Folio (book)

“ It occupies no less than thirty-eight treble-columned folio pages, and contains the titles of more than three thousand works. To attempt to convey to the reader an idea of this curious and sumptuous library, without transcribing a large proportion of its catalogue, I am afraid will be a futile labor; but as that would occupy too much space, and to many of my readers be, after all, dry and uninteresting, I shall merely give the names of some of the most conspicuous. Years indeed it must have required to have amassed a collection so brilliant and superb in those days of book scarcity. ”

“ The earliest folios printed in Germany and Italy are in quires of ten leaves, i.e. there are ten leaves between signature and signature; in the majority of early folios there are eight. Again, there is no folio book in existence among early books (excepting the block-books, which are in a class apart) with only two leaves to the signature.
Wynkyn de Worde made up many of his quartos in quires of eight and four leaves alternately; most early 16mos were made up in quires of eight leaves, and had therefore two signatures to each complete sheet. ”

“ The mention of any size, folio, quarto, octavo, twelvemo, sixteenmo, calls up at once a distinct mental picture of an ideal book for each dimension, and the series is marked by a decreasing thickness of paper and size of type as it progresses downward from the folio. The proportions of the page will also vary, as well as the surface of the paper and the cut of the type, the other elements conforming to that first chosen.
Next to size, paper determines the expression of a book. It [5] is the printing material par excellence; but for its production the art could never have flourished. ”

“ It is hardly possible to see a finer copy of the Scriptores Hist. Augustæ, printed by P. de Lavagna in 1475, folio. It possesses all the legitimate evidences of pristine condition, and is bound in its first coat of oak. Here is a very fine copy of the Plutarchi Vitæ Paralellæ, printed in the letter R, in two large folio volumes, bound in wood, covered by vellum of the sixteenth century. But, if of any book, it is of the first edition of Catullus Tibullus et Propertius, of 1472, folio--that this Library has just reason to be proud. ”

“ The cuts are in two sizes, the smaller being surrounded with Toryesque borders. It is difficult to pass any judgment other than one of praise on such delicate work. Nevertheless, just as the fanfare style of binding used by Nicolas Eve, with its profuse repetition of small tools, is much more effective on a small book cover than on a large, so here we may well feel that some bolder and clearer design would be better suited to the illustration of a folio. In the title-cut here shown (Plate XXVI) a rather larger style is attempted with good results. ”

“ Folio. A most singular volume--in hexameter and pentameter, verses. To every fable is a wood cut, quite in the ballad style of execution, with a back-ground like coarse mosaic work. The text is printed in a large clumsy gothic letter. The present is a sound copy, but not free from stain. Bound in blue morocco.
ÆSOPUS. Italicè. Edited by Tuppi. 1485. Folio. A well known and highly coveted edition: but copies are very rare, especially when of goodly dimensions. This is a large and beautiful book; although I observe that the border, on the right margin of the first leaf, is somewhat cut away. ”

“ The “size” of a book is a technical expression for the relation of the individual leaves to the sheet of paper of which they form a part. A book in-folio means one in which the paper has been folded once, so that each sheet has made two leaves. In a book in-quarto, each sheet has been folded twice so as to make four leaves. ”

“ Under no circumstances should tracing with a pen or other hard instrument be permitted to any reader. Failure to enforce this rule may result in ruin of valuable engravings or maps.
There is one class of books which demand special and watchful care at the hands of the librarian. These are the fine illustrated works, mostly in large folio, which include the engravings of the art galleries of Europe, and many other specially rare or costly publications. ”

“ Where the margin is small, as in very small prayer books, a very great risk of cutting into the print is incurred; besides, it is rather annoying to see a book which has the folio or paging on one leaf nearly at the top, and on the next, the print touching the bottom; to remedy such an evil, the printer having done his duty by placing his margins quite true, it remains with the binder to perfect and bring the sheet into proper form by folding. ”

“ Every year the sale-rooms witness these monstrosities. Biographies issued in a single volume are 'extended' ('rended asunder' would be a better term) to fifteen or twenty volumes by the insertion of hundreds of engravings depicting every place mentioned in the text and every man or woman that the subject of the biography ever met. I have seen an octavo volume multiplied into twenty-five folio ones in this fashion, the leaves being inlaid to suit the size of the huge portraits and views stuffed into the disjointed sections of the wretched book. ”

“ The following measurements, in inches, of a leaf of folio, octavo, and 16mo, of foolscap, medium, and imperial paper, will show how impossible it would be, from the size of the book to determine the fold of the sheet, even of paper of what are called the regular sizes, particularly when the books have been cut down in binding:
Since the introduction of machine paper and large presses, paper is made of almost any and every size and shape, and it is no longer possible to distinguish, with accuracy, the different folds. ”

“ In one account it is “much cropped” by the book-binder’s cruel shears; in the other, its unmutilated condition is contrasted with that of a copy which has been “cropped.” In any case, Mr. Collier hoped, he says, to complete an imperfect folio he possessed, with leaves taken from the folio newly acquired for thirty shillings. But the volumes happened to have the same defects, and the healing process was impossible. Mr. Collier chanced to be going into the country, when in packing the folio he had bought of Rudd he saw it was covered with manuscript corrections in an old hand. ”

“ In years to come the original binding will be the chief of all desiderata. Third, the folio must be of adequate size, about thirteen by eight and a quarter inches. A quarter of an inch one way or another can spell tragedy to the fanatical collector. If you are lucky enough to find a first folio having all three of these qualities, the gods are with you. I have been fortunate to procure such an one, the celebrated copy from Sir George Holford’s library. It is perfect in every detail. It is exceptional in having the blank leaves, known in no other copy ”

