The Title-Page: Its Early Development 1460-1510

A century has passed since A.W. Pollard’s Last words on the history of the title-page ; Smith finds a few more words in this survey of how and why there came to be a title-page in the first printed books. Smith (U. of Reading) argues that the logistics of mass production created an opportunity for a new way to begin a a page devoted to its title and, not coincidentally, its producer. She describes several stages of the title-page’s development, including the blank page, the label-title, the label-title plus woodcut or printer’s mark, and the decorative border. With numerous b&w illustrations from the collections of the British Library. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)