Od cudzysłowów ostrych do chorągiewki

Abstract

The aim of the article is to answer the question in what situations and contexts departing from traditional typographic and editorial norms and conventions turns out to be fortunate, as well as to present the mechanisms of introducing non-traditional solutions among readers and on the market, and thus shaping typographic and editorial usus. After defining the basic terms for the article: typographic and editorial usus, typography itself and the concept of a congenial book, traditional Polish typographic layouts and editorial solutions are presented on the example of the quarterly “Pamiętnik Literacki” (“Literary Memoir”) and the series Biblioteka Narodowa (National Library). Next, 11 representative publications on typography, prepared by the d2d.pl company, are analysed from this angle. The analysis covers such aspects of layout as the parameters of headings, text alignment, the function of highlights, the method of isolating quotations, the use of margins, pagination, types of figures, the location of footnotes, the form of their numbers and references in the main text, the use of first and second degree quotation marks, as well as the appearance of ornaments. The analysis leads to the conclusion that in the case of books dealing with typography, preserving their original typographic form was the best possible choice, because this form, no less than the content of the text itself, conveys information about the views and recommendations of the authors. The introduction of such solutions to the Polish publishing market and to the readers’ awareness by a publishing house respected in the editorial environment undoubtedly influences the typographic and editorial usus, and it can be expected that in time it will also transform the related norms.