The Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style
by University of Chicago Press Staff

The Chicago Manual of Style
List Price: $55.00
Our Price: $21.95
You Save: $33.05 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.19 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: University of Chicago Press Staff
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-08-01
ISBN: 0226104036
Number of pages: 984
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press

Book Reviews of The Chicago Manual of Style

Book Review: A must-have reference for writers and editors
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a condensed version of a detailed review posted on my web site, The Purple Crayon.

The 14th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style was for years the standard style reference for many book publishing companies. The new edition, the first revision in ten years, and the most substantial in more than thirty, seems likely to play the same role.

Contents: The new edition opens with "The Parts of a Publshed Work," which covers magazines as well as books. Then come chapters on manuscript preparation and editing, proofs, and rights and permissions (which includes a useful introduction to U.S. copyright law). After these is a new chapter on grammar and usage, followed by what has always seemed to me to be the meat of Chicago: detailed guidance on handling punctuation, spelling, names, numbers, foreight languages, quotations and dialogue, illustrations, and abbreviations. Sizable chapters on documentation of sources in notes and bibliographies and on creating indexes wrap up the body of the book. Then come an appendix on the basics of design and production and another consisting of flowcharts showing the publishing process, the bibliography, and the index.

The 15th compared to the 14th edition: The design is significantly different, to start with. The 14th edition uses a simple approach, which some would call classic and others old-fashioned. The 15th edition uses a greater variety of typefaces and weights in an effort to make information easier to locate on the page. It introduces blue as a second color. Blue has its greatest impact in the grammar information, where it is used to pick out the examples.

What's more important is that there is a considerable amount of new information. They now take account of the fact that much editing is now done on screen, and provide guidance for electronic publication and for citing information found on the Internet. The chapter on grammar and usage means that Chicago now answers many questions that were not addressed in earlier editions. There are many other updates throughout the book, and I see quite a lot of revision. For example, the material on commas has been reorganized, given new sub-headers, and designed to fit in about ten pages instead of fifteen. The intention seems to be to make it easier to use. Those used to the 14th edition may feel otherwise, of course.

Each item is, as before, numbered sequentially within a chapter, so that to find information on interjections, for example, you turn to 7.32. But the numbering of items has changed from the previous edition, so you will not be able to turn to the 14th edition if a copyeditor refers you to "CMS 6.104" on the issue of square brackets. That number will only take you to the right place in the 15th edition.

Comments: Chicago subtitles itself "The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers." I think that is a reasonable claim.... The new edition has quickly been put into use by trade and academic publishers, and anyone with a copy of the 14th edition will find that it is no longer of practical use, as it is the 15th edition that is being used to answer questions of punctuation, capitalization, citation style, and other thorny issues.

Look at this as several different books bound together. One slim book explains the parts of a book or journal, how to prepare and edit a manuscript, and how copyright law underlies publishing. Another small volume covers grammar and usage. A large central chunk covers the minutiae of treatment of names, capitalization, abbreviations, and the like. Then comes another book on footnotes, bibliographies, and indexes. Last of all comes a pamphlet on design and production, followed by a very useful bibliography and index.

Summary of The Chicago Manual of Style

The Fifteenth Edition is available in book form and as a subscription Web site.  The same content from The Chicago Manual of Style is in both versions.

In the 1890s, a proofreader at the University of Chicago Press prepared a single sheet of typographic fundamentals intended as a guide for the University community. That sheet grew into a pamphlet, and the pamphlet grew into a book?the first edition of the Manual of Style, published in 1906. Now in its fifteenth edition, The Chicago Manual of Style?the essential reference for authors, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers in any field?is more comprehensive and easier to use than ever before.

Those who work with words know how dramatically publishing has changed in the past decade, with technology now informing and influencing every stage of the writing and publishing process. In creating the fifteenth edition of the Manual, Chicago's renowned editorial staff drew on direct experience of these changes, as well as on the recommendations of the Manual's first advisory board, composed of a distinguished group of scholars, authors, and professionals from a wide range of publishing and business environments.

Every aspect of coverage has been examined and brought up to date?from publishing formats to editorial style and method, from documentation of electronic sources to book design and production, and everything in between. In addition to books, the Manual now also treats journals and electronic publications. All chapters are written for the electronic age, with advice on how to prepare and edit manuscripts online, handle copyright and permissions issues raised by technology, use new methods of preparing mathematical copy, and cite electronic and online sources.

A new chapter covers American English grammar and usage, outlining the grammatical structure of English, showing how to put words and phrases together to achieve clarity, and identifying common errors. The two chapters on documentation have been reorganized and updated: the first now describes the two main systems preferred by Chicago, and the second discusses specific elements and subject matter, with examples of both systems. Coverage of design and manufacturing has been streamlined to reflect what writers and editors need to know about current procedures. And, to make it easier to search for information, each numbered paragraph throughout the Manual is now introduced by a descriptive heading.

