Form a book is produced into
The size of a
book
is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover.
[2]
A series of terms is commonly used by
libraries
and
publishers
for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from
folio
(the largest), to
quarto
(smaller) and
octavo
(still smaller). Historically, these terms referred to the format of the book, a technical term used by printers and
bibliographers
to indicate the size of a leaf in terms of the size of the original sheet. For example, a quarto (from Latin
quart?
, ablative form of
quartus
, fourth
[3]
) historically was a book printed on sheets of paper folded in half twice, with the first fold at right angles to the second, to produce 4 leaves (or 8 pages), each leaf one fourth the size of the original sheet printed ? note that a
leaf
refers to the single piece of paper, whereas a
page
is one side of a leaf. Because the actual format of many modern books cannot be determined from examination of the books, bibliographers may not use these terms in scholarly descriptions.
Book formats
[
edit
]
In the
hand press
period (up to about 1820) books were manufactured by printing text on both sides of a full sheet of paper and then folding the paper one or more times into a group of leaves or
gathering
. The binder would sew the gatherings (sometimes also called
signatures
) through their inner hinges and attached to cords in the spine to form the book block. Before the covers were bound to the book, the block of text pages was sometimes trimmed along the three unbound edges to open the folds of the paper and to produce smooth edges for the book. When the leaves were not trimmed, the reader would have to cut open the leaf edges using a knife.
Books made by printing two pages of text on each side of a sheet of paper, which is then folded once to form two leaves or four pages, are referred to as
folios
(from Latin,
foli?
, ablative of
folium
, leaf
[3]
). Those made by printing four text pages on each side of a sheet of paper and folding the paper twice to form a gathering containing four leaves or eight pages are called
quartos
(fourths). Similarly, books made by printing eight pages of text on each side of a sheet, which was then folded three times to form gatherings of eight leaves or sixteen pages each, are called
octavos
. The size of the resulting pages in these cases depends, of course, on the size of the full sheet used to print them and how much the leaves were trimmed before binding, but where the same size paper is used, folios are the largest, followed by quartos and then octavos.
[4]
: 80?81
The proportion of leaves of quartos tends to be squarer than that of folios or octavos.
[5]
: 164
These various production methods are referred to as the format of the book. These terms are often abbreviated, using 4to for quarto, 8vo for octavo, and so on. The octavo format, with eight leaves per gathering, has half the page size of the quarto format before trimming. Smaller formats include the
duodecimo
(12mo or
twelvemo
), with twelve leaves per sheet and pages one-third the size of the quarto format, and the
sextodecimo
(16mo or
sixteenmo
), with sixteen leaves per sheet, half the size of the octavo format and one quarter the size of the quarto. The vast majority of books were printed in the folio, quarto, octavo or duodecimo formats.
[4]
: 82
There are many variations in how such books were produced. For example, folios were rarely made by simply binding up a group of two leaf gatherings; instead several printed leaf pairs would be inserted within another, to produce a larger gathering of multiple leaves that would be more convenient for binding.
[5]
: 30?31
For example, three two-leaf printed sheets might be inserted in a fourth, producing gatherings of eight leaves or sixteen pages each. Bibliographers still refer to such books as folios (and not octavos) because the original full sheets were folded once to produce two leaves, and describe such gatherings as
folios in 8s
. Similarly, a book printed as an octavo, but bound with gatherings of four leaves each, is called an
octavo in 4s
.
[5]
: 28
In determining the format of a book, bibliographers will study the number of leaves in a gathering, their proportion and sizes and also the arrangement of the
chain lines
and
watermarks
in the paper.
[4]
: 84?107
In order for the pages to come out in the correct order, the printers would have to properly lay out the pages of
type
in the printing press. For example, to print two leaves in folio containing pages 1 through 4, the printer would print pages 1 and 4 on one side of the sheet and, after that has dried, print pages 2 and 3 on the other side. If a printer was printing a folio in 8s, as described above, he would have to print pages 1 and 16 on one side of a leaf with pages 2 and 15 on the other side of that leaf, etc. The arrangement of the pages of type in the press is referred to as the
imposition
and there are a number of methods of imposing pages for the various formats, some of which involve cutting the printed pages before binding.
[4]
: 80?110
- See
Further reading
for more on imposition schemes.
Modern book production
[
edit
]
As printing and paper technology developed, it became possible to produce and to print on much larger sheets or rolls of paper and it may not be apparent (or even possible to determine) from examination of a modern book how the paper was folded to produce them. For example, a modern novel may consist of gatherings of sixteen leaves, but may actually have been printed with sixty-four pages on each side of a very large sheet of paper.
