DP Official Documentation:Main/The Parts of a Book
Here is some general information about the parts of a book that you may see at Distributed Proofreaders. Please note, that not all books have every one of these sections (and some may have sections not named below).
General
The Header is text that appears at the top of the page above the main body content on the page. It often includes the title of the book or chapter or a page number. A footer is text at the bottom of the page below the main body content. It often includes page numbers. Headers and footers should be removed.
Header Example
Signature Marks
Signature marks are letters, numbers or symbols in the page footer. They were placed there to help the bookbinders assemble the pages of the book in the right order. As with other footer contents, they should be removed by the proofreader.
Page Sizes
A number of terms are used to describe the page sizes of a book, including (from largest to smallest) folio (abbreviated fo or 2º -- please note that the "2º" should be proofread as "2^o"), quarto (abreviated to Qto, 4to or 4º -- please note that the "4º" should be proofread as "4^o"), and octavo (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8 -- please note that the "8º" should be proofread as "8^o"). For more information on this, please take a look at the wikipedia page.
Front Matter
Cover
Distributed Proofreaders doesn't provide the cover of the book for proofreading but an image is made available for Post-Processors to include in the ebook that is uploaded to Project Gutenberg.
Half Title / First Page
This is generally the first page of the book and displays the title of the book. The book title is usually the name of the project.
Frontispiece
This page comes before the Title Page and includes a photo or illustration. In this sample page, there is an illustration plus a caption:
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Title Page (TP)
The Title Page displays the Title of the book and other information about the book such as subtitle, author, publication date. At Distributed Proofreaders you may see reference to TP/V -- which simply means "Title Page and Verso". Here is a typical Title Page:
Verso (V)
This page is also called the "Copyright Page" or "colophon". It is usually on the reverse side of the Title Page. This page usually provides information about copyright, edition date, publisher and printer, though occasionally it is left blank. At Distributed Proofreaders you may see reference to TP/V -- which simply means "Title Page and Verso".
Dedication Page
This page usually follows the Copyright Page and includes the names of the people the author wishes to thank or to whom the book is dedicated. Here is a sample Dedication Page (Please note that the stamp marks and handwritten details on this page -- we ignore them and transcribe only the four printed lines in the middle of the page):
Table of Contents (TOC)
This page displays a list of headings and page numbers. Please do not remove the page numbers from the text. The small "b" and "ix" at the bottom of the sample page however are footers, which must be removed.
Table of Illustrations (TOI)
If there are illustrations in the book, there is sometimes a separate Table of Illustrations to list illustrations and their page numbers. In the sample page, the page numbers should be retained but you should remove the "x" at the bottom at the page since it is a footer. Please note that in the first page of the TOI includes the "LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS" heading. It should not be removed since it is a heading.
However, the "LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS" heading with the page number in the second TOI should be removed since it is now just a header.
Epigraph
This page displays a quote or excerpt from the book. The vi beside the name of the author of the quote should be removed since it is a page number footer.
Preface and Foreword
The Preface is written by the book's author and provides information about how a book came to be written, etc. The Foreword is an introduction written by someone other than the author.
Body of the Book
Chapters
Here is a sample of a page on which a chapter starts. In the sample page, only the small "A" at the bottom of the page should be removed since it's a footer.
Illustrations
Some illustrations are in the middle of a page, sharing it with the text and/or other illustrations. However, occasionally illustrations occupy plates that are "tipped in" between regular textual pages. Captions should be proofread.
Here is a page with an illustration and a caption.
End of a Book
There are a variety of sections that can be included at the end of a book. In addition to the Index (below), there can be an afterword, information about the author, copyright permissions, addendums, appendices, endnotes, a list of related books, advertisements, etc. For some languages, the Table of Contents is at the back of the book rather than at the front.
Index
The 2 o 2 at the bottom of the page should be removed since it is a footer.
