The sizes of quartos and octavos are also very varied, but, roughly speaking, they can be recognised by their shapes, especially in the case of modern books. A quarto is generally squarish in outline, nearly as broad as it is long; an octavo is an elongated rectangle, its breadth considerably less than its length. A duodecimo is always much longer than its breadth.
As curiosities, books have been made in many forms, circular, heart-shaped, octagonal, flower or animal forms, but they are of small importance, and have been chiefly made as Christmas cards, valentines, and such ephemeral publications.
The rules as to quiring of books printed on paper do not apply to books printed on vellum. Such books are always folios, and they are generally quired in gatherings of ten leaves, following the fashion used in the ancient manuscripts, but, of course, they can equally well be gathered together in any even number that may be preferred. There is no rule.
In Europe, until the nineteenth century, paper was always made from triturated rags, but the demand for cheap literature which has become so urgent in recent years has compelled paper manufacturers to find some commoner material from which to make their paper.
It is possible that the way out of the difficulty was suggested by an analysis of Japanese paper. This has been known here for some time. It is strong, soft, and valuable for many reasons, and is cheaply made of fibres from plants of the mulberry tree species. Japanese paper is hand made and has a certain amount of dressing, its surface is dull, but takes impressions from engraved plates or type easily. It appears to last fairly well, but would probably not stand much wear at the joints.
The idea of using pulped vegetable matter for paper was, however, not new, even to the Japanese, as there was such a thing as paper made from papyrus, but it does not seem to have been much employed, because it was not necessary in view of the fact that the papyrus did quite well by itself without any further manipulation.
For reliable papers, the Committee on the Deterioration of Paper appointed by the Society of Arts in 1898 give in their report a statement that 70 per cent. should consist of fibres of cotton, flax, or hemp, but about the middle of the nineteenth century it was found that passable paper could be very cheaply made from straw and from esparto grass, and this paved the way for the disastrous use of mechanical wood pulp for cheap newspapers and books.