[DCRM-L] Uneven gatherings for broadsheet format books?

[Gemberling, Ted P]

I remember at Rare Book School we were taught that gatherings cannot be of odd numbers of leaves. If a gathering has 5 leaves, we must add a parenthetical statement saying one leaf has been added to a gathering of 4 leaves or removed from a gathering of 6. My understanding of that was that if gatherings are created by folding, they have to be of even numbers of sheets because the first fold creates 2 sheets. But would that apply to broadsheet format? It seems like it wouldn't.

The book I'm working on is Compendiosa totius anatomie delineatio, aere exarata, by Thomas Geminus, 1545. The sheets are 39 centimeters, and the original cataloger interpreted it as full sheet format. I assume that in terms of Gaskell p. 86 (2007), she is interpreting the paper as "pot" size, where the height is 39 cm. The paper has horizontal chainlines, so I thought maybe that's correct. However, I notice that the normal gathering in the book is 6 leaves. There are two gatherings that have 5 and one with 3. One of the gatherings with 5 has leaf B4 (or B5?) signed: 'Biiii v', as if the printer figured the gathering could be reduced from 6 to 5 leaves, with that leaf taking the place of two. Doesn't that imply this book has leaves that are folded, and should therefore be interpreted as folio with turned chainlines?

Thanks for any enlightenment.

Ted Gemberling
UAB Lister Hill Library
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