[Sigia-l] Page numbers in a book (fw)

[Derek R]

>Sorry to be referring to something as quaint as a book,
>but I'm under the impression that page numbers came
>about 75 years after the appearance of books. Does 
>anyone have a reference that goes into this 'fact'?


Well, since they didn't invent the Contents Page for decades, page
numbers wouldn't have been of much use.

I have illustrations (photographic copies) of pages from various books
without any page numbers up to 1546, when a page of Hypnerotomachia
Poliphilii printed by Jacques Kerver (Paris) shows page numbers, and in
1559 Froissart's Chronicles printed at Lyons shows a page number on page
one.

You could also search for "Contents Pages, history of", since one
depends on the other.

best,

     J T
     John Tranter

New book: "Heart Print", from Salt Publishing, ISBN 1-876857-32-3
Marjorie Perloff's review: http://jacketmagazine.com/18/perloff.html
You can buy this book on-line at http://www.amazon.com/

  >  Editor, Jacket magazine: http://jacketmagazine.com/
  >  homepage - poetry, reviews, etc, at: http://www.austlit.com/jt/
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