diff --git a/include/osgText/Text b/include/osgText/Text
index 6f37b36bf..e88331a38 100644
--- a/include/osgText/Text
+++ b/include/osgText/Text
@@ -119,12 +119,21 @@ public:
     /** Set the maximum height of the text box.
       * With horizontal layouts any characters which do not fit are wrapped around.
       * 0 or negative values indicate that no maximum height is set, lines can be as long as 
-      * they need be to fit thre required text*/
+      * they need be to fit the required text*/
     void setMaximumHeight(float maximumHeight);
     
     /** Get the maximum height of the text box.*/
     float getMaximumHeight() const { return _maximumHeight; }
 
+    /** Set the line spacing of the text box, given as a percentage of
+      * the character height. The default value is 0 for backward 
+      * compatibility. For longer paragraphs of text, a value of at 
+      * least 25% (i.e. set line spacing to 0.25) is recommended. */
+    void setLineSpacing(float lineSpacing);
+
+    /** Get the line spacing of the text box. */
+    float getLineSpacing() const { return _lineSpacing; }
+
 
 
     /** Set the position of text.*/
@@ -522,6 +531,7 @@ protected:
     CharacterSizeMode                       _characterSizeMode;
     float                                   _maximumWidth;
     float                                   _maximumHeight;
+    float                                   _lineSpacing;
 
     String                                  _text;
     osg::Vec3                               _position;
diff --git a/src/osgText/Text.cpp b/src/osgText/Text.cpp
index 10aff1282..b84202660 100644
--- a/src/osgText/Text.cpp
+++ b/src/osgText/Text.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ Text::Text():
     _characterSizeMode(OBJECT_COORDS),
     _maximumWidth(0.0f),
     _maximumHeight(0.0f),
+    _lineSpacing(0.0f),
     _alignment(BASE_LINE),
     _autoRotateToScreen(false),
     _layout(LEFT_TO_RIGHT),
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ Text::Text(const Text& text,const osg::CopyOp& copyop):
     _characterSizeMode(text._characterSizeMode),
     _maximumWidth(text._maximumWidth),
     _maximumHeight(text._maximumHeight),
+    _lineSpacing(text._lineSpacing),
     _text(text._text),
     _position(text._position),
     _alignment(text._alignment),
@@ -147,6 +149,12 @@ void  Text::setMaximumHeight(float maximumHeight)
     _maximumHeight = maximumHeight;
     computeGlyphRepresentation();
 }
+
+void Text::setLineSpacing(float lineSpacing)
+{
+    _lineSpacing = lineSpacing;
+    computeGlyphRepresentation();
+}
     
 
 void Text::setText(const String& text)
@@ -693,7 +701,7 @@ void Text::computeGlyphRepresentation()
         {
           case LEFT_TO_RIGHT:
           {
-            startOfLine_coords.y() -= _characterHeight;
+            startOfLine_coords.y() -= _characterHeight * (1.0 + _lineSpacing);
             cursor = startOfLine_coords;
             previous_charcode = 0;
             _lineCount++;
@@ -701,7 +709,7 @@ void Text::computeGlyphRepresentation()
           }
           case RIGHT_TO_LEFT:
           {
-            startOfLine_coords.y() -= _characterHeight;
+            startOfLine_coords.y() -= _characterHeight * (1.0 + _lineSpacing);
             cursor = startOfLine_coords;
             previous_charcode = 0;
             _lineCount++;
@@ -709,7 +717,7 @@ void Text::computeGlyphRepresentation()
           }
           case VERTICAL:
           {
-            startOfLine_coords.x() += _characterHeight/_characterAspectRatio;
+            startOfLine_coords.x() += _characterHeight/_characterAspectRatio * (1.0 + _lineSpacing);
             cursor = startOfLine_coords;
             previous_charcode = 0;
             // because _lineCount is the max vertical no. of characters....