Proper Names

Q. My question is about the proper font of a boat name as a possessive as in “the Ibis’s lower decks.” CMOS 8.116 says italics for the boat’s name; 6.2 specifies the use of italics when the punctuation is part of the word. This seems a Talmudic moment. Thanks.

A. Ah—although the boat name is properly in italics, the apostrophe and s are not, because they are not actually part of the name. Please see CMOS 7.29. Shalom.