Parts of a Book

By: Sharnna Archat-Edmondson

Main Parts of a Book

There are three main parts of a book. They are:

1.The outside and preliminary

2.The body or text

3.The subsidiary

The Outside

1. The dust jacket -contains information which may not be given elsewhere. It has a front and back flap and also a blurb.

2. Binding -material which holds the book

together.

3. Covers - front, back and spine.

The Preliminary Section

1. End papers- designed to hold the book firmly in the binding.

2. Half title page -brief title on a full page preceding the title page.

3. Frontispiece -illustration facing the title page.

The Preliminary Section (Cont’d)

4. Title page -usually the first page in a book which has the title of the book, author name(s), publisher, place of publication, editor and illustrator.

5. Verso of the title page - copyright date

6. Dedication page - statement by the author usually acknowledging or expressing affection for another person.

8. Acknowledgement - a thank note recognizing an individual or a group of individuals who have contributed to the success of the work.

9. Preface-usually follows the title page. It is a note to all persons and publishers who made the work a success. It states the author’s reason for writing the book and the persons for whom the book is intended. It must be distinguished from the introduction.

10. List of illustrations - gives the pages on which to locate pictures, diagrams or tables.

The Preliminary Section (Cont’d)

The Preliminary Section (Cont’d)

11. Introduction-deals with the subject of the book, sometimes it is the first chapter of the book.

12. Foreword-introduction written about a book by someone other than the author.

13. Table of contents - lists the number of chapters, pages and the title of each chapter.

The Body or Text

• This is the main portion of the book. All the information from the chapters are obtained in this section.

The Subsidiary

1. Appendix -gives additional information that is not included in the text.

2. Bibliography -this is a list of additional sources which were used to obtain information for writing the book.

The Subsidiary

3. Glossary -list of terms and their meaning which may be unfamiliar.

4. Index-this is arranged alphabetically and lists subtopics and their page numbers within the text.

5. Notes- blank sheets provided for notes.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Do you have a query?

Contact: Sharnna Archat-Edmondson (Training Manager)

•1876-823-6222

•sharnna.edmondson@jls.gov.jm