Here is a new and enlarged edition of the desk book of guidelines

compiled for those who write and edit The New York Times. Many of

the entries that have been added concern language usage rather than

printing style--so many, indeed, that the title of the book has been

changed to add the word usage and thus more accurately describe the

contents.

~ Style," as it is used in the title, is not literary style; it is a set of

rules or guides intended to assure consistency of spelling, capitaliza-

tion, punctuation and abbreviation in printing the written word. There

is little difference between a Martini and a martini, but unless there

is a style rule the word may be capitalized in one instance and lower-

cased in another. Such untidiness must be avoided, in matters small

or large, because it detracts from even the best of writing. Rules are

especially needed when many very different people write and edit a

publication that has an identity of its own. For examples of the style

guidelines in this self-indexing book, see these alphabetical entries:

abbreviations; Bishop; capitalization; comma; company and

corporation names; Mr., Mrs. and Miss; numbers; President,

president; years, decades, centuries.