What is the correct way to present the author's abbreviated name?

[DNSB]

For what it may be worth, the most common format I've seen for the initials is J.R.R. Tolkien. OTOH, I have seen JRR Tolkien & J. R. R. Tolkien on covers. Even one where the publishers just used Tolkien on the cover with no initials (Unwin did this for one set). I'm not going to get into the covers where the name is rendered in what looks like a bastardized Tengwar font or the ones where an interpunct is used (J· R· R· Tolkien).

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by Moonbase59

I also use this between adjacent nested quotes in English texts: ‘Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” ’

Perhaps nitpicking, but shouldn't it be ‘Quoth the Raven “Nevermore”.’ as one is quoting NEVERMORE, and the period belongs to the complete sentence, hence should not be included in the quotation?
Just a thought.

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For what it may be worth, the most common format I've seen for the initials is J.R.R. Tolkien. OTOH, I have seen JRR Tolkien & J. R. R. Tolkien on covers. Even one where the publishers just used Tolkien on the cover with no initials (Unwin did this for one set). I'm not going to get into the covers where the name is rendered in what looks like a bastardized Tengwar font or the ones where an interpunct is used (J· R· R· Tolkien).

It seems they all have it wrong, according Tolkien himself as he seemed to have used "dangling" periods.

[Moonbase59]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

Perhaps nitpicking, but shouldn't it be ‘Quoth the Raven “Nevermore”.’ as one is quoting NEVERMORE, and the period belongs to the complete sentence, hence should not be included in the quotation?
Just a thought.

You could well be right, I must have been living in Germany for too long, it seems… ;-)

Nitpicking is perfectly fine when it comes to orthography and microtypography.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DNSB

…
OTOH, I have seen JRR Tolkien & J. R. R. Tolkien on covers. Even one where the publishers just used Tolkien on the cover with no initials (Unwin did this for one set). I'm not going to get into the covers where the name is rendered in what looks like a bastardized Tengwar font or the ones where an interpunct is used (J· R· R· Tolkien).

Covers are someone's idea of art and publicity. They are not even consistent for the same author in the same era from the same publisher for the same Genre.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

Perhaps nitpicking, but shouldn't it be ‘Quoth the Raven “Nevermore”.’ as one is quoting NEVERMORE, and the period belongs to the complete sentence, hence should not be included in the quotation?
Just a thought.

I asked some rooks and they said, "Caw".

[BetterRed]

Blimey

BR

[AnnieQuinn]

Thanks for sharing. I had such a question because I was afraid of making a mistake. Because of my language, names are not usually abbreviated like that, so I had to ask to be sure so as not to have to correct them later. I thought it had a specific format, like the rules we use to type text. It turned out to be interesting. Thanks again everyone.

[Moonbase59]

@AnnieQuinn: On a more authoritative side, I can recommend the following reference books (both on my shelf here):

• New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide (for British English; Wikipedia)
• The Chicago Manual of Style (for American English; Wikipedia)

Both are invaluable companions for professional publishing and copyediting, long-standing and reputable.

[AnnieQuinn]

Originally Posted by Moonbase59

@AnnieQuinn: On a more authoritative side, I can recommend the following reference books (both on my shelf here):

• New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide (for British English; Wikipedia)
• The Chicago Manual of Style (for American English; Wikipedia)

Both are invaluable companions for professional publishing and copyediting, long-standing and reputable.

Yes. Thank you very much ^^
I will learn more.