A Bit of Etymology
This week, let’s talk about leaves and folios—also known as pages and page numbers. You can read Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 1.5-1.9, or you can check out my translation, here:
CMOS says: Publishers call pages “leaves”—or sometimes, in older books, pages are called “folios.” More often, though, “folio” is used interchangeably with “page number.”
My inner five-year old stands up: “Folio? But why would a word so close to ‘portfolio’ have anything to do with a page or page number?”
Here’s the answer:
- Page comes “from Latin pagina ‘page, leaf of paper, strip of papyrus fastened to others.’”
- Leaf (from the Old English leaf—yes, same word) refers to plant leaves, foliage, a book page or sheet of paper, as well as other flat surfaces (gold leaf, table leaf).
- Folio (from Latin folio, folium—again, same) means “leaf or sheet of paper” and it doesn’t take much to see the relationship to the word foliage.
And now we can see the relationship:
The Italian portafoglio “a case for carrying loose papers” comes from the Latin portare “to carry” and folio. Port (carry) folio (papers).
Pro tip: Need to research a word? Check out etymonline.com.
Also available: fascinating information about binding, books, and scrolls. I won’t drag you down that tunnel today.
Understanding “folio” means sheet of paper, the relationship between page and page number now becomes clear. In most cases, “folio” refers to the page number. If your publisher or typesetter talks about folio placement, they mean the number, not the page itself.
Page numbers in printed books are consecutive and every page (except end papers) is counted in the numbering, whether or not those numbers are visible. Ever wonder why the story often starts on page 3? Because the title page is page 1, and the back of the title page is page 2.
Important Vocabulary
- Recto – Open any book. The page on the right side is called “recto.” Recto=Right.
- Verso – The opposite side of that page is called “verso.” Verso=reVerse.
- Folio – Page number (or, rarely, a page in an old book).
- Drop folio – A page number printed at the bottom of the page.
- Blind folio – Refers to a page number that doesn’t appear.
- Roman numeral – a numbering system used to paginate parts of the book outside the main text (i, ii, iii, iv, v).
- Arabic numbers – used to paginate text and back matter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Page Number Placement
Folios are often placed as follows:
- Top of page, flush left on verso and flush right on recto (most common).
- Bottom of page (drop folio) either centered or flush left on verso/flush right on recto.
- Lowercase Roman numerals paginate the front matter. Front matter (e.g., acknowledgments, preface, table of contents/TOC) sometimes changes after the book text is already typeset. Utilizing Roman numerals prevents having to re-typeset the entire book.
- “Stand-alone” pages (i.e., blank, title, half-title, copyright, et. al.) have no folio.
- Opening pages for sections of front matter, like the TOC or foreword, utilize a drop folio (or blind folio) Roman numeral.
- In the case of a half-title page, the half-title page begins with a blind folio Arabic number 1. The blank verso is page 2 (blind folio), and book text begins on page 3.
- For books with no half-title page, book text begins on page 1.
- Opening pages for sections of back matter, like the appendix or glossary, utilize a drop folio (or blind folio) arabic number.
- Sections of photos (usually inserted after typeset and often on a different kind of paper) are not numbered.
NOTE: e-published books often do not follow traditional pagination.
Interesting but Unnecessary
Here’s a tidbit most of us are unlikely to need: Pagination for multi-volume works—especially those including an index at the end of the final volume, which provides referencing for all volumes—often begins in the first volume and continues in the next. Back matter added to a volume within the series will utilize lowercase Roman numerals.
Did you already know these facts? Feel free to add anything I missed via a comment below.
