Book investigating - step 1 - Anatomy of a Book

From - Campe, Joachim Heinrich. Pizarro, or, The conquest of Peru. London, 1826

Fly-leaves - blank pages to protect the book

People often wrote inscriptions on the fly leaves.
From - Schiller, Friedrich. Don Karlos Infant von Spanien. Leipzig, 1804

Paste-downs - paper pasted onto the inside front cover

Sometimes people put their bookplates on the inside front cover.
From - Blackburne, Francis. Considerations on the present state of the controversy between the Protestants and Papists of Great Britain and Ireland. London, 1768

Binding - the book's cover, often made of leather

Bindings were sometimes decorated to suit the taste of a book's owner.
From - Fabyan, Robert. Fabyans cronycle newly prynted/ wyth the cronycle, actes, and dedes done in the tyme of the reygne of the moste excellent prynce kynge Henry the vii. London, 1533

Text Block - pages with words and pictures

Sometimes people wrote notes on the pages.
The clues that you'll need are found in different parts of the book. Each of these parts has a name. Historians, librarians and book-collectors look at these clues to build up a picture of the Private Lives of Books. However, you don't need to be an expert to become a book investigator.

Click on the buttons to find out about how the different parts of the book are put together.

 
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