Library of Formatting Examples:Italics/45A

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Correctly formatted text

[Footnote 2: Letter to Rutty, <i>Chronol. Hist.</i> 1770, p. 117.]

[Footnote 3: <i>Gent. Magaz.</i> Oct. 1751, and July, 1755, p. 343.]

Complete and incomplete sentences

When a book, magazine, or article's title is italicized and followed by an upright date, and we know that printers at that time generally did not use italics numerals, should the date be included in the italics tags? The general answer is: it depends on whether it's part of the title of the publication (U. S. Census, 1860) or is the publication or issue date (The Atlantic, October, 1860). If it's part of the title, it should be included inside the tags; if it's a publication or issue date, then it's not part of the title and should be outside the tags ... unless, of course, it's italicized in the image.

In footnote 3, both dates are issue dates, so neither should be in italics. Footnote 2 is more interesting, as the date could be used in either way. In these cases, leave a [**note] to alert the Post-Processor about the ambiguity, or, if you have the time & interest, do some research (not required; the note is sufficient). A Google search on "Rutty Chronological History 1770" reveals that the book covers 40 years of meteorological records and was published in 1770, so the date is not part of the title, and goes outside the tags. (You still may want to leave a note.)