Editing Century Dictionary (section)

==Typography and typesetting==

The ''Century Dictionary'' was typeset and printed by [[Theodore Low De Vinne]], who gave it a typographic aesthetic that foreshadowed a norm of 20th century book printing.{{sfn|Metcalf|1996|p=18}} Prefigured in De Vinne's work on the [[Century Magazine]] from its origins as ''Scribner's Monthly'' in 1870, the printer eschewed the thin hairlines and reduced legibility of the "modern" serif typefaces that were predominantly used in the mid-eighteen-hundreds, favouring [[Caslon]] as a sturdier and more legible "old style" face instead.{{sfn|Metcalf|1996|pp=18–25}} Due to the complexity of typesetting a large dictionary, De Vinne also devised an elaborate composition stand that gave compositors access to more than seven hundred boxes of type and special sorts within easy reach.{{sfn|Tichenor|2005|pp=91–92}}