What is a Book?

Books are a means of preserving, containing, and delivering information, concepts, and ideas that can take many forms. Most people’s concept of “Book” comes from what is most commonly found within libraries: The bound book. The form of a bound book is called a Codex– A codex is characterized by  paper that is sewn together and then sewn into a binding. The first example of books are believed to be cuneiform tablets: clay tablets from Mesopotamia around 3200 BCE that were written on using wedge-shaped styluses whose purpose spanned from keeping records to personal notes and lists. (A cuneiform tablet can be seen in our Miniature Books Exhibit as it can be seen as the first type of miniature book.) Another common form of the book is a broadside, which is a singular page. Broadsides are commonly used for posters to spread information quickly, but they are also often used for the printing of poems. The concept of “Book” was very recently adjusted with the creation of E-books. E-books lack any physical binding or printing but can still be considered “Book” as they complete the job of preserving, containing, and delivering information, concepts, and ideas.

No! Books do not need to be bound and most forms of books are not. The most common form of the bound book is called a Codex, but that only makes up a small portion of the types of books in existence. The first types of books were believed to be cuneiform tablets, and unbound books such as broadsides have remained popular throughout centuries. One of the most common forms of book during the 21st century has no physical form at all! E-books are prime examples of how books do not need to be bound at all to be successful are preserving, containing, and delivering information, concepts, and ideas.

A book can be any size! However, there are standards for specific types of printed books. Here are some parameters for the most common types:

(Keep in mind these are the standards of Codices/ Bound Books)

Standard Book: 6×9 inches

Elephant Folio: Over 15 inches tall

Double Elephant Folio: Over 50 inches tall

Miniature Books: <3 inches tall

Publishing, like books, takes many forms. Publishing is any act that produces or reproduces material that can be defined as a “book”. This means it does not need to take a physical form, nor does it have to take a bound form, nor a traditional form. For example, within our collection, we have a book that is also an ornament, The Nutcracker. This book was created by a company that produces ornaments. Since The Nutcracker encompasses what is required of a book, the company when creating it was published, they were just publishing a book in the form of an ornament. 

Artist’s books are books whose main goal is to preserve, contain, and deliver art. There is no requirement for artist’s books to contain any written words only push the boundaries of what is considered a book. Miniature books are often considered artist’s books as they broaden the perception of what books are and what they can accomplish.