General Principles of Pagination and Foliation

Dear bibliophiles, good evening.

A few basic notions about pagination and foliation, which will let you describe correctly most books of the Ancien Régime. These principles hold for manuscripts as for printed books from the 15th to the 18th century, and they are the basis of a successful description of an early book.

Before starting, a quick reminder of what the formats of early books are.

In-plano: the printed sheet is not folded, but bound “flat,” sometimes on a guard.

Folio (2°): the printed sheet is folded once, across its width. The fold divides the sheet into two equal parts.

Quarto (4°): the printed sheet is folded twice. The folds divide the sheet into four equal parts.

Octavo (8°): the sheet is folded three times. The folds divide the sheet into eight equal parts.

Sixteenmo (16°): the sheet is folded four times and divided into sixteen equal parts.

And so on…

A book is divided into “bibliographical units.” These units are elements chosen arbitrarily by the cataloguer to express the material characteristics of the printed book. Four bibliographical units are therefore generally used: the sheet, the leaf, the page, the gathering.

The sheet: the sheet is the origin of the book. It is the raw material, straight from the “moulds” of the paper mill. It has a recto and a verso, and is not yet folded.

The leaf: it is the basic unit of the volume. A leaf is the rectangle of paper that the reader’s hand turns in the course of reading. The leaf is made of a recto and a verso (two pages).

The page: the page is one of the two faces of the leaf. An open book shows two pages facing each other (on two different leaves). A leaf shows two pages back to back (recto and verso).

The gathering (cahier): this is the key element of the book. A gathering is a group of leaves. Most often it corresponds to one printed sheet, folded (in four, eight, sixteen, etc.). A book in octavo is generally made of gatherings of eight leaves (16 pages). A quarto is made of gatherings of 4 leaves (8 pages). It happens, however, that several sheets are “inset” (= gathered one on top of another and folded together), notably for books in folio: grouping the sheets by three or four (gatherings of six or eight leaves, instead of the two leaves of the single folded sheet) lets the binder work much faster (a single sewing instead of three or four). With very rare exceptions (when a single leaf is inset), a gathering always has an even number of leaves.

The printer who sets his book must see that the different printed pages fall in the right order once the sheet is folded. He must therefore lay them out on the press so that the versos of the leaves correspond to their rectos, and so that the leaves follow one another in the right order. This operation is called imposition. To find his way, the compositor relies on a number of marks printed at the top or bottom of the pages, which let him identify at a glance the place of the page within the book.

Foliation: foliation is one of the first marks to have been used by printers. I wrote above that the leaf was the basic material unit, and for us, accustomed to reading “paginated” books, it is hard to accept that the practice in the 15th and 16th centuries could be different. Books of the first half of the 16th century are nonetheless generally numbered by leaves (= foliation), not by pages. Foliation generally sits at the top right of the recto of the leaf concerned. The verso bears no numbering. This foliation may be in Arabic or Roman numerals.

Pagination: pagination appears a little later. In France, it is from the 1530s that one begins to meet “paginated” works regularly, books whose leaves are numbered on both recto and verso. This practice, more convenient for the reader, who has a greater number of reference points, gradually took hold and remains our standard today.

Catchword (réclame): one often sees, at the foot of composed pages, the first words or first letters of the following page. This is what is called the catchword. The catchword has two uses: first, it serves as a reference for the compositor, who knows immediately which page will follow the one he is laying out on the stone of the press; second, the reader has before his eyes the beginning of the next page, which he reads in advance: he can anticipate the reading, turn the page and pick up the thread of the text without losing his momentum.

Signature: but for the compositor the most important of these marks is the signature. The signature alone tells the place of a gathering in the work and the place of a leaf within a gathering. A signature generally consists of a letter followed by a number (Arabic or Roman). The letter indicates the place of the gathering within the volume: the different gatherings of a book are generally “signed” in order of succession by letters, from a to z. The binder, to whom the folded sheets are presented, has only to put the gatherings back in order before binding. Within a single gathering, the first leaves (generally the first half of the gathering) are signed with the letter identifying the gathering to which they belong and with a number giving their place within it. A leaf signed “b5” is therefore the fifth leaf of gathering “b.”