Clear, concise, and replete with commonsense advice, The Chicago Manual of Style, fifteenth edition, offers the wisdom of a hundred years of editorial practice while including a wealth of new topics and updated perspectives. For anyone who works with words, whether on a page or computer screen, this continues to be the one reference book you simply must have.

What's new in the Fifteenth Edition:

* Updated material throughout to reflect current style, technology, and professional practice

* Scope expanded to include journals and electronic publications

* Comprehensive new chapter on American English grammar and usage by Bryan A. Garner (author of A Dictionary of Modern American Usage)

* Updated and rewritten chapter on preparing mathematical copy

* Reorganized and updated chapters on documentation, including guidance on citing electronic sources

* Streamlined coverage of current design and production processes, with a glossary of key terms

* Descriptive headings on all numbered paragraphs for ease of reference

* New diagrams of the editing and production processes for both books and journals, keyed to chapter discussions

* New, expanded Web site with special tools and features for Manual users at www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.

Authorship Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Authorship Books
Publishing for Tenure and Beyond ImagePublishing for Tenure and Beyond
by Franklin H. Silverman
Praeger; Published: 1999-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops: $27.95
Postcolonial Writers and the Global Literary Marketplace ImagePostcolonial Writers and the Global Literary Marketplace
by Sarah Brouillette
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2007-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $75.96
Price in other shops: $95.00
The Writer's Purposes: A Reader for Composition (Penguin Academics) ImageThe Writer's Purposes: A Reader for Composition (Penguin Academics)
by Stephen P Reid
Longman; Published: 2010-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $41.60
The Writer's World: Essays (2nd Edition) ImageThe Writer's World: Essays (2nd Edition)
by Lynne Gaetz, Suneeti Phadke
Longman; Published: 2011-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $64.97
Price in other shops: $103.60
Reaching Audiences: A Guide to Media Writing (4th Edition) ImageReaching Audiences: A Guide to Media Writing (4th Edition)
by Jan Johnson Yopp, Kathy C McAdams
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 2006-07-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $90.80
Programmed Learning in Perspective: A Guide to Program Writing ImageProgrammed Learning in Perspective: A Guide to Program Writing
by C.A. Thomas, I.K. Davies, D. Openshaw, J.B. Bird
Aldine Transaction; Published: 2007-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.46
Price in other shops: $24.95
An Introduction to Magazine Writing ImageAn Introduction to Magazine Writing
by Conrad C. Fink, Donald E. Fink
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 1993-07-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $60.00
Price in other shops: $84.00
Freelance Writing: Advice from the Pros ImageFreelance Writing: Advice from the Pros
by Curtis W. Casewit
Collier Books; Published: 1985-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.78
Price in other shops: $9.95
How Fiction Works ImageHow Fiction Works
by James Wood
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2008-07-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.43
Price in other shops: $24.00
The African American Writer's Handbook: How to Get in Print and Stay in Print ImageThe African American Writer's Handbook: How to Get in Print and Stay in Print
by Robert Fleming
One World/Ballantine; Published: 2000-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.67
Price in other shops: $19.00
Similar Books and other products
King Philip's War: Colonial Expansion, Native Resistance, and the End of Indian Sovereignty (Witness to History) ImageKing Philip's War: Colonial Expansion, Native Resistance, and the End of Indian Sovereignty (Witness to History)
by Daniel R. Mandell
The Johns Hopkins University Press; Published: 2010-07-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.45
Price in other shops: $20.00
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) ImageA Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
by Kate L. Turabian
University of Chicago Press; Published: 1996-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast (Indigenous Americas) ImageThe Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast (Indigenous Americas)
by Lisa Brooks
Univ Of Minnesota Press; Published: 2008-10-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.47
Price in other shops: $22.50
The Associated Press Stylebook 2009 (Associated Press Stylebook & Briefing on Media Law) ImageThe Associated Press Stylebook 2009 (Associated Press Stylebook & Briefing on Media Law)
Basic Books; Published: 2009-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.24
Price in other shops: $18.95
Technical Editing (5th Edition) (Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication) ImageTechnical Editing (5th Edition) (Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication)
by Carolyn D. Rude, Angela Eaton
Longman; Published: 2010-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $75.15
Price in other shops: $100.20
The Elements of Style (4th Edition) ImageThe Elements of Style (4th Edition)
by William Strunk, E. B. White
Longman; Published: 1999-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $15.95
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition ImageMerriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition
by Merriam-Webster
MERRIAM-WEBSTER INC.; Merriam-Webster, Inc.; Published: 2008-04-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.90
Price in other shops: $26.95
Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies ImageCopyediting and Proofreading For Dummies
by Suzanne Gilad
For Dummies; Published: 2007-05-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.16
Price in other shops: $19.99
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) ImageA Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
by Kate L. Turabian
Spring Arbor/Ingram; University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2007-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.46
Price in other shops: $17.00
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition ImageThe Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2010-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $34.49
Price in other shops: $65.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories