Carry On, Margaret

M.E.I. contributes the following to the discourse:

A paragraph about publishers from Carry on Jeeves by Wodehouse:

I always used to think that publishers had to be devilishly intelligent fellows, loaded down the the grey matter; but I've got their numbers now. All a publisher has to do is to write checques at intervals, while a lot of deserving and industrious chappies rally round and do the real work. I know, because I've been one myself. I simply sat tight in the old flat with a fountain-pen, and in due season a topping, shiny book came along.

I'm really fond of this Penguin edition. It's the first long text I've read set ragged right that wasn't a design book. You can't see in the Amazon shot but the headers have a 1/2 pt rule the length of a text block below the head. The verso head is set left aligned too, about a pica in from the margin, OS page numbers (foot) set to the left as well. I like the contents page (subtle, legible) and full title. The text is Monotype Trump, which I'm not familiar with, but is reading well. Aside from some new line mistakes on the "Other Penguin Titles by PG W." page, a spiffy series design.

That crazy "Murder in Manolo" SOHO author ought to consider ragged right text for all her dialogue/brand name-heavy books. I'm at a loss as to what other types of text would be well-suited for ragged right, though. I like the rag better with this small trim (4" x 7") than if it was set in a traditional trade pb size. I don't know if smaller overall trim makes any "different" kind of design element more tolerable (perhaps), but the rag does seem to create the illusion of more space (breathing room) on what might've been an overwhelming page if set full just. YMMV.

. . .

I think a sequel to the Guinea pig book would be a great Production Meeting project. The Care and Feeding of Typesetters (like the "Move the Figs" rant from last night, but with marker illustration and gratuitous use of the phrase "I am just telling you").

I am all for it, as long as in the feature-length film of The Care and Feeding of Typesetters, the narrator will be played by Hütz.