A handy method to know: faced with a book without foliation or pagination, the signatures let you find the number of leaves without counting pages one by one. Look at the letter signing the last gathering, see what rank that letter holds in the alphabet (careful: until the end of the 18th century the Latin alphabet has only 23 letters, with no separate J, V or W!) and multiply the number obtained by the number of leaves in the gatherings. For example, a 16th-century book in octavo whose last gathering is signed X (the 21st letter of the alphabet of the time) has (21 × 8 =) 168 leaves (336 pages). This method is not 100% reliable and does not replace a true page-by-page collation (gatherings do not necessarily have the same number of leaves), but it can still help when one is in a hurry.

Now that all this jargon is defined, one has no doubt understood better how the book is made. But the bibliographer or cataloguer must not merely understand how the work is built; he must describe this materiality and express the collation of a book in clear formulas. A few usages must be respected so that the formulas are understandable to all.

To express the foliation or pagination of a book, the usages are fairly well defined.

Numbering is expressed by a simple formula: [first number mentioned] + [hyphen] + [last number mentioned]. A book whose foliation is written “1-244” is thus made of 244 leaves numbered from 1 to 244.

Very often the preliminary leaves (titles, dedications, etc.) are not numbered. In that case, as a general rule, the number of unnumbered leaves (or pages) is given in square brackets: a book whose foliation is written “[2] 3-244” is thus made of two unnumbered leaves and 242 leaves numbered from 3 to 244.

The format of the book’s own numbering is respected: Roman numerals in Roman numerals, Arabic numerals in Arabic numerals.

It is important always to state the material unit used as reference. For this there are a few abbreviations: f. (or ff.) for leaves, p. (or pp.) for pages, col. for columns (it happens that columns are numbered, rather than pages or leaves), num. for numbered, unnum. for unnumbered.

The formula changes according to whether one reckons in leaves or in pages. One generally follows the usage of the book itself, foliated or paginated. Thus, if the work is made of 244 foliated leaves, one writes “244 ff. num.” (ff. num. for “numbered leaves”). If the work is made of 244 paginated leaves, one writes “488 pp.” (or “pp. num.”).

For works in several parts, it happens that the numbering starts over at the beginning of each part. The different series of foliation or pagination are then written one after another. Thus the formula “[2] III-XXVI, 1-344, 1-648” describes a book made of three parts: the first (probably the preliminary pieces) has two unnumbered leaves and 24 leaves numbered in Roman numerals from III to XXVI; the second has 344 numbered leaves, and the third has 648 numbered leaves.

The cataloguer must also often indicate the way the different gatherings and leaves of a book are signed. This is in the end quite simple.

As a general rule, as we have said, a letter of the alphabet (or some symbol) corresponds to a gathering. When the letters follow one another in alphabetical order, only the first and the last of the series are given, separated by a hyphen: the entry “a-m” thus indicates a succession of 12 gatherings (the full alphabet has only 23 letters, let us not forget!) signed from “a” to “m.”

The number of leaves making up each gathering is given as a superscript. The formula “a-m⁸” thus indicates a succession of 12 gatherings of 8 leaves (a total of 96 leaves).

But it often happens that some gatherings do not have the same number of leaves as the others. The series of signatures must then sometimes be interrupted. The formula “a-g⁸ h⁴ i-m⁸” thus indicates a series of 12 gatherings of 8 leaves, except the gathering signed “h,” which has only four.

Sometimes the bibliographer is faced with a single leaf inserted between two gatherings (this happened to me recently). The simplest and clearest formula is then to note the presence of this leaf by a symbol, followed in superscript by the figure “1.” One obtains a formula like “a-g⁸ [*]¹ h-m⁸.”

It happens that a work has more than 23 gatherings (this is the case for many editions). The series of letters of the alphabet is then no longer enough. Generally, the printer starts the signatures again at the letter “a,” but moves from lowercase to capitals, then multiplies the letters. It is thus not rare to come across signature formulas like this one: “a-z⁸ A-Z⁸ Aa-Zz⁸ Aaa-Mmm⁸.” Here we face a work of 648 leaves (3 × [23 × 8] + [12 × 8]), signed from “a” to “z,” then from “A” to “Z,” then from “Aa” to “Zz,” then from “Aaa” to “Mmm.”

