The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-31

new novel, Evelyn lnnes, that IN IL ne
follows too devotedly the manner of Bal
zac. There is not much in the objection,
perhaps. but undoubtedly, Mr.. Moore does
in some measure hold Balzac for his mas
ter. He has, it seems, even adopted some
thing of Balzacs way of producing
COPY" He writes his novel out first as
a short story, and then expands it, This
was precisely Balzacs method; only Bal
FAC did what, 1 presume, in this day Of
typographical unions and printers conve-
nience would be permitted 10 no author,
however autocrauc-he made the expan-
sion entirely in the proofs. Thus story
that in its first form came within the linn
its of a galley, would, under Balzacs in
sertions, written on the margins of the
successive proofs, grow into a tale of 300
pages. Lines started from the begin
ming. middle, or end of sentences" The
ophile Gautier tells US, land made their
way to the margins on the right or left or
top or bottom, leading 10 applications,
Insertions, de,euons, epithets and adverbs
After some hours work the paper might
have been taken for a drawing of fire.
works by child Rockets, darling from
the original text, exploded on all sides.
Then there were crosses-simple crosses,
crosses recrossed. Strips of paper
fastened on by waters or pins, We're added
to the insufficient margins, and were ray
ed with lines of writing, very fine, to save
room, and full themselves of erasures."
Even Balzac did not secure this license
of correction without in a way paying for
it. He was in endless quarrel with pun
fishers and editors and one of his pub
fishers says that at the bottom of It all
was 1.-THE enormous costs of correction
that publishers and editors had 10 pay on
his account.
Mr.. Kipling has something Of the Bal
Zacian disregard of the cost OF printers
10 ID for
the major portion of a story in the proofs,
as Balzac did; but still he must see his
stories, and even his poems, in type be-
fore he can decide how to finish them
Captains Courageous" happen to know.
first went to the printers in what il Is
scarcely too much to say was the merest
rough draft in comparison with the story
as it finally appeared Mr.. Kiplng's cor
rections however, are usually Of a kind
that II Is easy to make. The proofs NAV
be black with them; and they may. at
first view, in their profusion and the fine
ness of the hand In which they are pen
red, send the printers heart into his very
boots. But on inspection they prove, as a
rule, easy to read and not difficult TO
make; they rarely compel any costly run
ming over" 1t is perhaps Mr. Kiplingss
newspaper training that has given him
this measure of restraint In a naturally
excessive disposition from the printers
point of view to proof revision.
l think, perhaps, the particular in which
Mr.. Kiphng is most trying to editors and
printers is In his punctuation. Many writ
ers have no convictions on the subject of
punctuation, and allow copy editors print
ers and proofreaders to deal with thIa
feature of their compositions about al
they will. But Mr.. Kipling Is different.
he has convictions in punctuatlons. and
his usage differs In some points from the
practice of most printing offices, Thus n