The designing of a highly readable book requires the use of composition rules that are in harmony with the time of its production. Establishing such composition rules requires studying the prevailing conventions in practice and in composition technology, up to that time.This study analyzes the first edition of Wagahai Wa Neko De Aru by Soseki Natsume (first published in 1905 by Okura Shoten and Hattori Shoten), whose design is highly regarded today. Other late Meiji publications are also considered, particularly those literary works that became bestsellers. The analysis and measurement of their page layout, including printing type, line spacing, and number of characters per line, allow us to verify the technical restrictions of the time, as well as the prevailing practice and composition rules, against which background we consider the design of the first edition of Wagahai Wa Neko De Aru.
