The technical term used to describe the physical arrangement of published books is codex. Codices are a collection of pages written in one book that is bound together in a binding, with an outer cover (the margins) secured to the inside of the binding. Books that contain hundreds of pages are called quartos.
Book binding can be either loose-binding or tight-binding. Loose-binding means that the pages are rolled up and placed inside the book by means of a cord or chain and the book ends up in a closed position. Tight-binding means that the pages are inserted into the book by means of a ring or chain.
Book production has also advanced, so that today books can be produced by printing on both sides of the book at the same time. This is called double-sided printing. A second printing may be performed if the first printing turns out to be unsatisfactory.
A common type of book cover, also known as cover sheet, is an outline of the book that surrounds the whole front and back covers of the book. It may be printed on both sides, or the cover sheets can be printed on only one side.
Text can be written or drawn on the cover sheets as well. The cover sheets of most printed books are usually white in color, although some illustrations or pictures may sometimes be included.
Book publishers usually keep the complete texts of all published books, and a new edition will include all those texts in addition to any illustrations or pictures they may have had. Sometimes only a portion of the text is left out, such as in cases where a previously published book was lost or destroyed by fire.
A publication date is the day on which a book was first published. In general, books are published in their own language and are published by the author, printer or publisher in that language. However, some published books are also published in other languages, and the publishing date is assigned to the country where the book was first published, e.g., French books were published in France, while American books were published in America.
A copyright is a term used to describe the exclusive rights granted by a publisher to its readers or authors regarding the copyright to a book. Copyrights protect the copyright owner from unauthorized reproduction of a copyrighted work. A publisher normally assigns these rights to a company that publishes a book. There are several different types of copyrights, and each has specific requirements and exceptions.
A publisher’s name is also a term used to describe a company that publishes a book. It is a registered trademark, registered in the United States Patent Office, which identifies a publisher for the sole purpose of publishing a book in that specific language.
A book is also known as a printed copy or an edition. The term “printed” indicates that a book was actually made by the publisher in question.
A book’s table of contents can also be referred to as the index or, and is usually arranged by the main sections of the book. The first three lines or columns of the table of contents are the “start” lines.
A book is also known as a single volume or a volume and is usually one copy. It is usually one volume printed, although there are many publications that contain several small-sized books.