Talk:Auguste Arthur De la Rive

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Latest comment: 8 years ago by DavidBrooks in topic Correct capitalization?

Correct capitalization?

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Re the recent change from "Auguste Arthur de la Rive" to "Auguste Arthur De la Rive" in the text (but not the article title): a review of apparently authoritative online texts in English and French show all the possible combinations of capitalization of "de" and "la". French Wikipedia is currently inconsistent. I don't know what the standard spelling conventions would be, or whether it would change in the context of French text or English text (the Congressional record is unique in having De La, while the current EB has de La). But I'd tend to regard the Swiss National Biography as authentic, and that has "De la Rive, Auguste" while the French magazine Nature has "Auguste de la Rive", which indicates that adding the first name make the difference between De and de. The American Academy cite suggests the same (check the small caps). So I'm proposing that the article's text be retitled to "Auguste Arthur de la Rive, but "De la Rive" when not preceded by the first name(s). Unless someone objects with an authoritative explanation, I'll make those reversions in a couple of days. David Brooks (talk) 23:19, 24 November 2015 (UTC)Reply

Done, but I raised the question at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Capital letters in case some expert has an authoritative rule. David Brooks (talk) 02:50, 30 November 2015 (UTC)Reply