Lire & Récréer

A register of books as made objects

Section I4 entries
Signatures A · B · C · D

Folio to octavo, and what the fold decides.

Formats

Format is arithmetic: the number of times the sheet was folded sets the page size, and the page size sets the price, the posture and the market. These entries run from the folio on its lectern to the pocket octavo that Aldus Manutius systematised in Venice in 1501.

Stack of books with colored edges resting on a wooden porch swing bench
Four folds, four objects. The same text at folio, quarto and octavo is three prices and three postures.Credithttps://kaboompics.com/ / Pexels

Entries in Formats

Filed by fold

  • The Aldine octavo

    Aldus Manutius put classical texts into pocket format in Venice in 1501 and had Francesco Griffo cut an italic to fit more words on a smaller page.

    Signature A
    Formats
  • Folio, quarto, octavo

    The format is how many times the sheet was folded, which sets the page size, the price and who the book was for.

    Signature B
    Formats
  • Continental editions

    Cheap reprints for travellers, and the copyright arrangements that permitted them.

    Signature C
    Formats
  • Yellowbacks

    Bright boarded reprints sold at railway stalls to be read in one journey.

    Signature D
    Formats

Elsewhere in the register