Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made
of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A
single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a sheet is called a page. A
book produced in electronic format is known as an e-book.
Books may also refer to a literary work, or a main division of such a work. In
library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from
serial periodicals such as magazines, journals or newspapers.
In novels, a book may be divided into several large sections, also called books
(Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, etc).
A lover of books is usually referred to as a bibliophile, a bibliophilist, or a
philobiblist, or, more informally, a bookworm.
The word book comes from Old English "bōc" which comes from Germanic root
"*bōk-", cognate to beech.
Similarly, in Slavic languages (e.g. Russian and Bulgarian "буква" (bukva)
—"letter") is cognate to "beech". It is thus conjectured that the earliest Indo-European
writings may have been carved on beech wood.
When writing systems were invented in ancient civilizations, nearly everything
that could be written upon—stone, clay, tree bark, metal sheets—was used for writing.
Alphabetic writing emerged in Egypt around 1800 BC. At first the words were not
separated from each other (scripta continua) and there was no punctuation. Texts were
written from right to left, left to right, and even so that alternate lines read in opposite
directions. The technical term for this type of writing is 'boustrophedon,' which means
literally 'ox-turning' for the way a farmer drives an ox to plough his fields.
The common structural parts of a book include:
Front cover: hardbound or softcover (paperback); the spine is the binding that
joins the front and rear covers where the pages hinge
Front endpaper
Flyleaf
Front matter
o Frontispiece
o Title page
o Copyright page: typically verso of title page: shows copyright owner/date,
credits, edition/printing, cataloguing details
o Table of contents
o List of figures
o List of tables
o Dedication
o Acknowledgments
o Foreword
o Preface
o Introduction
Body: the text or contents, the pages often collected or folded into signatures; the
pages are usually numbered sequentially, and often divided into chapters.
Back matter
o Appendix
o Glossary
o Index
o Notes
o Bibliography
o Colophon
Flyleaf
Rear endpaper
Rear cover
Sizes
The size of a modern book is based on the printing area of a common flatbed
press. The pages of type were arranged and clamped in a frame, so that when printed on a
sheet of paper the full size of the press, the pages would be right side up and in order
when the sheet was folded, and the folded edges trimmed.
The most common book sizes are:
Quarto (4to): the sheet of paper is folded twice, forming four leaves (eight pages)
approximately 11-13 inches (ca 30 cm) tall
Octavo (8vo): the most common size for current hardcover books. The sheet is
folded three times into eight leaves (16 pages) up to 9 ¾" (ca 23 cm) tall.
DuoDecimo (12mo): a size between 8vo and 16mo, up to 7 ¾" (ca 18 cm) tall
Sextodecimo (16mo): the sheet is folded four times, forming sixteen leaves (32
pages) up to 6 ¾" (ca 15 cm) tall
Sizes larger than quarto are:
Folio: up to 15" (ca 38 cm) tall.
Elephant Folio: up to 23" (ca 58 cm) tall.
Atlas Folio: up to 25" (ca 63 cm) tall.
Double Elephant Folio: up to 50" (ca 127 cm) tall.
Sizes smaller than 16mo are:
24mo: up to 5 ¾" (ca 13 cm) tall.
32mo: up to 5" (ca 12 cm) tall.
48mo: up to 4" (ca 10 cm) tall.
64mo: up to 3" (ca 8 cm) tall.
Types of books
Small books can be called booklets.
Notebooks are blank books to be written in by the user. Students use them for
taking notes. Scientists and other researchers use lab notebooks to record their work.
Many notebooks are simply bound by a spiral coil at the edge so that pages can be easily
torn out. Books to be partly filled in by the user include a personal address book, phone
book, or calendar book for recording appointments, etc.
Albums are books for holding collections of memorabilia, pictures or
photographs. They are often made so that the pages are removable. albums hold
collections of stamps.
Books for recording periodic entries by the user, such as daily information about a
journey, are called logbooks or simply logs. A similar book for writing daily the owner's
private personal events and information is called a diary.
Businesses use accounting books such as journals and ledgers to record financial data in a
practice called bookkeeping.
Pre-printed school books for students to study are commonly called textbooks and
Schoolbooks. Elementary school pupils often use workbooks which are published with
spaces or blanks to be filled by them for study or homework.
A book with written prayers is called a prayerbook or missal. A book with a collection
of hymns is called a hymnal.
In a library, a general type of non-fiction book which provides information as
opposed to telling a story, essay, commentary, or otherwise supporting a point of view, is
often referred to as a reference book. A very general reference book, usually one-
volume, with lists of data and information on many topics is called an almanac. A more
specific reference book with tables or lists of data and information about a certain topic,
often intended for professional use, is often called a handbook. Books with technical
information on how to do something or how to use some equipment are called manuals.
An encyclopedia is a book or set of books with articles on many topics. A book listing
words, their etymology, meanings, etc. is called a dictionary. A book which is a
collection of maps is an atlas. Books which try to list references and abstracts in a certain
broad area may be called an index, such as Engineering Index, or abstracts such as
Chemical Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, etc.
Bookmarks were used throughout the medieval period,[15] consisting usually of a
small parchment strip attached to the edge of folio (or a piece of cord attached to
headband). Bookmarks in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were narrow silk
ribbons bound into the book and become widespread in the 1850's. They were usually
made from silk, embroidered fabrics or leather. Not until the 1880's, did paper and other
materials become more common.
Books may also be categorized by their binding or cover. Hard cover books have
a stiff binding. Paperback books have cheaper, flexible covers which tend to be less
durable.
Publishing is a process for producing books, magazines, newspapers, etc. pre-
printed for the reader/user to buy, usually in large numbers by a publishing company.
Such books can be categorized as fiction (made-up stories) or non-fiction (information
written as fact). A book-length fiction story is called a novel.
Publishers may produce low-cost, pre-publication copies known as galleys or 'bound
proofs' for promotional purposes, such as generating reviews in advance of publication.
Galleys are usually made as cheaply as possible, since they are not intended for sale.