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 encounteredBut, 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…