3

The following is an excerpt from Robinson Crusoe (Oxford World's Classics, p39).

my Business was to hold my Breath, and raise my self upon the Water, if I could; and so by swimming to preserve my Breathing, and Pilot my self towards the Shore, if possible;

I understand that in the English of the time first letters of nouns are capitalized, like in modern German.

Why "Pilot" instead of "pilot"? I read "Pilot" above as a verb. Am I simply wrong on this or is it just a misprint?

Laurel
  • 66,382
sundowner
  • 501
  • 1
    This OED citation for pilot from 1685 also has a capital P: Ye can allwayes have a Boat for putting out a Vaiffe at all occasions, for Piloting you into the Harbour. – DjinTonic Oct 14 '21 at 01:02
  • Perhaps it is because the noun sense is earlier and the word was regarded as a noun being used as a verb. – Peter Oct 14 '21 at 03:05
  • 4
    Early writers (medieval scribes & such) often capitalised what they considered "important" words (not just "nouns"), long before the convention of only capitalising "proper nouns" was established. – FumbleFingers Oct 14 '21 at 11:41
  • 4
    ...from Wikipedia... The plays of Shakespeare show capitalization both of new lines and sentences, proper nouns, and some significant common nouns and verbs. – FumbleFingers Oct 14 '21 at 11:44
  • They didn't have Bold and used what they had. Consider why text shows up today in all caps ... for emphasis. – Yosef Baskin Oct 14 '21 at 14:18
  • Italics were used though in the 17th century https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/207486/english-typography-in-the-17th-century – Mari-Lou A Oct 14 '21 at 17:50
  • Don't you think that's purely idiosyncrasy, whether that was down to Defoe or his editor or printer? – Robbie Goodwin Oct 17 '21 at 21:31
  • It may be so, but the example mentioned in DjinTonic's comment suggests there could be something more specific. – sundowner Oct 18 '21 at 03:18

1 Answers1

1

I have two main ideas here...

First... As some have noted in comments, it used to be common for publishers to Capitalise important words for emphasis, for which we now have other conventional typographical methods.

As an example, although my own edition of Robinson Crusoe (Penguin [1965] 1983) avoids all such capitalisation in the main text, it does include a facsimile of the original 1719 frontispiece, including the following text.

Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner:

Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque;

Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where-in all the Men perished but himself.

[To be strictly accurate, the proper nouns here are further pulled out by being in small capitals, indicating a set of conventions with various levels.]

The capitalisation might seem arbitary and perhaps even whimsical to modern eyes, but was entirely normal at the time. In this example (as has been pointed out), nouns are capitalised as they still are in German -- and so are the significant numbers describing the great length of Robinson's isolation.

Second... The term 'pilot', while indeed used as a verb in your quoted passsage, also designates a particular professional seafaring navigational function (as I recall, a ship's Pilot would be responsible for getting safely into harbour past concealed reefs, for example), so perhaps it is capitalised here as a kind of honorary noun, as Robinson describes applying a certain professional skill to reach safety.

Possibly, then, this is a bit like saying, 'Even though young, I was qualified, so I Doctored my way around the world,' or, 'I managed to Lawyer my way to riches.'

Captain Cranium
  • 3,106