, and it would be a great boon to printers if somebody could devise a way of instituting a practical reform in the handwriting of authors, editors, and reporters; but the incessant necessity of deciphering what is almost undecipherable is our immediately practical concern just now. What should be the limit of the proof-reader’s responsibility here?