Standard book size for width and length

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The article tells what the size of a book is, shows the standards for book sizes, as well as GOSTs and TUs for standard sizes, explains what it is connected with. GOSTs for fonts used in books are described, non-standard and unusual book formats are considered.

Book sizes vary. There are both small pocket copies and microbooks, as well as large albums, gift and anniversary editions. The introduction of standard sizes for books and other printed publications is primarily due to a decrease in the cost of a book while reducing the number of scraps of paper that goes into waste paper when printing in a printing house.

Standardization concept for determining book size

The first printed books were unique editions, expensive, considered luxury goods. This dictated the design of books: even their illustrations were sometimes painted by hand. The size of the books had to meet the same requirements: the books were large and heavy, having a wide variety of lengths and widths. The results of measuring most Russian books of the 11th-13th centuries show a widethe spread of values, since the size was determined by: the purpose of the book, the customer and the copyist. For example, the altar Gospel was made up to 30 cm high, and books for everyday use were small for ease of reading.

With the development of printing, the circulation of books has increased dramatically. To make books not only easy to read, but also cheap, they introduced certain sizes of their length and width - standard book sizes or formats.

It turned out like with handkerchiefs: from round and sophisticated, they became rectangular and casual. When cutting fabrics, there were no scraps, the cost decreased.

The same thing happened to the books. The printed sheet of paper had certain dimensions. In order to reduce the number of scraps during printing, the sheet was folded several times and then cut. At the same time, the size of the book was half a sheet, a quarter of a sheet, one eighth of a sheet, etc. In fact, the standard sizes of books began to correspond to the sizes of sheets of printing paper.

The concept of book format

The format of a book edition is the dimensions of the finished (cut and bound) book in millimeters or fractions of a sheet of printed paper.

From the light hand of the printer Manutius Alda:

• the page size of a book, equal to the size of a regular printing sheet, is called by the workers of the printing house in plano;
• half page size - in folio;
• size when printedthe sheet contains four pages - in quarto;
• size when there are eight pages on a printed sheet - in octavo.

Double-sided printing doubles the number of pages.

Page sizes derived from octavo are:

• foolscap 170x108mm;
• grown octavo 190x126mm;
• demi octavo 221x142 mm;
• royal octavo 253x158 mm.

The standard book size for width and length is usually indicated as follows:

AxB/S, where A is the width of the original printed sheet (cm);

B - its height (cm);

1/С is the share of the sheet, which is obtained by folding it into a notebook (part of the book).

To get the number of pages in a notebook, you need to multiply C by two.

Names of book formats from the history of printing

Foliant - a book in half a printed sheet. The meaning of the word "folio" today is a big weighty old book. In the 17th century, complete opposites of folios appeared - miniature books called "elzivirs". Their size was 88x44 mm. The reduction in book sizes was made possible by the creation of more capacious fonts and less heavy paper. These little books were a graceful and sophisticated addition to the wearer's wardrobe.

In the 18th century, Peter the Great introduced standard book sizes for the first time in Russia. They were 1/8 and 1/12 of the printed sheet. The tsar-reformer also introduced unified (i.e., uniform, identical) civil fonts.

Fonts for books

The word came from GermanSchrift - drawing or lettering. Establishing a standard font size for a book is a necessity brought about by the standardization of the length and width of publications. Usually, one typeface is used for a book, that is, a set of fonts of the same pattern, but of different sizes. When choosing a font, it is necessary to take into account the typeface, style and size. Point size is the size of a typographic font, defined in points. One point is equal to 0.376 mm. Optimal readability is determined by the 14th size, and for fiction, the 12th size is usually used.

Size standards for various books in the USSR and Russia

In the USSR, the format of books was initially determined by GOST 5773-68. According to this standard, 30 formats were established, including 16 basic and 14 for books of non-standard sizes. Since 1976, GOST 5773-76 has been in effect, which already establishes 36 formats (19 and 17, respectively). The most commonly used format was 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 of the sheet.

Specifications, unlike GOSTs, offered three main strip formats:

• economical (for dictionaries, reference books, etc.);
• normal (for fiction and textbooks);
• improved (for collected works and other long-life books).

There are five main types of book formats accepted in Russia: from extra large (84×108/16; 70×90/8) to extra small (60×90/32). GOST 5773-76 and GOST 1342-78 establish rules for printing books. For example, the standard dimensions of a hardcover book with minimal paper waste: 60×90/16,60×84/16, 84×108/32.