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Chapbook and Book Listings (updated monthly)
Question of the month: What is a
chapbook?
According to to the
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is defined as the
following:
Pronunciation: 'chap-"buk; Function: noun;
Etymology: chapman + book; Date: 1798
: a small book containing ballads, poems, tales,
or tracts
According to John Marshall
(otherwise known as J.W.):
... As for the chapbook issue, I have some
guesses. I figure they always are one signature,
meaning they don't have more pages than can be
held together by one piece of thread or one
staple. It's a cheap definition because I've seen
a chapbook where someone sewed each sheet in
separately so maybe there were 16 pages and four
pieces of thread holding it together. I still
call that a chapbook. Anyway, small is important.
I remember hearing...about how printers,
some centuries back, would hang printed sheets on
a line and fellows (chaps) would sell them to
passersby. Also, think of a chapter in a prose
book. It's like chapters being sold individually,
except that the
book can't be put together in any coherent way
because the chapters don't
directly relate to each other.
Enough speculation. The true answer is I don't
know what distinguishes a
chapbook from a book book, but I think I know 'em
when I see 'em.
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