Front matter
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In book design, front matter, or preliminaries ("prelims", for short), is the first section of a book, and is usually the smallest section in terms of the number of pages. The pages are numbered in lower-case Roman numerals. Each page is counted, but no folio or page number is expressed, or printed, on either display pages or blank pages.
Front matter generally only appears in the first volume in a multi-volume work, although some elements (such as a table of contents or index) may appear in each volume.
The following table will help distinguish between some of the different types of front matter:
| Name | Voice | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Bastard title | Publisher | Usually a single line in capital letters, precedes the title page, and only contains the title (as opposed to the author, publisher etc. found on the full title page) with a blank verso. |
| Title page | Publisher | Repeats the title and author as printed on the cover or spine. |
| Colophon | Printer | Technical information such as edition dates, copyrights, typefaces and the name and address of the printer. In modern books usually on the verso of the title page, but in some books placed at the end (see Back matter). |
| Contents | Publisher | This is a list of chapter headings, and nested subheadings, together with their respective page numbers. This includes all front-matter items listed below, together with chapters in the body matter and back matter. The number of levels of subheadings shown should be limited, so as to keep the contents list short, ideally one page, or possibly a double-page spread. |
| Foreword | Some real person, other than the author of the book. | Often, a foreword will tell of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the story or the writer of the story. A foreword to later editions of a work often explains in what respects that edition differs from previous ones. |
| Preface | The author | A preface generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or how the idea for the book was developed. This is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing. |
| Acknowledgment | The author | Often part of the Preface, rather than a separate section in its own right, it acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of the book. |
| Introduction | The author | A beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing. |
| Dedication | The author | A dedication page is a page in a book that precedes the text, in which the author names the person or people for whom he/she has written the book. |
| Half title | Publisher | A page containing just the book's title (as opposed to the author, publisher etc. found on the full title page), sometimes with ornamentation. |
| Epigraph | The author | A phrase, quotation, or poem. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison, or to enlist a conventional context. |
| Prologue | The narrator (or a character in the book) | A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. |
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