A catchword is a word placed at the foot of a handwritten or printed page that is meant to be bound along with other pages in a book. The word anticipates the first word of the following page. It was meant to help the bookbinder or printer make sure that the leaves were bound in the right order or that the pages were set up in the press in the right order. Catchwords appear in some medieval manuscripts, and appear again in printed books late in the fifteenth century. The practice became widespread in the mid sixteenth century, and prevailed until the arrival of industrial printing techniques late in the eighteenth century.
The catchword (in this case the last three letters "dos" of a divided word) is at the bottom of the page
The first page of the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Berachot, folio 2a). The catchword "דילמא" is found at the bottom of the Talmud text (center), and the commentaries of Rashi (center left) and the Tosafot (center right) as the word will begin each text on the next page, 2b.
Theodore Low Devinne's 1901 guide on Correct Composition had this to say:
For more than three centuries printers of books appended at the foot of every page the first word or syllable of the next page. This catchword was supposed to be needed by the reader to make clear the connection between the two pages; but the catchword is now out of use, and it is not missed.[1]
^De Vinne, Theodore Low (1901). The Practice of Typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and numerals. The Century Company. p. 142–143 – via Wikisource. [scan]
References
Look up catchword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
De Hamel, Christopher. Scribes and Illuminators. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992. 41.
Gaskell, Philip. A New Introduction to Bibliography. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972. 52–53.
McKerrow, Ronald B. An Introduction to Bibliography for Literary Students. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964. 82.
Roberts, Matt T., and Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of books: A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology
March 13, 2023
catchword, confused, with, catchphrase, other, uses, disambiguation, catchword, word, placed, foot, handwritten, printed, page, that, meant, bound, along, with, other, pages, book, word, anticipates, first, word, following, page, meant, help, bookbinder, print. Not to be confused with catchphrase For other uses see Catchword disambiguation A catchword is a word placed at the foot of a handwritten or printed page that is meant to be bound along with other pages in a book The word anticipates the first word of the following page It was meant to help the bookbinder or printer make sure that the leaves were bound in the right order or that the pages were set up in the press in the right order Catchwords appear in some medieval manuscripts and appear again in printed books late in the fifteenth century The practice became widespread in the mid sixteenth century and prevailed until the arrival of industrial printing techniques late in the eighteenth century The catchword in this case the last three letters dos of a divided word is at the bottom of the page The first page of the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Berachot folio 2a The catchword דילמא is found at the bottom of the Talmud text center and the commentaries of Rashi center left and the Tosafot center right as the word will begin each text on the next page 2b Theodore Low Devinne s 1901 guide on Correct Composition had this to say For more than three centuries printers of books appended at the foot of every page the first word or syllable of the next page This catchword was supposed to be needed by the reader to make clear the connection between the two pages but the catchword is now out of use and it is not missed 1 See also EditReclamansNotes Edit De Vinne Theodore Low 1901 The Practice of Typography correct composition a treatise on spelling abbreviations the compounding and division of words the proper use of figures and numerals The Century Company p 142 143 via Wikisource scan References Edit Look up catchword in Wiktionary the free dictionary De Hamel Christopher Scribes and Illuminators Toronto University of Toronto Press 1992 41 Gaskell Philip A New Introduction to Bibliography Oxford Clarendon Press 1972 52 53 McKerrow Ronald B An Introduction to Bibliography for Literary Students Oxford Clarendon Press 1964 82 Roberts Matt T and Don Etherington Bookbinding and the Conservation of books A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Catchword amp oldid 1028904402, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