[6]
: 429
Similarly, the actual printing format cannot be determined for books that are
perfect bound
, where every leaf in the book is completely cut out (i.e., not conjugate to another leaf as in gatherings) and is glued into the
spine
. Modern books are commonly called
folio
,
quarto
and
octavo
based simply on their size rather than the format in which they were actually produced, if that can even be determined. Scholarly bibliographers may describe such books based on the number of leaves in each gathering (eight leaves per gathering forming an octavo), even where the actual number of pages printed on the original sheet is unknown
[4]
: 80?81
or may reject the use of these terms for modern books entirely.
[note 1]
Today, octavo and quarto are the most common book sizes, but many books are produced in larger and smaller sizes as well. Other terms for book size have developed, an
elephant folio
being up to 580 mm (23 in) tall, an
atlas folio
640 mm (25 in), and a
double elephant folio
1,300 mm (50 in) tall.
Paper sizes
[
edit
]
During the hand press period, full sheets of printing paper were manufactured in a great variety of sizes which were given a number of names, such as
pot
,
demy
,
foolscap
,
crown
, etc.
[7]
[8]
These were not standardized and the actual sizes varied across countries and times.
[4]
: 67?70, 73?75
The size and proportions of a book depend on the size of the original full sheet. If a sheet 480 by 640 mm (19 by 25 in) is used to print a quarto, the resulting untrimmed pages, will be approximately half as large in each dimension: width
240 mm (
9
+
1
⁄
2
in) and height
320 mm (
12
+
1
⁄
2
in). An octavo page, oriented a quarter turn from the full sheet, would have height
240 mm (
9
+
1
⁄
2
in)?
1
⁄
2
in × 19
?and width
160 mm (
6
+
1
⁄
4
in)?
1
⁄
4
in × 25
. The sizes of books of the same format will differ in proportion to the full sheets used to print them. For example, a typical octavo printed in Italy or France in the
16th century
is roughly the size of a modern
mass market paperback
book, but an English
18th-century
octavo is noticeably larger, more like a modern
trade paperback
or hardcover novel
[
citation needed
]
.
Common formats and sizes
[
edit
]
United States
[
edit
]
The following table is adapted from the scale of the
American Library Association
,
[1]
[9]
which uses a basis sheet of 19-by-25-inch (483 by 635 mm)
[10]
which is, confusingly if not explained by the source, half the text/book stock
sheet
of 25-by-38-inch (635 by 965 mm), and in which
size
refers to the dimensions of the cover (trimmed pages will be somewhat smaller, often by about
1
⁄
4
inch
or
5 mm
[2]
). The
words before octavo
signify the traditional names for unfolded paper sheet sizes. Other dimensions may exist as well.
[8]
[11]
US Trade
size corresponds with octavo and is popular for hardbacks.
Mass market paperback
corresponds with duodecimo.
US book formats and corresponding sizes
Name
|
Abbreviations
|
Leaves
|
Pages
|
Approximate cover size (width × height)
|
inch?×?inch
|
mm?×?mm
|
folio
|
2º
or
fo
|
2
|
4
|
12 × 19
|
305 × 483
|
quarto
|
4º
or
4to
|
4
|
8
|
9
+
1
⁄
2
× 12
|
241 × 305
|
Imperial
octavo
|
8º
or
8vo
|
8
|
16
|
8
+
1
⁄
4
×
11
+
1
⁄
2
|
210 × 292
|
Super
octavo
|
7 × 11
|
178 × 279
|
Royal
octavo
|
6
+
1
⁄
4
× 10
|
159 × 254
|
Medium
octavo
|
6
+
1
⁄
2
×
9
+
1
⁄
4
|
165 × 235
|
octavo
|
6 × 9
|
152 × 229
|
Crown
octavo
|
5
+
3
⁄
8
× 8
|
137 × 203
|
duodecimo
or
twelvemo
|
12º
or
12mo
|
12
|
24
|
5 ×
7
+
3
⁄
8
|
127 × 187
|
sextodecimo
or
sixteenmo
|
16º
or
16mo
|
16
|
32
|
4 ×
6
+
3
⁄
4
|
102 × 171
|
octodecimo
or
eighteenmo
|
18º
or
18mo
|
18
|
36
|
4 ×
6
+
1
⁄
2
|
102 × 165
|
trigesimo-secundo
or
thirty-twomo
|
32º
or
32mo
|
32
|
64
|
3
+
1
⁄
2
×
5
+
1
⁄
2
|
89 × 140
|
quadragesimo-octavo
or
forty-eightmo
|
48º
or
48mo
|
48
|
96
|
2
+
1
⁄
2
× 4
|
63.5 × 102
|
sexagesimo-quarto
or
sixty-fourmo
|
64º
or
64mo
|
64
|
128
|
2 × 3
|
51 × 76
|
United Kingdom
[
edit
]
A common paperback size in the UK is
B-format
, which is used, for example, by
Penguin Classics
. This contrasts with A-format, which is slightly narrower than ISO B6, and C-format.
