Capitals in M&D

[Tim Strzechowski]

I suspect Pynchoniod is having some fun with you, is all.

Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization rules were not as standardized in 
the eighteenth century as they are now.  Consequently, the writings of 
Defoe, Richardson, Swift, et al (which are partly the model upon which 
Pynchon based the M&D writing style) in general follow a random 
capitalization method.

Here are some links related to the punctuation rules of the period, if this 
helps:

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Resources/essays/punctuation_hist.html

http://www.applet-magic.com/punctuation.htm


And if you wanna write that way yourself, consider:

http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/18thCenturyLife/Style_Guide.asp

http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/18thCenturyLife/Style_Guide.asp#CAPITALIZATION


Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century punctuation practice varies considerably, 
but tends to be "heavy"; current "light" punctuation is largely the 
invention of H. G. and F. G. Fowler, The King's English.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/ms-course/course/punc.htm





> What do 18th century orthographic rules have to do with "anagrams" and 
> "secret code" ?
>
>
>>From: pynchonoid <pynchonoid at yahoo.com>
>>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>Subject: Re: Capitals in M&D
>>Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 06:39:28 -0700 (PDT)
>>
>>Anagrams, secret code.  Keep working on it and you'll
>>get it deciphered one of these days.
>>
>>
>>--- Ya Sam <takoitov at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Another question for M&D connoisseurs. What is the
>> > principle of the (mock)
>> > 18th century capitalisation in this novel?
>>
>>http://pynchonoid.org
>>"everything connects"
>>
>>http://OnlineJournalist.org
>>
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