[DCRM-L] help with a book term

[Matthew C. Haugen]

Something similar came up on DCRM-L in 2017, so I am copying the exchange
below. I do think what you describe sounds like something accomplished
during imposition and layout of sheets during printing, not binding (as for
dos-à-dos and tête-bêche).

"Tête-bêche imposition" might be a possible term for it:
http://gdt.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ficheOqlf.aspx?Id_Fiche=8889412.

Possibly something like "upside-down books" or "reversible books" might be
inclusive of tete-beche imposition and tete-beche binding?

Matthew

--
I agree with Deborah that what you describe sounds more like a matter of
printing than binding. As I understand it, tête-bêche *binding* involves
binding separate, normally oriented texts together head-to-tail. The first
text would read normally on both rectos and versos, and the volume is
flipped vertically to read the other text. Dos-à-dos (Binding) involves
binding the separate texts back to back with spines on the opposite sides
of the volume, which needs to be flipped horizontally. The two texts may be
related but they don't share pages.

I find the term tête-bêche also used in philately to describe the *printing* of
adjacent unseparated postage stamps oriented head-to-tail, whether
intentionally or not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%AAte-b%C3%AAche

The closest thing I could find in the RBMS vocabularies was "Inverted
blocks (Printing)" but this appears to refer to a type of page make-up
error, not an intentional printing phenomenon.

I find reference to head-to-tail printing, referring to pages printed
oriented as for a legal document bound along the top edge, to be read in a
single direct sequence by flipping pages upward. This is also different
from the opposing interleaved sequences described by Amber, but in both
cases it involves printing rectos and versos in opposite orientations.

As tete-beche is not found in the RBMS thesaurus at all, maybe this
warrants two CV proposals for new terms along the lines of Tête-bêche (Binding)
and Tête-bêche (Printing)?

Matt

On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 7:25 PM, Deborah J. Leslie <DJLeslie at folger.edu>
 wrote:

> You know, I don't think it is. Both dos-à-dos and tête-bêche are binding
> structures that contain two books together in opposite directions. But what
> it sounds like Billey is describing is a complete interleaving of the two
> books, and therefore a printing condition. Yes? A single opening will show
> an upside-down page on the verso and a right-side-up page on the recto.
>
>
>
> Deborah J. Leslie, MA, MLS | Senior Cataloger, Folger Shakespeare Library
> | djleslie at folger.edu | 201 East Capitol Street, S.E. | Washington, DC
> 20003 | 202.675-0369 <(202)%20675-0369> | orcid.org 0000-0001-5848-5467
>
>
>
> *From:* dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] *On
> Behalf Of *Amber Billey
> *Sent:* Thursday, 01 June, 2017 18:52
> *To:* DCRM Users' Group
> *Subject:* Re: [DCRM-L] term for type of printing
>
>
>
> It is a Tête-bêche! Thank you!
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 6:44 PM Robert Maxwell <robert_maxwell at byu.edu>
> wrote:
>
> This sounds like a Dos-à-dos binding or Tête-bêche:
>
>
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dos-%C3%A0-dos_binding
>
>
>
> http://rbms.info/vocabularies/binding/tr428.htm
>
>
>
> Robert L. Maxwell
> Ancient Languages and Special Collections Librarian
> 6728 Harold B. Lee Library
> Brigham Young University
> Provo, UT 84602
> (801)422-5568 <(801)%20422-5568>
>
>
>
> *From:* dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] *On
> Behalf Of *Amber Billey
> *Sent:* Thursday, June 1, 2017 2:49 PM
> *To:* dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu
> *Subject:* [DCRM-L] term for type of printing
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Does anyone know what you call a book that has the printing of one story
> running through the recto pages, but then when you flip it over and
> upside-down another story is printed on the verso pages?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Amber Billey
>
>


--

-- 
Matthew C. Haugen
Rare Book Cataloger
102 Butler Library
Columbia University Libraries
E-mail: matthew.haugen at columbia.edu
Phone: 212-851-2451


On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 3:15 PM Harriett Smith <harriett at uoregon.edu> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I have spent a lot of time trying to find this term, but without knowing
> what it is I don't seem to be able to find it.
>
> I have a book where the pages are printed as normal on the rectos. On p.
> 175 you turn the book so that the front cover is now the back cover, and
> there is page 176. The last page of the work is printed on the verso of the
> title page.
>
> When I looked at the descriptions of dos-à-dos or tête-bêche they seem to
> be describing two different titles bound back-to-back and upside down, not
> one title. The piece in hand is all one bibliographic work.
>
> I feel sure there is a term for this and it's driving me crazy! Does it
> ring a bell with anyone?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Harriett
>
>
> Harriett Smith
> Cataoger, University of Oregon Libraries
> harriett at uoregon.edu
>
>


-- 
Matthew C. Haugen
Rare Book Cataloger | Columbia University Libraries
matthew.haugen at columbia.edu | 212-851-2451 | he/him/his
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