Where the printed book came from
Paper, movable type and the first precisely dated Moscow edition: a short chronicle explaining what each event changed.
how a book is made: history and craft
Elit Knigi: how a book is made
A book looks like a simple thing: a cover, some pages, some text. Yet behind every volume lie centuries of invention and countless decisions made by different craftspeople, from the editor to the print technologist. Here we explain where those decisions came from and how to spot them in the book you are holding.
A well-made book is almost invisible: it simply reads comfortably. To see how much work hides behind that comfort, you only need to look closely at the small things.
Where to start
Who works on an edition
The author writes the text, but a whole team brings it to the reader. We explain what the editor, proofreader, illustrator and typesetter actually do.
How to examine a book's design
A step-by-step way to study the cover, title page, type and margins so that you see the designer's intent, not just the picture.
What the imprint details tell you (in Russian)
Where a book records how it was made, what the ISBN means, and how a few lines can tell one edition apart from another.
Guide sections
- Articles
The main topics of the guide and a catalogue of standalone articles for English-language readers.
- History
A short chronicle: paper in the 2nd century, Gutenberg's type and his Bible around 1455, the Moscow Apostol of 1564, the ISBN since 1970.
- Book people
The professions without which no book appears, and ways to find out who worked on a particular edition.
- Collections
Routes through the guide: by craft, by history, and a short path for a first introduction.
- Events
The kinds of book fairs, exhibitions and printing museums there are, and how to prepare for a visit.
- Close reading
A step-by-step way to examine the design of an edition, plus a table of a book's main elements.
- Archive
A table of contents for every section of the guide and an explanation of the domain's old addresses.
How to look at a book in five minutes
Look at the binding and spine
Hard case or soft cover, cloth or paper, and how the spine behaves when the volume is opened. These signs alone show how long a life the book was expected to have.
Open the endpapers
An endpaper is a folded double leaf that joins the book block to the case. It may be plain, coloured or patterned; sometimes it carries a map or a diagram.
Find the title page
The title page gathers the key facts: author, title, sometimes a subtitle and the place of publication. Notice the typeface used for the title and how much space surrounds it.
Read the imprint details
They are usually on the back of the title page or on the last page. They name the editor and designer and give the format, print run and ISBN: the edition's passport in a few lines.
Judge the type and margins
Open a page in the middle of the book. Is the line easy to read, is it too long, are the margins wide enough for your fingers not to cover the words? All of this is the typesetter's work.
Frequently asked questions
Are you a bookshop or a publisher?
No. Elit Knigi is an independent guide to the history and craft of the book. We do not sell books, publish editions or take orders; here you will find only explanations and tips on how to look at a book more closely.
What is an ISBN?
It is the International Standard Book Number. It was introduced in 1970, its structure is defined by the ISO 2108 standard, and since 1 January 2007 it has had 13 digits. The number makes it possible to identify an edition unambiguously in library and publishers' catalogues.
When did printing with movable type begin?
Around the middle of the 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz began printing with movable metal type. The Gutenberg Bible was printed around 1455. The very idea of assembling text from separate characters and then reusing them changed the way books come into being.
What was the first book printed in Moscow?
In 1564 Ivan Fyodorov and Pyotr Mstislavets published the Apostol (The Acts and Epistles of the Apostles) in Moscow. It is the first precisely dated printed book of the Muscovite state: its own publication details allow the year to be named without guesswork.
About the project
This domain used to host a different website, a book catalogue, and later unrelated spam pages appeared on it. The material from both has not survived, and we do not reproduce it. This guide has no connection with either; it simply inherited the name along with the domain.
Elit Knigi looks at the book as a craft: what it is made of, who works on it, and how familiar details such as endpapers, running heads and imprint details took shape over centuries of printing. We do not sell books, compile rankings or advise you on what to choose; our aim is to help you see how an edition is put together.
Read next
- Articles
The main topics of the guide and a catalogue of standalone articles for English-language readers.
- History
A short chronicle: paper in the 2nd century, Gutenberg's type and his Bible around 1455, the Moscow Apostol of 1564, the ISBN since 1970.
- Book people
The professions without which no book appears, and ways to find out who worked on a particular edition.
- Close reading
A step-by-step way to examine the design of an edition, plus a table of a book's main elements.
- Imprint pages (in Russian)
A note at an old catalogue address: what a book's imprint details are, where to find them and what the ISBN means.
- Who makes a book (in Russian)
A note at an old catalogue address: the roles of author, editor, proofreader, illustrator, typesetter and print technologist.
Sources
- Reference works on the history of the book and of printing
- International standard ISO 2108 (ISBN)
Historical information is based on reference literature on the history of the book and of printing. Details of exhibitions, museums and fairs change, so please confirm them with the organisers.