We now have all the keys to read and understand a signature entry. Let us move on to practical work: how many leaves does the famous Cosmographia of Sebastian Münster, published by Heinrich Petri (Basel, 1550, folio), contain, whose signature formula is as follows:

[-]⁶ *⁶ [14 maps on double leaves, outside the text] a-e⁸ f² g⁴ h-k⁶ l⁸ m² n² o⁶ p⁸ q⁴ r⁴ s-z⁸ A-B⁸ C⁶ D² E⁸ F⁶ G⁴ H² I⁴ K² L⁴ M² N-O⁸ P⁶ Q-R² S⁴ T-V² X⁴ Y⁴ [1 folding plate, outside the text, between leaves Y2 and Y3] Z⁶ Aa-Bb² Cc⁸ Dd² Ee-Gg⁸ Hh⁴ Ii⁸ Kk⁶ Ll² Mm² [1 folding plate, outside the text, between Mm1 and Mm2] Nn-Oo⁸ Pp⁴ Qq² Rr⁴ Ss² Tt⁴ [1 folding plate, outside the text, between Tt2 and Tt3] Vu⁶ Xx⁴ Yy² Zz⁸ AA-BB² CC⁸ DD⁴ EE-FF⁸ GG⁴ HH-KK⁸ LL⁴ MM-QQ⁸ RR⁴ SS-ZZ⁸ Aaa-Fff⁸ Ggg⁶ Hhh⁸.

Good luck to those who take it on!

What is the difference between pagination and foliation? Pagination numbers each page (recto and verso have distinct numbers). Foliation numbers each leaf, so each number corresponds to two pages (recto and verso, noted r° and v°). Foliation is typical of the 16th century, and pagination gradually becomes the norm from the 17th century.

How does one read a collation formula? A collation describes the gatherings of a book: for example A-Z⁸, Aa-Mm⁸ indicates gatherings of 8 leaves, signed A to Z then Aa to Mm. The superscript number is the number of leaves per gathering. This formula makes it possible to check that a copy is complete.

Why do some early books start at page 1 when there are unnumbered leaves before? Because the preliminary leaves (title page, dedication, preface, table) are historically not counted. Pagination begins with the main text, which can surprise the modern reader.

What does “folio” or “octavo” mean? These are indications of format, based on the number of times the printing sheet has been folded. A folio = 1 fold (2 leaves, 4 pages); a quarto = 2 folds; an octavo = 3 folds (8 leaves, 16 pages).

To go further: The formats of early books; Collating a book; Recognizing a first edition: the guide; the glossary of library science of the French National Library (BnF); and the French Wikipedia article “Format (papier)”.

H

À lire ensuite

Binding by the Picture: The Very Rare “Puzzle Bindings”, or “Bindings with Surprises”, “Vexierbuch”, “Puzzle Binding”

Dear bibliophiles, good day.

In his latest catalogue (Rare Books no. 66), the American bookseller Bruce McKittrick presented at no. 59 a spectacular “puzzle” binding. These bindings are very rare, and this is a fine occasion to devote an article to them.

The binding offered in the catalogue was described as a German binding in six movable parts, in richly gilt calf, without a spine. It is dated approximately to 1680.

The bookseller describes it as made up of two octavo volumes and four sextodecimo volumes bound together, able to be opened in six different ways, revealing one book at a time each time; with two covers composed of decorated panels made with 22 different tools; the covers are all different.

The binding measures 122 x 195 x 65 mm. All the pages it covers are blank.

When the work is laid flat, three books can be opened independently: the two halves (sextodecimo) can be opened separately, and the main body (octavo) can also be opened in the middle.

The bookseller’s note also specifies that these “spineless bindings with movable parts” are very rare and were generally found in the libraries of German Protestant nobles and princes between 1570 and the 18th century. They are also known as “Vexierbücher” (“puzzle binding” in German) or “bindings with surprises”.

$45,000 was asked for it.

Known bindings with six movable compartments generally cover liturgical texts, songs or works on hunting, or even serve to hold board games such as card games.

These bindings are, of course, very fragile, and almost all recorded examples have been restored.

The German firm Reiss und Sohn offered a binding with movable compartments at the Stuttgart fair in 2015, though such bindings are, of course, exceedingly rare.

It is important not to confuse these bindings with back-to-back or “Siamese” bindings, or with “spineless bindings”.

Puzzle bindings are “spineless bindings”, but they add a fancy, if I may say so, with their movable parts.

H (thanks to Philippe, who drew my attention to the work)

A few references:

Koster: “Mehrfahbände une Vexierbücher. Materialen zu Einbandkuriosa des 16. unef 17. Jarhunderts” in Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens 14 (1974).

Grimm: “Gekoppelte “Zwillingsbände” verschiedener Formate aus dem 16. Jahrhundert” in Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens 5 (1964).

Schaer: Tous les savoirs du monde (1996) 288,36 and illus.

Fletcher et al., The Wormsley Library 34.