[12]
British paperback sizes
Format
|
mm?×?mm
|
inch?×?inch
|
Aspect ratio
|
A
|
110 × 178
|
4
+
3
⁄
8
× 7
|
?
?1
|
B
|
129 × 198
|
5
+
1
⁄
8
×
7
+
3
⁄
4
|
1.53
|
C
|
135 × 216
|
5
+
3
⁄
8
×
8
+
1
⁄
2
|
8?5
|
Formerly the descriptions octavo, quarto, duodecimo, etc. were used (see table under United States above).
Japan
[
edit
]
In book construction, Japan uses a mixture of
ISO A-series
,
JIS B-series
, and several traditional Japanese paper sizes. A- and B-series signatures are folded from a sheet slightly larger than ISO A1 and JIS B1, respectively, then trimmed to size. The most commonly encountered sizes are listed below.
Japanese book formats and corresponding sizes
Name
|
Translation
|
Leaves
|
Pages
|
Approximate cover size (width × height)
|
Notes
|
mm?×?mm
|
inch?×?inch
|
B4判
|
JIS B4
|
8
|
16
|
257 × 364
|
10
+
1
⁄
8
×
14
+
1
⁄
3
|
Folded from B-series standard sheets
(
B列本番
)
measuring 765 mm × 1,085 mm (30.1 in × 42.7 in)
|
A4判
|
ISO A4
|
8
|
16
|
210 × 297
|
8
+
1
⁄
4
×
11
+
17
⁄
24
|
Folded from A-series standard sheets
(
A列本番
)
measuring 625 mm × 880 mm (24.6 in × 34.6 in)
|
AB判
|
AB
|
16
|
32
|
210 × 257
|
8
+
1
⁄
4
×
10
+
1
⁄
8
|
Has the width of ISO A4 and height of JIS B5
|
B5判
|
JIS B5
|
16
|
32
|
182 × 257
|
7
+
1
⁄
6
×
10
+
1
⁄
8
|
|
菊判
|
Kiku
("Chrysanthemum")
|
16
|
32
|
150 × 220
|
5
+
11
⁄
12
×
8
+
2
⁄
3
|
Folded from sheets (also called "
kiku
") of 636 mm × 939 mm (25.0 in × 37.0 in)
|
A5判
|
ISO A5
|
16
|
32
|
148 × 210
|
5
+
5
⁄
6
×
8
+
1
⁄
4
|
重箱判
|
J?bako
("Tiered Box")
|
20
|
40
|
182 × 206
|
7
+
1
⁄
6
×
8
+
1
⁄
8
|
Name refers to squarish shape;
folded from B-series standard sheets, yielding 8 more pages than JIS B5.
|
四六判
|
Shi-Roku
("4 × 6")
|
32
|
64
|
127 × 188
|
5 ×
7
+
5
⁄
12
|
Name refers to approximate dimensions in
sun
;
folded from sheets of 788 mm × 1,091 mm (31.0 in × 43.0 in)
|
B6判
|
JIS B6
|
32
|
64
|
128 × 182
|
5
+
1
⁄
24
×
7
+
1
⁄
6
|
|
新書判
/
B40判
|
"
Shinsho
" ("New Book") / "B40"
|
40
|
80
|
103 × 182
|
4
+
1
⁄
24
×
7
+
1
⁄
6
|
Half the size of
J?bako
. Folded from B-series standard sheets, yielding 16 more pages than JIS B6.
An informal,
de facto
standard, with some variation in finished sizes between publishers.
|
小B6判
|
"Small JIS B6"
|
32
|
64
|
112 × 174
|
4
+
5
⁄
12
×
6
+
5
⁄
6
|
Some publishers' "
Shinsho
" dimensions are closer to this size.
|
A6判
|
ISO A6
|
32
|
64
|
105 × 148
|
4
+
1
⁄
8
×
5
+
5
⁄
6
|
Size used for
Bunkobon
(small-format paperbacks)
|
三五判
|
San-Go
("3 × 5")
|
40
|
80
|
84 × 148
|
3
+
7
⁄
24
×
5
+
5
⁄
6
|
Name refers to approximate dimensions in
sun
;
folded from A-series standard sheets, yielding 16 more pages than A6.
|
Records
[
edit
]
Largest book
[
edit
]
According to the 2003
Guinness World Records
, the largest book in the world was
Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Last Himalayan Kingdom
by
Michael Hawley
. Its size is 1.5 m × 2.1 m (5 ft × 7 ft).
