Bibliographic format
Bibliographic format (also known simply as "format") refers to the proportional relationship between a full sheet of paper and the folded and cut leaves of a book. For example, a text printed two-up so that the sheet of paper needs to be folded once to make the leaves of a book is in "folio" format. A book printed four-up on a sheet that's folded in half, then in half again, is a "quarto" and so on. Bibliographic format is usually determinable on books from the hand-press era (roughly 1450 to 1830), when books were routinely printed on hand-made sheets of paper. For machine-press books, it is usually impossible to tell the actual format of the book, regardless of any printed signatures present, unless it is bound loosely enough to see the sewing in the middle of the gatherings.
Same words, different meanings
Many of the same terms were long used as standard names for paper of various sizes (often known as "Imperial standard" size), the same way we now talk about "A4 paper" or "letter size paper". Then, beginning in the 19th century, the terms started being used to indicate a book's height: "octavo" means "little", "quarto" means "ordinary size", "folio" means "big", and "elephant folio" means "huge". Many libraries, including the Folger, use these size designations to describe sections of shelving in the stacks. For example, the "folios" section is for books with a spine height of 30.1 cm through 50 cm, or oblong with a width of 23.1 cm and up (anything bigger than that would be in the "flats" section).
When someone associated with the Folger refers to "a folio," you have to rely on context to know if they mean an oversize book, a book in in folio format, or one of the first four editions of Shakespeare's collected plays. Similarly, you have to know from context whether a researcher interested in the "the same work in different formats" is interested in different bibliographic formats, different media types (play, opera, movie, etc.), different carrier types (DVD, VHS tape, etc.), or what.
Bibliographic format in Hamnet records
Hamnet records for vault material display the bibliographic format in parentheses at the end of the "Description" field, after the book's height (rounded up to the nearest centimeter) when applicable. You can keyword search this portion of the description on Hamnet's "Advanced Search" tab by choosing "Size/Format" from the "Search in" menu. Hamnet records use the "DCRM(B)" abbreviations found in the left-hand column of the chart in this article.
Abbreviations and names for formats
This chart lists abbreviations and names for each of the main bibliographic formats. The column on the far left shows the abbreviations used in Hamnet.
| DCRM(B)[1] | Gaskell[2] | Ordinary spoken English | Latinate spoken English | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| full-sheet | 1⁰ | broadsheet, full sheet | ||
| fol. | 2⁰ | folio | folio | fo., 1/2⁰, f⁰, F |
| 4to | 4⁰ | quarto | quarto | 1/4⁰, Q⁰, Q |
| 8vo | 8⁰ | octavo | octavo | 1/8⁰, O |
| 12mo | 12⁰ | twelvemo | duodecimo | 1/12⁰, D |
| long 12mo | long 12⁰ | long twelvmo | long duodecimo | |
| 16mo | 16⁰ | sixteenmo | sextodecimo | 1/16⁰, S |
| 18mo | 18⁰ | eighteenmo | octodecimo | 1/18⁰ |
| 24mo | 24⁰ | twenty-fourmo | vicesimo-quarto | 1/24⁰, T |
| long 24mo | long 24⁰ | long twenty-fourmo | long vicesimo-quarto | |
| 32mo | 32⁰ | thirty-twomo | trigesimo-secundo | 1/32⁰, Tt |
| 48mo | 48⁰ | forty-eightmo | quadragesimo-octavo | Fe |
| 64mo | 64⁰ | sixty-fourmo | sexagesimo-quarto | 1/64⁰, Sf |
| 72mo | 72⁰ | seventy-twomo | ||
| 96mo | 96⁰ | ninety-sixmo | ||
| 128mo | 128⁰ | one-twenty-eightmo |
NB. for search-and-replace updating to DCRM(B) abbreviations:
- character following the number may be:
- degree symbol
- superscript zero
- superscript lower-case letter "o"
- be careful of the order of operations, e.g. change "12⁰" to "12mo" before changing" 2⁰" to"fol." or you'll end up with "1fol."
References