Pleasures of Design

What goes where

Prelim pages in a book usually contain the following:
  • Half title: Title of the publication only. Right-hand (recto) page followed by a blank.
  • Title page: Title,author, illustrator (if any), publisher, date. Recto page.
  • Imprint: Bibliographical details including copyright. Left hand (verso) page, on the back of the title page.
  • Contents: Complete list of chapter or section titles, with page numbers. Usually starts on a recto page. Additional information such as summaries of chapters can be included but are best omitted if they make the contents occupy more than one page.
  • List of illustrations: Usually starts on a recto page but not always.
  • Introduction or Preface should, like Chapter 1, start on a recto page.

more ... Covers – Part 1