List of useful books compiled for PEG editors
Isabelle Delvare, with thanks to Melanie Law for some excellent suggestions.
I would be very grateful if PEG members could contact me regarding their
favourite online resources; and about resources for work in languages other
than English. (idelvare@gmail.com).
Anderson, L.K. 1990. Handbook for Proofreading. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group.
Anderson, L.K. 2005. McGraw-Hill’s Proofreading Handbook. London: McGraw-Hill.
Bowles, D.A. & Borden, D.L. 2004. Creative Editing. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson
Learning.
Butcher, J., Drake, C. & Leach, M. 2006. Copy-editing: The Cambridge handbook for
editors, authors and publishers. Fully revised and updated fourth edition. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Butcher, J. 1992. Copy-editing: The Cambridge handbook for editors, authors and
publishers. Third edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Still very useful
although not up to date concerning modern production methods.]
Carstens, W.A.M. and Van de Poel, K. 2010. Teksredaksie. Stellenbosch: Africa Sun
Media.
Clark, G. 2001. Inside Book Publishing. Third edition. London & New York: Routledge.
Craig, J. 1990. Basic Typography: A design manual. New York: Watson-Guptill.
Crystal, David. 2003. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Davies, G. 2004. Book Commissioning and Acquisition. Second edition. London & New
York: Routledge.
De Villiers, G.E. 2007. Walking on Eggshells: Aspects of English usage. Northlands: Pan
Macmillan South Africa.
Eckersley, R. (ed.) 1994. Glossary of Typesetting Terms. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Einsohn, A. 2005. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A guide for book publishing and
corporate communications. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Flann, E. & Hill, B. 2004. The Australian Editing Handbook. Fully revised and updated
second edition. Milton, Australia: John Wiley and Sons. [The third edition has been
published.]
Graham, L. 2005. Basics of design: layout and typography for beginners. Delmar
Thomson Learning.
Harris, N. 1999. Basic Editing: A practical course: The text. London: The Publishing
Training Centre. [Out of print and very expensive]
Harris, N. 1999. Basic Editing: A practical course: The exercises. London: The
Publishing Training Centre. [Out of print and very expensive]
Lee, M. 2004. Bookmaking: Editing, Design, Production. New York: Norton.
Mackenzie, J. 2011. The Editor’s Companion. Second edition. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Manning Murphy, E. 2011. Working words. Canberra: Canberra Society of Editors.
Montagnes, I. 1991. Editing and Publication: A Training Manual. Ottawa: International
Development Research Centre. Available at http://books.irri.org/9712200094_content.pdf
Mossop, B. 2007. Revising and Editing for Translators. Manchester: St Gerome.
Muller, D. 2003. Skryf Afrikaans van A to Z. Kaapstad. Pharos.
New Hart’s Rules: The handbook of style for writers and editors. 2005. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors: The essential A—Z guide to the written
word. 2005. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Oxford South African Concise Dictionary. Second edition. 2002. Oxford University Press
Southern Africa.
Peters, P. 2004. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Ritter, R. 2003. The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schwartz, M. 1995. Guidelines for Bias-free Writing. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
Sharpe, L.T. & Gunther, L. 1994. Editing Fact and Fiction: A concise guide to book
editing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, R.F. 2003. Editing Today Workbook. Ames: Iowa State Press.
Stainton, E.M. 2002. The Fine Art of Copyediting. New York: Columbia University
Press.
Truss, L. 2003. Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The zero tolerance approach to punctuation.
London: Profile Books.
Van de Poel, K., Carstens, W.A.M. & Linnegar, J. 2012. Text Editing: A handbook for
students and practitioners. Antwerp: Antwerp University Press.
Woll, T. 2010. Publishing for Profit. Revised and expanded fourth edition. Chicago:
Chicago Review Press.
Also recommended:















A dictionary of biological and medical terms
A dictionary of scientific terms and concepts
A dictionary of geographical terms
A recent, hard-copy atlas
A dictionary of business terms
A dictionary of mining terms
A dictionary of measurement
Several biographical dictionaries
Several dictionaries of quotations, proverbs, etc.
Several books on language usage
At least one book on plain language
The South African Yearbook. Copies from GCIS, Pretoria. 012 314 2911
OUP’s A Dictionary of South African English, 1991
Yearly subscription to Oxford online dictionary services
Yearly subscription to Encyclopaedia Britannica
I would be very grateful if PEG members could contact me regarding their
favourite online resources and resources for work in languages other than
English. (idelvare@gmail.com).