Epilogue

Abstract

The Epilogue looks at the rich metaphoric afterlife that the typographical features explored in Chapters 1 to 3 have linguistically beyond the printed page. In one sense, metaphors from punctuation and typography are simply a subdivision of larger book-related metaphors, and writers in the nascent world of professional publication were understandably alert to printing-house imagery and the conversion of orality to print. But just as writing and type make their way into orality as metaphor, orality makes its way into type: writers and compositors are thinking creatively about how to turn the visual and aural experience of drama into print. The place where we see this most is in play layout. Thus, this epilogue concludes with a survey of compositor creativity in a period when systems and conventions were just coming into being and hence offered scope for flexibility and experimentation.