Capitals A Primer of Information about Capitalization with some Practical Typographic Hints as to the Use of Capitals

c. Nouns, and adjectives derived from them designating recognized

Chapter 1797 wordsPublic domain

geographical divisions of a country or of the world.

_East_, _West_, _North_, _South_, _Westerner_, _Oriental_.

When these words are used in their ordinary significance of mere direction or location they are not capitalized except that in writing of Biblical history we speak of the _Northern Kingdom_ and the _Southern Kingdom_ into which Solomon's territory was split after his death.

16. Generic terms for political divisions.

a. When the term is part of the name and directly follows it.

_Holy Roman Empire_ _British Empire_ _Northwest Territory_ _Queen's County_.

b. When it is used with the preposition of in such phrases as _Borough of the Bronx_, _Department of the Gulf_.

c. When part of a nickname, _The Crescent City_, _the Buckeye State_, _the City of Brotherly Love_.

Be careful not to capitalize such words when they are not an actual part of the name. _French Republic_ is the name of the county, exactly translating _Republique Francaise_, but _American republic_ is not such a name. You would write _State of New York_ in a legal document in which the state would be considered as a corporate person, but in ordinary references it would be _state of New York_.

17. The days of the week and the months of the year, but not the seasons unless personified.

_Monday the fifth of August._ _April is the first month of spring._ _Spring, beautiful Spring._

But write _ten o'clock_, _nine a.m._, _ten p.m._

18. Festivals and historic or famous days.

_Easter Day_ _Fast Day_ _Independence Day_ _Black Friday_.

19. Stars, planets, constellations, and the like, except _sun_, _moon_, _stars_, _earth_.

_Mars_, _the Milky Way_, _the Pleiades_.

20. Ordinal numbers used to designate numbered political divisions, sessions of Congress, names of regiments, Egyptian dynasties, and the like.

_Second Congressional District_, _First Ward_, _Ninth Precinct_, _Forty-third Congress_, _Sixth Massachusetts Regiment_, _Fifth Dynasty_.

21. Names of genera but not of species: except that in botanical and zoölogical copy the species may be capitalized if derived from a proper name.

_Agaricus campestris_ _Parkinsonia Torreyana_ _Pterygomatopus schmidti_, (Medical).

The English derivatives from these scientific words are not capitalized. We write of the _agarics_, the _felids_, the _carnivores_, etc.

22. _Father_, _mother_, and other words denoting relationship when used with a proper name or without a personal pronoun.

_I saw Aunt Lucy and Cousin Charles._ _I saw my aunt Lucy and my cousin Charles._ _I have received a letter from my mother._ _I have received a letter from Mother._

23. Names of political parties and of philosophical, literary, and artistic schools, and their adherents.

_Republican_, _National Liberal_, _Social Democrats_, _Stoics_ (but _neo-Platonism_, _pseudo-Christianity_, etc.) _the Lake school_, _the Romantic movement_, _the Symbolic school of painters_.

24. Political and historical designations which have been much used and have come to have special significances such as names of leagues, parties, classes, movements, and the like.

_Holy Alliance_, _Dreibund_, _Roundheads_, _Independents_, _Reformation_, _Dissenter_.

25. Names of well-known historic epochs, periods in the history of language, and geological ages and strata. The word "age" is not capitalized except when necessary to avoid ambiguity.

_Stone age_, _Middle Ages_, _Age of Elizabeth_, _Crusades_, _Commune (of Paris)_, _Middle English_, _Neolithic_.

26. Names of important events.

_Hundred Years War_, _Battle of Trenton_, _Louisiana Purchase_, _Norman Conquest_.

27. Names of specific treaties, important laws, and the like.

_Peace of Amiens_, _Edict of Nantes_, _Concordat_, _Emancipation Proclamation_, _Fourteenth Amendment_.

28. Names of governmental bodies and departments and their branches when specifically designated.

_Congress_, _the Senate_, _the Board of Aldermen_, _the House of Commons_, _the Committee on Education_.

Care must be taken to distinguish between these specific references and general uses of the same word.

_The state legislature of Massachusetts is officially termed the General Court._ _The matter was referred to the War Department but was sent back on the ground that it belonged to another department._

29. The official titles of corporations, organizations, and institutions, social, religious, educational, political, business, and the like.

_Knights Templars_, _Knights of Columbus_, _Associated Charities_, _Cook County Normal School_, _Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals_, _Chicago_, _Rock Island and Pacific Railroad_.

In long titles, like the last example given, the important words are capitalized as in book titles (see Sec. 31). Use capitals when referring to such organizations by initials, _C. R. I. & P. R. R._ Here again it must be remembered that the capitals are used in specific references only.

_The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor of the Third Congregational Church._ _The young people's societies connected with the Congregational churches do great good._

30. The names of conventions, congresses, expositions, etc.

_Parliament of Religions_, _International Peace Congress_, _Panama-Pacific Exposition_.

31. The first words, principal words, and last word in English tides of books and other publications; of their divisions (parts, chapters, cantos, etc.); of the topics of speeches, sermons, toasts, and the like; of pictures; of plays; of musical compositions, etc.

In long titles nouns and pronouns are capitalized always; verbs, participles, and adverbs usually; articles, prepositions and conjunctions never.

_Standard Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases_, _Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures_, _Lincoln's Gettysburg Address_, _Paradise Lost_, _Measure for Measure_, _A New Way to Pay Old Debts_, _The Coronation of Charles VII at Rheims_, _the Moonlight Sonata_.

The word "the" is capitalized when it forms an actual part of the title of a book but not otherwise.

_The Printer's Dictionary_. _The Life and Times of Charles V._ _the Review of Reviews_, _the Laacoon_, _the Fifth Symphony_.

32. Dedications; headings of parts and chapters; headings of many important minor parts of a book.

_To All Who Love Good Printing._ _Chapter Twenty-Seven._ _Part Three._ _The Invention of Movable Types._ _The Practical Value of Gutenberg's Invention._ (These last as sections of a book on the origin of printing).

33. In foreign languages the usage is somewhat different. The following rules will be found useful:

a. Always capitalize the first word.

b. In Latin capitalize only proper nouns and adjectives derived therefrom.

_Commentarii Cæsaris de bello Gallico._