Thanks Hraban. I actually started out with just one setting for the height, but have been adding more to see if I could achieve what ought to be a very simple result by changing some of the others Nothing has worked so far, even when I vary the choice of what to switch on and off. The most intriguing is:

height=522.6275pt

with which I have been tinkering endlessly. I don't really see why I need this at all since it should be automatically calculated from the other settings, but it does make a difference, though in an unexpected way. If I make just a minute alteration (plus or minus) I can achieve 39 lines or 41 lines, but never 40, on the first few pages. There is no logical reason I can think of in any case why three pages should be correct and three incorrect, but I'll keep at it until it comes right.

I had already found \showgrid but I can't use grid setting throughout the books I am intending to set with ConTexT since a typical page will consist at least of main text with 12 points between the lines and footnotes with 9 points between the lines, and often also extended quotations with 11 points between the lines. But I will need to ensure that all pages come to the same depth.

Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Best wishes

John 🇪🇺 Слава Україні! 🇺🇦

On Mon, 23 Jun 2025 at 11:57, Henning Hraban Ramm <texml@fiee.net> wrote:

Am 23.06.25 um 11:19 schrieb John Was:
> Hello
>
> For some reason I'm having a lot of trouble getting the page to include
> precisely 40 lines of text (10.5 Baskerville with an interline depth of
> 12 points). On an experimental file with 6 full-depth pages and no
> footnotes, I find that the first three have 39 lines and the second
> three have the desired 40 lines. You will see from the code below that
> I have been tinkering a lot, but it ought to be a simple matter! Can
> someone let me know what I should be doing?
>
> Here's the code (and I have to desert my desk now till this afternoon so
> am not in a hurry for an answer!):

Use

EITHER

> height=522.6275pt,

OR

> %lines=40%this messes up position on the A4 page

As I said, you’re using too many settings, some interfere.

And if you want a fixed number of lines, grid setting makes sense.
(Hint: \showgrid)

Hraban
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