RECTO
(REK-toh)
The
right-hand, or odd-numbered page, of a book Common
clues: Right-hand
page; Verso's opposite; Odd-numbered page; Front of a manuscript
leaf; Start of a chapter, usually; Folio page; Half a
leaf Related crosswordese: VERSO Crossword
puzzle frequency:
2 times a year Video: Turning
the pages of an eBook
The
recto is the right-hand page and the verso the left-hand page of
a folded sheet or bound item, such as a book, broadsheet, or
pamphlet. These are terms of art in the binding, printing, and
publishing industries, and can be applied more broadly to any
field where physical documents are exchanged.
The
term recto-verso describes two-sided printing. It is the norm for
books, but was an important advantage of the printing-press over
the much older Asian woodblock printing method, which printed by
rubbing from behind the page being printed, and so could only
print on one side of a piece of paper.
The
distinction between recto and verso can be convenient in the
annotation of scholarly books, particularly in bilingual edition
translations.
A
religious scripture that makes use of the recto and verso
distinction is the Ginza Rba of Mandaeism, in which two separate
narratives cover the opposite-facing pages.
The
"recto" and "verso" terms can also be
employed for the front and back of a one-sheet artwork,
particularly in drawing. A recto-verso drawing is a sheet with
drawings on both sides, for example in a sketchbook—although
usually in these cases there is no obvious primary side. Some
works are planned to exploit being on two sides of the same piece
of paper, but usually the works are not intended to be considered
together. Paper was relatively expensive in the past; indeed good
drawing paper still is much more expensive than normal paper.
A
2001 exhibit at Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University displayed
recto-verso drawings from the Renaissance to the present.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Recto and verso".
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