Use Of Typography In Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

3. Practical Part
As already mentioned in the previous section of the paper, it is most likely that Defoe did not own the copyright of his novel. In this case, he did not have to be particularly accurate/meticulous about the typography: copyright resting with the publisher, there always existed some risk that he might change the words or typefont or even cut out words, sentences or even passages. Hence/Accordingly, in the case of Robinson Crusoe, the authority over the whole typography remains unclear. It seems plausible though that all conventional instances of italics could be mechanically inserted/set up by the compositor of the proofreader when ignored/neglected by the author. It may also be an explanation of some inconsistencies in idiosyncratic

The instances of use of italics show that although Daniel Defoe was aware of the emphatic function of the italic font, but was not fond of/keen on it. Except several episodes – including the episode with the parrot Poll, which will be scrutinized/considered further on in the paper – the use of the italic face lies within the range of commonly accepted/adopted conventions of the eighteenth century: proper names, lists, definite parts of the text, direct speech, foreign words are contained in abundance in Robinson Crusoe. Although instances of direct speech are included into this list, they are examined/scrutinised/analysed in the following section of the

As already mentioned, in secondary sources there is no information as for/about this function of the italic font during the eighteenth century. Defoe, however, decides to italicise such phrases as “says he” (20), “for Instance” (66), “as I observed” (66), “as I may say” (81), “as it might be said” (99), “that is to say” (100, 129), “that is” (102), “I say” (132), “as I may call it” (165), “as I said before” (186) and some others. The last peculiar use of the font concerns names of trades; in the text, such words as “Carpenter” (115, 122), “Tayler” (115) or “Basketmaker’s” (91) are invariably