The title page of a
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...
,
thesis
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...
or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its
title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A
half title, by contrast, displays only the title of a work.)
The title page is one of the most important parts of the "
front matter" or "preliminaries" of a book, as the data on it and its
verso (together known as the "title leaf") are used to establish the "title proper and usually, though not necessarily, the statement of responsibility and the data relating to publication". This determines the way the book is cited in library catalogs and academic references.
The title page often shows the title of the work, the person or body responsible for its intellectual content, and the imprint, which contains the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication.
Particularly in paperback editions it may contain a shorter title than the cover or lack a descriptive
subtitle. Further information about the publication of the book, including its
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
information, is frequently printed on the verso of the title page. Also often included there are the
ISBN
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition a ...
and a "
printer's key", also known as the "number line", which indicates the
print run to which the volume belongs.
The first printed books, or ''
incunabula'', did not have title pages: the text simply begins on the first page, and the book is often identified by the initial words—the ''
incipit''—of the text proper. Other older books may have bibliographic information on the
colophon at the end of the book.
The ''Bulla Cruciatae contra Turcos'' (1463) is the earliest use of a title on the first page.
[Cole, Garold L. “Historical Development of the Title Page.” ''The Journal of Library History''. 6 (1971): 303–316. ]
See also
*
Colophon
*
Book design
*
Half title
*
Printer's key
References
External links
Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on title pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Title Page
Book design
Typography