correct use of …

[grannyGrumpy]

Well, further thought, and I think I will go with the spaced dots / faux ellipsis for this project after all.

Punctuation preceding ellipsis does look a bit strange when using the glyph. (I think because we aren't used to seeing it in contemporary publications.) But with spaced dots, it doesn't look excessively awful, see the attached screen-shot of the printed book page. (This combination occurs a number of times in this project.)

Don't make me frantic!… There, there, there, my precious.

Don't make me frantic! . . . There, there, there, my precious.

[Ripplinger]

I've run into many instances of punctuation preceding an ellipse in the book I'm finishing up, here's a sample attached of a few instances on one page. Punctuation followed by an ellipse was used where a sentence ended and then switched completely to another topic they were discussing at the same time.

"That architect’s late. . . . Llewellyn Meredith—I believe I have heard his name."

And then an exclamation point followed by an ellipse for the same reason for
“Psychological deduction! . . . Stair-carpets will cost a lot.”

Whether grammatically correct or not, I'm sticking to doing the book how it was originally in the printed version. But it makes sense to me the way it's used in the book. I also stuck to using the   for spaces in all instances of ellipses to keep the width uniform.

I've never seen an ellipse preceding other punctuation though, but perhaps in other languages where I think they have certain punctuation at the beginning of a sentence? (trying to remember high school Spanish, seem to recall something about that).

Edit: Btw, if anyone knows what they are referring to here, what "R.A." means, I would be so grateful. They're taking measurements for draperies and rugs in a house they're going to buy, while also discussing a young girl, her father and her grandfather. The book was written 1942 and has a lot of terms from England, all of which I've managed to research to scrounge up the meaning and decipher except for this one, I really don't have a clue:

“An R.A.,” Pamela answered.

[grannyGrumpy]

The one I'm working has quite a few with a paragraph opening with a quote mark and ellipsis
“... Isabella is far too indulgent to me

But in fairness, most of them are referring to partial quotations from other sources:
"... she repeated, bursting into tears."

Yes, definitely back to spaced faux ellipsis for these. I've mostly used them, with the NBSP, in previous projects, but thought I would get adventurous this time. Wrong time to get frisky, I think.

[Perkin]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Edit: Btw, if anyone knows what they are referring to here, what "R.A." means, I would be so grateful.

It's probably a Title/Qualification, as from Royal Academy of Arts (or Architecture), so meaning a Royal Architect.

[Jellby]

With spaced ellipsis, I'd choose:

“._._._Isabella is far
Craky hall ._._. walked
pleasure,_._._. but I [if this is not considered as a typo/mistake]
deduction! ._._. Stair-carpets
delightful boy. ._._. James Keith [full sentence, separated from the next by an ellipsis]
wrote this, he._._._. She sat [unfinished sentence, then a new one]

(where _ is a  )

I don't think it would be that wrong/weird/undesirable to break lines where I've put normal spaces.

[grannyGrumpy]

@Jellby, looks good, thank you. Yes, it looks most like the printed / pdf copies I was able to scrounge up. (I guess some glyphs just don't jibe with old punctuation rules.) A good thing I have a hot-key to auto-type NBSP for me, and hopefully can use S&R to take care of most of them.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by Perkin

It's probably a Title/Qualification, as from Royal Academy of Arts (or Architecture), so meaning a Royal Architect.

Thank you, that makes sense in that context. I thought of Royal Academy as one of the possibilities, but that someone else picked up that it applies to the architect makes me more sure of it, so Royal Architect (or architect from the Royal Academy) sounds like the best choice.

Before I converted all my ellipses to be spaced with  , I had seen several instances in the book where the ellipse itself fell on the next line away from the preceding punctuation mark, and it didn't look right. But what looked even worse was when it was on the same line but had a wider gap between the punctuation mark and the start of the ellipse, it just looked bad to me.

Once you see that on your reader, you might feel differently about inserting the   between the preceding punctuation and the ellipse, that's what made up my mind to redo them. Not to say either way is wrong, just which you prefer seeing while you read.

[sjkramer]

I'd just like to offer support for Jellyby's method. After much (much!) fretting over this myself, I came independently to the same solution. I was pleased that such a perspicacious person agreed.

[yekim54]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Edit: Btw, if anyone knows what they are referring to here, what "R.A." means, I would be so grateful. They're taking measurements for draperies and rugs in a house they're going to buy, while also discussing a young girl, her father and her grandfather. The book was written 1942 and has a lot of terms from England, all of which I've managed to research to scrounge up the meaning and decipher except for this one, I really don't have a clue:

“An R.A.,” Pamela answered.

Not sure, but it might be Registered Architect.

What font is that in your screen capture? I like it.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Perkin

It's probably a Title/Qualification, as from Royal Academy of Arts (or Architecture), so meaning a Royal Architect.

From some research, I think it's more likely to be Registered Architect.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by sjkramer

I'd just like to offer support for Jellyby's method. After much (much!) fretting over this myself, I came independently to the same solution. I was pleased that such a perspicacious person agreed.

For a general solution he's probably right, but as I tweak only for my own reading on my own reader, I will continue to use the … - it appeals to my sense of minimal coding & looks Ok for me.

Fascinating discussion though - I do wonder what rules the old "HOT LEAD" typesetters followed...

[theducks]

Originally Posted by cybmole

For a general solution he's probably right, but as I tweak only for my own reading on my own reader, I will continue to use the … - it appeals to my sense of minimal coding & looks Ok for me.

Fascinating discussion though - I do wonder what rules the old "HOT LEAD" typesetters followed...

I set 'Hot Type' in High school.
I only remember setting Ligatures (those 'mats' had to be inserted by hand as there were no keys for those).

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by yekim54

Not sure, but it might be Registered Architect.

What font is that in your screen capture? I like it.

The font is LexiaDaMa in bold, I love the font and it's about the only one I use now on my reader. My eyes are bad as it is, but reading outdoors while I'm out and well past normal daylight, or on public transportation in the wrong seat, the font lets me keep reading in dimmer situations when I'd otherwise have needed a light.

And Registered Architect is a good choice too. It's just one of those things that you can't say what the author meant with 100% certainty that bugs me not knowing the common terms of the day back then.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by cybmole

I will continue to use the … - it appeals to my sense of minimal coding

Ideally, defining custom entities would work properly, so you could write, say, &ellipsis; everywhere and define it to look the way you prefer, in a single place.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cybmole

"wrong" was probably the wrong word to use, but it looks odd - to me - to see an ellipsis all by itself on a line, when it occurs at the end of a sentence:

and then
...

What looks odd to me is

odd - to me - to

because it should be...

odd—to me—to

em dashes should not have a space before or after and you cannot use a dash instead like you did.

Now, I've seen the following in a number of ePub...

word . . . word2