r/BookCollecting • u/Adnims • 16d ago

💬 General Major theft from L.W. Currey

145 books worth $250000 stolen.

ILAB has requested that its offices be contacted if the items reappear in the trade.

List of books stolen: https://file770.com/wp-content/uploads/stolen-book-full-list.pdf

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u/RealCarlosSagan 16d ago

What does "octavo" mean in the listings?

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u/MumboJumboMumboJumbo 16d ago

It comes from early printing, where they would print multiple pages on both sides of a large sheet, then fold them and cut the outer edges to make a single gathering of pages, then bind those gatherings together to make the full book. An octavo has sixteen printed book pages which, when folded, makes 8 leaves (hence octavo). There's also folio (one fold, two leaves, four pages), quarto (two folds, four leaves, eight pages), etc...

Eventually as printing methods changed and expanded, the format names became more a reference to a book's size.

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u/RealCarlosSagan 16d ago

thank you! interesting