Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: the prancing pony by barliman butterbur. Many of the lower windows showed lights behind thick curtains.

It appears just like that in my book. No quotes. No cursive writing. No special formatting whatsoever. But this is the case in numerous other places, so it's not my book being some sort of sloppy/weird edition.

There must be some special significance to this. But what? Why would he do this?

The fact that it's also all in lower-case letters, even though both "The Prancing Pony" and "Barliman Butterbur" are spelled like I just did everywhere else, makes me really wonder if this is actually a mistake. I truly have no guess as to what else it could signify.

Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: the prancing pony by barliman butterbur. Many of the lower windows showed lights behind thick curtains.

It appears just like that in my book. No quotes. No cursive writing. No special formatting whatsoever. But this is the case in numerous other places, so it's not my book being some sort of sloppy/weird edition.

There must be some special significance to this. But what? Why would he do this?

The fact that it's also all in lower-case letters, even though both "The Prancing Pony" and "Barliman Butterbur" are spelled like I just did everywhere else, makes me really wonder if this is actually a mistake.