“ I cannot see any use for them in a drawing-room. Music-books should be in the music-stand, a lady's work in her work-table, and books either in use or put away in the book-case.
A portfolio-stand is of great service in preserving and displaying drawings and prints which require careful and practised handling. Sir Felix Slade, the eminent print-collector, used to complain that many persons, especially young ladies, made a bent mark with their thumbs in the margin of an engraving ”

“ By these various methods I shall gain an accurate analysis, and finally bestow the result of my labors upon the world in a folio volume."
"Excellent!" quoth the man with the spectacles. "Nor need you hesitate, learned sir, on account of the necessary destruction of the gem; since the perusal of your folio may teach every mother's son of us to concoct a Great Carbuncle of his own." ”

“ There are two opposing elements at work, size and form. Originally, when all paper was handmade, and did not vary very much in measurement, books were spoken of as folio, quarto, octavo, etc., according to the folding of the sheet; and these terms apply to the folding of the sheet. In the present century, when paper is made by machinery, and made to any size, the folding cannot be taken as a criterion, and the various sizes are determined by measurement, the old terms, applicable only to the size by folding, being retained. ”

“ PART I. FORWARDING.
|3| THE ART OF BOOKBINDING. CHAPTER I. FOLDING. We commence with folding. It is generally the first thing the binder has to do with a book. The sheets are either supplied by the publisher or printer (mostly the printer) ; should the amateur wish to have his books in sheets, he may generally get them by asking his bookseller for them. It is necessary that they be carefully folded, for unless they are perfectly even, it is impossible that the margins (the blank space round the print) can be uniform when the book is cut. ”

“ Folding paper develops the value of the law of polarity, just as all other symmetrical work does; but there is the additional charm to children, of making, by means of this folded paper, a multitude of forms of life as well as of beauty; involving a great instruction. For always the folding begins with nothing but a square piece of paper, which, by following their thought, is made into hundreds of beautiful forms; and thus they learn to respect in themselves the power of thought applied to work, which is nothing less than creative. ”

“ It should then be pinned up to dry, and, when so, kept in a folio for use. I have in this manner prepared from sixty to eighty sheets in an evening with the greatest ease. It keeps good for an indefinite time, and, as all experienced photographers are aware, unless you possess good iodized paper, which should be of a primrose colour, you cannot meet with success in your after-operations. Iodized paper becomes sometimes of a bright brimstone colour when first made ”

“ Many persons, who have not much leisure for reading, are intimidated at the sight of folio volumes; and to every one their use is inconvenient. But I am still apprehensive, that the number and bulk of the volumes, will be a formidable obstacle to many. They will be apt to think, that they have neither time nor patience to finish such a task, and therefore will be disposed to decline the undertaking. ”

“ Whole piles of quired stock, meaning books unbound, are already crumbling to dust in the warehouses of booksellers, never to come to light as books, and many a volume designed to enrich the library of its possessor and to descend as an heir-loom to posterity, now presents to the mortified owner its elegant print surrounded by a margin of tan colour, which in some instances forms, as it were, a complete frame round each page, the oil varnish in the composition of the ink seeming to preserve the interstices between the print from the same kind of discoloration. ”

“ On borrowing a book, immediately put a cover upon it—and let the cover be of clean, smooth, white or light-coloured paper. What is called nankeen paper is best and strongest for this purpose. Newspaper, or any paper that is printed, makes a vile book-cover. Beside its mean and dirty appearance, the printing-ink will not only soil your own hands while reading, but will do more injury to the binding than if it was left uncovered.
To cover a book neatly—take a sheet of nice paper of more than sufficient size, and lay the book open upon it. ”

“ Postage and packing 20 cents extra.
CANVAS FOLIO,
With Russia Leather Trimmings. Given for new subscriptions amounting to $2.00.
This folio is very ornamental, very light and convenient, and extremely durable. It is much superior to the old-fashioned leather portfolios. It contains four pockets of sizes appropriate for letter paper, envelopes, etc. It also has several sheets of very fine blotting paper fastened inside. The size is 8 inches by 111⁄2 inches. Price $1.00. ”

“ Let the workman who strives to excel in his art remember that his work goes through the hands of critics and judges; that it possibly may be compared with the productions of the most celebrated artists. Let him, then, look well to his laurels if engaged upon first-class job or
CUSTOMER WORK.
The book being taken from the sewing-press, the end-papers and the first sheet are then turned back. A strip of paper is placed about one-eighth of an inch from the back, so as to prevent the paste from spreading unevenly, and paste is then applied with the finger along the edge of the sheet. ”

“ Dear Henry:
There’s something you will like to make in the Magic Book. You can make a scrapbook. Use the heavy wall paper for the cover of the book and cut the scrapbook leaves from heavy Manilla wrapping paper. Aunt Phoebe has wrapping paper. Ask her for it. [104]
To make a scrapbook, take a big full-sized sheet from the Magic Book of wall paper. (I’m sure Jimsi will let you choose the paper you like best.) Fold the sheet together and clip the edges evenly. Glue the double edges fast together and let them dry. ”

“ For example, the mere vellum required to print a small thick folio, such as Caxton's Golden Legend, would now cost about £40.
[243]
I owe many of the facts in the following account of early paper to the excellent article on that subject in the Encyclopædia Britannica, ninth edition, Vol. XVIII. by Mr E. Maunde Thompson. See also E. Egger, Le papier dans l'antiquité et dans les temps modernes, Paris, 1866. ”

“ This high development of the desirable book is the result of an arrangement to print so many copies of a volume on paper of larger size than that of the bulk of the impression. The tall copy is the result of careful cutting by the binder, or of no cutting at all. In this primitive shape a book has separate charms for a distinct class of collectors who esteem rough edges, and are willing, for the sake of this excellence, to endure the martyrdom of consulting books in that condition. ”