Formulas

During the hand press period of bookmaking, the contents were printed on rather large sheets of paper, front and back. How many 'pages' that were printed on one sheet of paper was determined by the size of the original sheet of paper, and the desired size of the final outcome of the bound materials. Typically, music scores were printed in folios (this means that the large sheet of paper had two 'leaves' printed on it - two 'pages' on one side, and two 'pages' on the backside; when folded once, it makes two leaves, or four pages). Books can come in folios (which is the '2°' that you see at the beginning of the formula), quartos (4°), octavos (8°), duodecimos (12°) and so on.

A detailed description of one formula will help explain the usage of letters, numbers, and symbols in the formulas:

Full score. Typeset. 2° in 4s: ² A-O4 P6 P*4 P**² x1 Q-2A4 2A*4 2A**² 2B4 (±2Biij) 2C-2D4 2E². 9-3/4 X 14-3/4 inches. 248 pp.

2° in 4s: - this means that the score is in folio (one sheet folded once to make two leaves) the 'in 4s' means that they (for most of the book) put two folios together to make four leaves (eight pages).

² - Typically, the 'signatures' (one printed sheet is called, folded down into a folio, quarto, etc.; called either a signature or a 'gathering') are usually signed with the alphabet, once in a while you will find books that are signed with numbers rather than letters. However, the signatures do not start until the text starts, so any preliminary pages are either signed with some sort of symbol, such as an asterisk, or not signed at all. When this is the case, we use the pi symbol (); it simply means that there are unsigned preliminary pages. In this case, there are two leaves (four pages) of preliminary unsigned materials.

A-O4 - once the signatures begin, they are signified in the formula until there is a discrepancy. So here, signatures A-O are consistently the same, they each have 4 leaves (hence, the superscript, 4).

P6  - the formula is broken up here because the P signature has 6 leaves rather than 4, as the previous set had.

P*4  - this is the next gathering, but it does not follow the expected use of the alphabet, so it is written separately. The pages are actually signed with a P and an asterisk behind the P; there are four leaves like this.

P**² - same as above, but this one is signed with a P and two asterisks behind it

x1  - this means that there is an additional leaf tipped into the book that does not particularly fit into the formula, but it does follow the correct pagination.

Q-2A4  - signatures Q - 2A are consecutive and have 4 leaves each (once you reach Z, you typically start over again with A, but sign with Aa - represented as 2A in the formula). Also, I should mention that either an I or a J, not both; and a U or a V - not both, and no W were used when signing gatherings. Sometimes you will come across the use of W; if that is the case, it needs to be represented in the formula.

2A*4   - this gathering is signed Aa*, again, not the normal sequence for signatures, so it must be noted in the formula; it has 4 leaves.

2A**² -  this represents Aa** with 2 leaves

2B4 (±2Biij) - This means that the Bb signature had the page signed as 2Biij taken out and replaced with another; it has four leaves.

2C-2D4 - signatures Cc - Dd are consecutive and have 4 leaves each.

2E². - Ee has two leaves.

--explanation by Mary Durio, Curator, University of North Texas Rare Book and Texana Collections