Library of Formatting Examples:Correspondence/00A

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Correctly formatted text

[blank line]
[blank line]
[blank line]
[blank line]
/*
<sc>Brantwood, Coniston</sc>,[** comma outside,]
<i>23rd June, 1879</i>.[** period outside,]
*/

<sc>Dear Mr. Malleson</sc>,--Walking, and
talking, are now alike impossible to

[**  Middle of letter removed to save space]
 
Is not this the first of all questions
which a Clerical Council has to answer
in open terms?

/*
Ever affectionately yours,[** comma, so]
<sc>J. Ruskin</sc>.[** period goes outside.]
*/

Overview of correspondence

The typical components of a letter are the "heading," "greeting" (or "salutation"), "body," "complementary closing," and "signature" (with an occasional P.S.). The heading, which typically includes an address and date, and/or is center-right aligned, needs to be in no-wrap. If the greeting is on its own line, it also may need to be in (a shared) no-wrap; if it needs in-line formatting and is followed by a comma or colon, that punctuation goes OUTSIDE the markup. The closing and signature usually have non-standard alignment and need to be in (a shared) no-wrap. If they are on the same line, we usually change that to separate lines. When a letter is being presented in a book, there may be an identifying Title that is not part of the letter, so if the letter needs to be in a block quote, that identifier should NOT be in the block quote. A Project's Comments may specify that each letter is a Chapter or a Section; or the white space and context may make that apparent. If in doubt, ASK.

Major and minor divisions

Here, the Project Comments said to treat each letter as a major division (with 4 lines before). This will vary from project to project, so if you're not sure, ask.

Enclose right-justified lines in
no-wrap.
but include numbers in the italics.
comma outside.

Special indentation, then right-justification.
Use one pair of no-wraps for both lines.