Milton a Poem copy D 1818 Library of Congress object 1

A frontispiece in books is a decorative or informative illustration facing a book's

title page The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title (publishing), title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A half title, by contrast, displays onl ...

—on the left-hand, or

verso ' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. Etymology The terms are shortened from Latin ...

, page opposite the right-hand, or

recto ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. Etymology The terms are shortened from ...

, page. In some ancient editions or in modern luxury editions the frontispiece features thematic or

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

elements, in others is the author's portrait that appears as the frontispiece. In medieval

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

s, a

presentation miniature A presentation miniature or dedication miniature is a miniature painting often found in illuminated manuscripts, in which the patron or donor is presented with a book, normally to be interpreted as the book containing the miniature itself.Brow ...

showing the book or text being presented (by whom and to whom varies) was often used as a frontispiece.

Origin

The word comes from the French ''frontispice'', which derives from the

late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...

''frontispicium'', composed of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''frons'' ('forehead') and ''specere'' ('to look at'). It was

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

ous with '

metoposcopy Metoposcopy is a form of divination in which the diviner predicts personality, character, and destiny, based on the pattern of lines on the subject's forehead. It was in use in the Classical era, and was widespread in the Middle Ages, reaching its ...

'. In English, it was originally used as an architectural term, referring to the decorative facade of a building. In the 17th century, in other languages as in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, the term came to refer to the title page of a book, which at the time was often decorated with intricate

engravings Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

that borrowed stylistic elements from architecture, such as

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

and

pediments Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pediment ...

. Over the course of the 17th century, the title page of a book came to be accompanied by an illustration on the facing page (known in Italian as ''antiporta''), so that in English the term took on the meaning it retains today as early as 1682. By then, the English spelling had also morphed, by way of

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

, from 'frontispice' to 'frontispiece' ('front' + 'piece').Michael Quinion,
World Wide Words Entry
/ref>

Examples

File:Klostermayr Titel.jpg, A frontispiece and title page of

Matthias Klostermayr Matthias Klostermayr, also known as Bavarian Hiasl (German ''Bayerischer Hiasl'', Austro-Bavarian ''Boarische Hiasl'') (3 September 1736—6 September 1771), was a German outlaw, poacher and social rebel who has come to be described, part ...

's biography (1772) File:Yung Wing Frontispiece Title page My Life in China and America 1909 FRD 4824.jpg, A portrait of

Yung Wing Yung Wing (; November 17, 1828April 21, 1912) was a Chinese-American diplomat and businessman. In 1854, he became the first Chinese student to graduate from an American university, Yale College. He was involved in business transactions between Ch ...

used as the frontispiece of his 1909 book ''My Life in China and America'' File:Ferrel-2.jpg, Frontispiece to ''A popular treatise on the winds: Comprising the general motions of the atmosphere, monsoons, cyclones, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail-storms, etc.'' by

William Ferrel William Ferrel (January 29, 1817 – September 18, 1891) was an American meteorologist who developed theories that explained the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell in detail, and it is after him that the Ferrel cell is named. Biograph ...

(1904) File:Maillet-3.jpg, Title page and frontispiece to ''Telliamed'' by

Benoît de Maillet Benoît de Maillet (Saint-Mihiel, 12 April 1656 – Marseille, 30 January 1738) was a well-travelled French diplomat and natural historian. He was French consul general at Cairo, and overseer in the Levant. He formulated an evolutionary hypothesi ...

(1749) File:Kepler-6.jpg, Title page and frontispiece to volume I1 of ''Joannis Kepleri Astronomi Opera Omnia'' by

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...

(1858) File:Carus-4.jpg, Frontispiece and title page to ''De Rerum Natura'' by Titus Lucretius Carus (1754) File:Buffon-1-2.jpg, Frontispiece and title page to volume I of ''Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière'' by

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and encyclopédiste. His works influenced the next two generations of naturalists, including two prominent Fr ...

(1774) File:Bode-2.jpg, Frontispiece illustration from Johann Bode's ''Anleitung zur Kentniss des Gestirnten Himmels'' (1772)

References

External links

Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on book frontispieces Illustration Book design Book terminology Typography {{book-art-stub

Origin

Examples

See also

References

External links