| Colophon Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animals on the cover of XML Publishing with AxKit are tarpans (Equus caballus gmelini). Now extinct (the last known true tarpan died in captivity in 1876), the tarpan was the original, prehistoric European wild horse. Tarpans lived in southern France and in Spain and eastward toward central Russia, and they inhabited the ancient forests and wetlands of Poland until the 18th century. Peasants who captured and tamed these wild horses would crossbreed them with the local domestic horse. The tarpans that are around today are genetic recreations of the original wild breed, using several European pony breeds that were descendants of the prehistoric tarpan. The tarpan's body is smoky gray in color , with a darker face and legs. Though it is considered a small horse, it has a large head, massive jaws, and a thick neck. Tarpans became extinct because of the destruction of the forest, their natural habitat, to make room for villages, cities, and agriculture for the growing European human population. There are about 50 tarpans in North America today and possibly only 100 in the world. Most of the tarpans are in the United States and are owned by private individuals. They are friendly, curious , and affectionate and have a very calm disposition, which makes them suitable for children to ride; they are also presently being used in programs to aid the mentally and physically handicapped. Tarpans are very strong, sturdy, and agile, and can cover long distances without horseshoes. Matt Hutchinson was the production editor for XML Publishing with AxKit . GEX Publishing Services provided production support. Darren Kelly, Emily Quill, Jamie Peppard, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Emma Colby designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Library of Natural History, Volume 2. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font. Melanie Wang designed the interior layout, based on a series design by David Futato. This book was converted by Joe Wizda to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Janet Santackas. The online edition of this book was created by the Safari production group (John Chodacki, Becki Maisch, and Ellie Cutler) using a set of Frame-to-XML conversion and cleanup tools written and maintained by Erik Ray, Benn Salter, John Chodacki, Ellie Cutler, and Jeff Liggett. |
