16

I am trying to faithfully recreate the typographic style of a Victorian era book. One thing I've noticed is the extensive use of dashes: em-dashes are everywhere, for example.

Beyond the em dash however, I notice a set of even longer dashes. For example the dash used to indicate a pause in conversation due to a sudden interruption is about 1.5 times the length of an em dash. A similarly long dash is used to indicate the missing part of a name, e.g. "He traveled by horse to W-----".

How can I go about defining and working with dashes longer than an em dash. I can't seem to find any information on the web? I'm using XeLaTeX for my work.

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    See also tex.stackexchange.com/q/447557 If your fonts support it, you can use Unicode’s omission dash.
    – Thérèse
    Sep 7, 2018 at 19:23
  • 1
    For those wondering why old books do that in the first place, it's discussed on English.SE.
    – Wildcard
    Sep 8, 2018 at 1:31
  • If your goal is to faithfully recreate the typography of the original book, wouldn't it be more accurate to use a series of dashes? I believe that's what was typically used at the time, as Victorian-era typesetters wouldn't have had access to sorts (i.e, special pieces of movable type) for abnormally long dashes either.
    – user170054
    Sep 8, 2018 at 22:54

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
17

You can superimpose two em-dashes:

\newcommand{\emmdash}{---\kern-0.5em---}

Full example:

\documentclass{article}

\newcommand{\emmdash}{---\kern-0.5em---}

\begin{document}

``He traveled by horse to W\emmdash”

-- --- \emmdash

\end{document}

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    At first you suggested something like \hbox to 1.5em{---\hss---}. Is there a significant difference between both methods?
    – Phelype Oleinik
    Sep 7, 2018 at 19:24
  • 1
    @PhelypeOleinik The current version respects possible kernings with characters before and after the dash.
    – egreg
    Sep 7, 2018 at 19:25
  • 1
    The overlaid portions appear somewhat darker.
    – AlexG
    Sep 7, 2018 at 19:28
  • 1
    @AlexG Artifact. I added a high resolution screenshot.
    – egreg
    Sep 7, 2018 at 19:31
17

You can use a Latex "rule" to create a thin rectangle. 

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
He travelled by horse to W\rule[0.5ex]{3em}{0.5pt}
\end{document}

He travelled by horse to W------

the format is \rule[raise]{width-x}{thickness-y} (source)and this can of course be used in a \newcommand for convenience.

By using "ex" and "em" units, the rule should scale nicely with the font.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.