The Accidents of Publishing.

 I have now and then complained about the sloppy practices of businesses that specialize in printing works that are in the public domain. But this week I noticed again that the books even of quite reputable publishers are subject to accidents.

I happened to open The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806, about a quarter of the way in, where I encountered

But, as the full gravity of the tobacco, played an appreciable part.

A closer look showed that the first seven words appeared on page 258, the rest on page 291. Somebody had left out a thirty-two page signature.

Now, the book, by Jonathan Israel, is part of the series The Oxford History of Early Modern Europe, a product of Clarendon Press. A publisher cannot be more reputable.

I don't know how one can defend against such errors, which occur late in production.  They do happen. Years ago I found that a stretch of Heidegger and Nazism (Victor Farias, Temple University Press) had pages blank on one side--the pressmen had failed to print one side of a signature.