How paper shapes European books

We’ve just seen how paper shaped the size and format of Japanese books. Now let’s turn to Europe with Professor Mari Agata, a specialist in early European printed books

In this step, we will look at the standard paper sizes used in early Europe and the basic principles of folding a sheet to create a “gathering” or “quire.”

Let’s first cover these fundamentals to understand how paper dimensions and folding formats determine the ultimate size and structure of a book.

Key terms in the video

Quire

• Folio format: folding sheets one time
• Quarto format: folding sheets twice
• Octavo format: folding sheets three times

Paper sizes

Four standardized European paper sizes defined by the Bologna Stone:

• Imperialle: largest
• Realle
• Meçane
• Reçute: smallest

Other paper sizes:

• Royal
• Foolscap

Books featured in the video

• Johannes Balbus, Catholicon. Mainz, 1460 [also recorded as between 1460 and c. 1472], Keio University Library, 170X@32@1
• W. Crane, Renascence : A book of verse. E. Mathews, 1891, private collection
• A. Tassoni & G. Cassiani, Parte de Quisiti del S. Alessandro Tassoni Modonese … Dati in luce da G. Cassiani. Modona, per Giulian Cassiani, 1608, private collection