Page number is omitted on blank pages and display pages (i.e., such stand-alone pages as those for the half title, frontispiece, title page, colophon, dedication, and epigraph), and it is either omitted or a drop folio is used on the opening page of each section of the front matter (e.g., table of contents, foreword, preface). Front-matter pages are traditionally numbered in lower-case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.), which prevents renumbering the remainder of a book when front-matter content is added at the last moment, such as a dedication page or additional acknowledgments.

Front matter įront matter (or preliminaries shortened to 'prelims') comprises the first section of a book, and is usually the smallest section in terms of the number of pages. The book contains the main text and a number of paratexts that comprise all of the additional matter that is included in the book. Drop folios usually appear either centered on each page or flush left verso and flush right recto. The folio may also be printed at the bottom of the page, and in that location it is called a drop folio. The page number, or folio, may be found at the top or the bottom of the page, often flush left verso, flush right recto. Modern books are paginated consecutively, and all pages are counted in the pagination whether or not the numbers appear (see also: blind folio).

Design by Hans Holbein the Younger for a metalwork book cover (or treasure binding) Structure

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