- About Bookbinding -
Bookbinding For Amateurs
The Various Tools and Appliances Required and Instructions for Their Effective Use by W.J.E. Crane 1888
Folding Paper Part 2
When all are
finished, it is well to put the thumb of the left hand at the bottom of the back of the heap, and let the sections pass down severally, meanwhile working the edge of the folder along the back, as shown at Fig. 22. This presses the back fold close and tight.
The next size to "folio" is the "quarto," from the Latin word quartus, meaning "four." In this case, the printers put eight pages in a sheet, four on each side (as shown at Fig. 23). This, of course, necessitates an extra fold. After the sheet is folded as in folio, it is turned with the fold away from the operator, and the right - hand side is brought over the left.
Thus, pages 3 and 6 are brought down on pages 2 and 7, and the first fold made. The partly-folded sheet is then turned to the second position, and page 5 is brought accurately upon page 4, and the second fold made. The quarto is also an old-fashioned shape, but still lingers amongst us for certain books, principally family Bibles, dictionaries, atlases, and encyclopedias.
The next size is the "octavo," from the Latin word for “eight” of sixteen pages to the sheet, eight on each side
(Fig. 24). If the octavo were folded again, it would give small square pages of thirty-two to the sheet, called "16mo," but this is such an awkward shape that it is very seldom used.
Still another fold gives a "32mo." This is not infrequently met with for very small books.
The next legitimate size to 8vo (or octavo) is "duodecimo," or "12mo," with twenty-four pages to the sheet (Fig. 25). It will be seen that the principle of dividing the sheet is different from that before noticed. Here the third part of the sheet, with eight pages, is so arranged that it has to be folded down upon the other part of the sheet before the main fold of the sheet is made. Let us now describe the folding.
In folding the 8vo, the sheets are laid upon the bench, with the signature (which will be seen at the bottom of the first page) turned to the top of the table at the corner nearest to the left hand of the folder, and presents pages 2, 15, 14, 3.