[13]
According to the 2007 Guinness World Records, the largest published book in the world was
The Little Prince
printed in Brazil in 2007. Its size is 2.01 m × 3.08 m (6 ft 7 in × 10 ft 1 in).
[14]
According to the 2012 Guinness World Records, the largest book in the world was
This the Prophet Mohamed
made in
Dubai
, UAE. Its size is 5 m × 8.06 m (16.4 ft × 26.4 ft).
[15]
Though larger than
The Little Prince
, the two hold separate records, as
This the Prophet Mohamed
was not published.
Smallest book
[
edit
]
The smallest book is
Teeny Ted from Turnip Town
measured 0.07 mm × 0.10 mm (0.0028 in × 0.0039 in).
[16]
Largest manuscript
[
edit
]
The largest surviving medieval manuscript is the
Codex Gigas
or 'Devil's Manuscript', with dimensions of 920 mm × 500 mm (36 in × 20 in).
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Cf.
Bowers,
[6]
: 429?430
suggesting that a book with eight leaves per gathering where the format cannot be determined should be referred to as
in 8s
and not
octavo
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Thompson, Elizabeth Hardy, ed. (1943).
ALA Glossary of Library Terms, with a selection of terms in related fields
. American Library Association. p.
151
.
ISBN
9780838900000
.
- ^
a
b
Roberts, Matt; Etherington, Don (1982).
"Book sizes"
.
Bookbinding and the conservation of books: a dictionary of descriptive terminology
. Library of Congress.
ISBN
9780844403663
.
- ^
a
b
Oxford English Dictionary
(2nd ed.).
Oxford University Press
. 1989.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Gaskell, Philip
(1972).
A New Introduction to Bibliography
(1st ed.). Clarendon Press.
- ^
a
b
c
McKerrow, Ronald Brunlees
(1927). McKitterick, David (ed.).
An Introduction to Bibliography for Literary Students
. Clarendon Press.
- ^
a
b
Bowers, Fredson (1949).
Principles of Bibliographical Description
(1st ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- ^
Ringwalt, John Luther, ed. (1871).
"Dimensions of Paper"
.
American Encyclopaedia of Printing
. Philadelphia: Menamin & Ringwalt. pp. 139?140.
- ^
a
b
Savage, William (1841).
"Paper"
.
A Dictionary of the Art of Printing
. New York: Burt Franklin. pp. 560?566.
- ^
"PapersDB (Papers Database)"
.
papersdb.com
.
- ^
Levine-Clark, Michael; Carter, Toni M., eds. (2013).
ALA glossary of library and information science
(4th ed.). Chicago, Ill.: American Library Association. p. 38.
ISBN
9780838911112
.
- ^
Ambrose, Gavin; Harris, Paul (2015).
The Layout Book
(2nd ed.). Bloomsbury. pp. 76?77.
ISBN
9781474239318
.
- ^
Wilson-Fletcher, Honor (11 August 2001).
"The importance of format and feel"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
6 April
2019
.
- ^
"Guinness: Scientist creates world's largest book"
.
CNN
. Associated Press. 2003-12-16. Archived from
the original
on 2007-05-22
. Retrieved
2007-06-07
.
- ^
"Largest book published"
.
Guinness World Records
.
- ^
"Largest book"
.
Guinness World Records
.
- ^
"Smallest reproduction of a printed book"
.
Guinness World Records
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
A number of imposition schemes for different formats may be found in:
Additional tables and discussion of American book formats and sizes may be found in:
- Caspar, Carl Nicolaus (1889).
"Book sizes (in "Part VI: Theory and practice of the book trade and kindred branches", "c. A vocabulary of terms and phrases in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Latin, etc., employed in literature, the graphic arts and the book, stationery and printing trades, etc.")"
.
Caspar's directory of the American book, news and stationery trade
. Milwaukee: C. N. Caspar's Book Emporium. pp. 1310?1312 – via Google Books.
- Roberts (1982),
available online
- AbeBooks (3 June 2021).
"Guide to book formats"
.
- Trussel, Stephen.
"Book Sizes"
.
Books and book collecting
.
|
---|
Production
| |
---|
Consumption
| |
---|
By country
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|
Related
| |
---|
|