Your hunch is right; "bastard" is a technical term. In traditional bookmaking, after the title page and its verso (or back side, usually the copyright page), comes the half title or bastard title page--title only--which is silently considered page 1. Its verso, which is blank, is silently page 2. The text begins on the next righthand page, which is the first to get an expressed folio, or page number. All that "front matter" can get pretty complicated in some books!
Good question. I think book designers or production people would know it, though "half title" is much more common. Like a lot of terms (and traditional conventions) referring to physical book layout rather than digital display, it's slipping away. But in Hemingway's day, a lot of savvy authors would know it from reading page proofs.
Amen to that! There are plenty of real bullies out there; we don't need one inside our heads! I'm interested you are moving to screenwriting for now...
Your hunch is right; "bastard" is a technical term. In traditional bookmaking, after the title page and its verso (or back side, usually the copyright page), comes the half title or bastard title page--title only--which is silently considered page 1. Its verso, which is blank, is silently page 2. The text begins on the next righthand page, which is the first to get an expressed folio, or page number. All that "front matter" can get pretty complicated in some books!
Thanks for another great post!
Thank you, Megan! Fascinating. Bet they don’t use the term anymore — or do they???
Good question. I think book designers or production people would know it, though "half title" is much more common. Like a lot of terms (and traditional conventions) referring to physical book layout rather than digital display, it's slipping away. But in Hemingway's day, a lot of savvy authors would know it from reading page proofs.
Amen to that! There are plenty of real bullies out there; we don't need one inside our heads! I'm interested you are moving to screenwriting for now...