[Fwd: Re: preface questions]

Subject: [Fwd: Re: preface questions]
From: Dick Margulis <margulis -at- fiam -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 1999 06:55:25 -0400

With all due respect to Chicago, and as thorough as this list is, there
is more to be said.

In a work that has a preface and an introduction, along with a bunch of
other frontmatter, the half title (with verso blank) immediately
precedes the text (number 15 below). The thingie called the book half
title (number 1 below) is actually the bastard title.

The first page of the text (Chapter 1) is page 1. Everything preceding
it is frontmatter, or "prelims," and takes lowercase roman folios. (Some
of the pages have blind folios, meaning they do not print, but they are
counted nonetheless.)

Now here is the problem:

When we deliver the same book as a PDF file, Acrobat wants to number the
pages from 1. Period. So we have to make a choice. Either the page
number reported by Acrobat does not match the folio printed on the page,
or we rethink the whole prelim thing and just start out with page 1,
forgetting about the roman numerals. So the first page of chapter 1 may
be page 25 of the book.

I see a lot of printed work these days that takes that approach, and as
much as it makes my traditionalist head hurt to see this practice, I
have to admit it does make sense.

But what I would urge on folks as a good practice, if you are going to
start the book at page 1 and deliver it as a PDF, is to go ahead and
insert that half title before chapter 1 (and the bastard title at the
beginning, too, if you use a series title or list of contributors, etc.
preceding the actual title page). These will help orient the reader to
what is frontmatter and what is body.

Dick


Jo Baer wrote (snipped to get under the quote limit):
Chicago lists the parts of a book in this order.
>
> 1. Book half title
> 2. Series title, list of contributors, frontispiece, or blank page
> 3. Title page
> 4. Copyright notice, publisher's agencies, pringitn history, country
> where printed, ISBN, CIP
> 5. Dedication or epigraph
..
> 10. Foreword
> 11. Preface
> 12. Acknowledgments (if not part of preface)
> 13. Introduction (if not part of text)
> 14. List of abbreviations or chronology
> 15. Text
..




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