book sizes

The dimensions of books, as measured, in inches, centimeters, or millimeters, from head to tail and from spine to fore edges of the cover. The descriptions given to book sizes are based on a still currently used system that involves using the size of a leaf as a fraction of the folded sheet on which it was printed. With reference to the printing of books, an even number of leaves always results when a sheet is folded, i.e., 2, 4, 8, 16, etc., resulting in printed pages on each side of the leaf, i.e., 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. Except for the largest size, the FOLIO (1) , the name of the size indicates the fractional part of the sheet one leaf occupies, e.g., quarto (2 folds, 4 leaves, 8 pages), 1/4 Of the sheet; octavo (3 folds, 8 leaves, 16 pages), 1/8 of the sheet, etc. In this system, since books are printed from different sizes of sheets (See: BOOK BASIS ), the fractional designation by itself cannot denote an exact size; therefore it is a common practice to give the name of the sheet before the fractional name, e.g., royal octavo, which is an octavo 1/8 the size of a sheet 20 X 25 inches or, excluding the SQUARES , a book 10 x 6 1/4 inches (before trimming). Paper is cut to so many sizes, however, that the terms crown, royal, post, etc., unless qualified, are practically meaningless. See: SIZES OF PAPER . Untrimmed sizes for three commonly used sheet sizes are given below. The customary trim of 1/8 inch at head and tail will reduce the height of the text block by 1/4 inch; however, the size of the bound book. assuming 1/8 inch squares will make the height of the book the same as the sizes given. It should be mentioned that not all sheet sizes given are folded to produce books of the very small size indicated. All folds, following the first, are right-angle folds. The common book-trade designation of sizes was originally related to a sheet of handmade paper measuring 19 X 25 inches, which was the common size of the papermaking mold. When folded to 8 leaves, or 16 pages, and trimmed, each was 6 1/2 X 9 1/4 inches, approximately, and was the standard dimension of an 8vo. When folded to make 16 leaves, or 32 pages, it was a 16 mo. With the present great variety of paper sizes, all dimensions are by necessity only approximate. (52 , 69 , 140 , 156 , 169 )
Size (in inches) 25 by 38 25 by 38 25 by 38 25 by 38 25 by 38 25 by 38 20 by 25 20 by 25 20 by 25 20 by 25 20 by 25 20 by 25 18 by 23 18 by 23 18 by 23 18 by 23 18 by 23 18 by 23 Name Book sizes Times Leaves Pages Size of Untrimmed Folded per Sheet per Sheet Page (leaf) 1 2 4 25 by 19 2 4 8 19 by 12 1/2 3 8 16 12 1/2 by 9 1/2 4 16 32 9 1/2 by 6 1/4 5 32 64 6 1/4 by 4 3/4 6 64 18 4 3/4 by 3 1/8 2 4 20 by 12 1/2 2 4 8 12 1/2 by 10 3 8 16 10 by 6 1/4 4 16 32 6 1/4 by 5 s 32 64 2 1/2 by 3 1/8 6 64 128 3 1/8 by 2 1/2 2 4 18 by 11 1/2 2 4 8 11 1/2 by 9 3 8 16 9 by 5 3/4 4 16 32 5 3/4 by 4 1/2 5 32 64 4 1/2 by 2 7/8 6 64 128 2 7/8 by 2 1/4 names and their equivalents Name Abbreviation Symbol

folio quarto octavo sixteenmo thirty-twomo sixty-fourmo folio quarto Octavo sixteenmo thirty-twomo sixty-fourmo folio quarto octavo sixteenmo thirty-twomo sixty-fourmo Size Old Name Modern

folio quarto sexto octavo duodecimo sextodecimo octodecimo vincestmo-quartO vegisemo-quarto trigesimo-decundo quadragesimo-octavo sexagesimo-quarto Size Name pott foolscap crown large crown large post demy post small demy medium small royal royal super royal imperial

folio fo or f quarto 4to sixmo 6to or 6mo octavo 8mo or 8vo twelvemo 12mo sixteenmo 16mo eighteenmo 18mo twenty-fourmo 24mo twenty-fourmo 24mo thirty-twomo 32mo forty-eightmo 48mo sixty-fourmo 64mo British book sizes Octavo Size Quarto Size 6 1/4 by 4 8 by 6 1/4 6 3/4 by 4 1/4 8 1/4 by 6 3/4 7 1/2 by 5 1O by 7 1/2 8 by 5 1/4 10 1/2 by 8 8 1/4 by 5 1/4 10 1/4 by 8 1/4 8 3/4 by 5 5/8 11 1/4 by 8 3/4 8 by 5 10 by 8 8 1/2 by 5 5/8 11 1/4 by 8 1/2 9 by 5 3/4 11 1/2 by 9 9 1/4 by 6 1/8 12 1/4 by 9 1/4 10 by 6 1/4 12 1/2 by 10 10 1/4 by 6 3/4 13 1/2 by 10 1/4 11 by 7 1/2 15 by 11

4 6 8 12 16 18 24 24 32 48 64