bastard

In bookbinding and printing, a bastard is a shortened title page, usually printed on a single leaf, that precedes the full title page of a book. It carries only essential information: the author's name and the book's title, sometimes with a publisher's mark. The bastard serves as an economical introduction before the more elaborate full title page arrives on the next opening.

The bastard exists because of how signatures are folded and sewn in traditional binding. A full title page is often too costly or graphically complex to justify for every copy, especially in commercial or educational runs. The bastard page fills that opening with something functional and lighter, reducing ink and paper expense. In some editions, particularly older ones, the bastard might bear only a partial title or the author's name alone.

The bastard appears on the recto (right-hand side) of the first leaf, immediately after the endpaper or cover. When the book is opened, this half-title is the first text element the reader encounters. On the verso (back) of that leaf, the printer might place copyright information, publication details, or leave it blank. The full, decorated title page then follows on the next opening.

This practice was most common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when printing costs for ornamental typography and binding were substantial. Modern printing has reduced the economic pressure to use a bastard, though the format persists in certain hardcover editions and specialty publications where it adds perceived quality or follows house tradition.

The term's origin is obscure, but likely refers to the page being incomplete or subordinate in the hierarchy of title pages, similar to how "bastard" was applied to non-standard sizes and weights of paper in the trade. A bastard cut or bastard size was any dimension that fell outside the conventional range, so a bastard title fell outside the conventional full-dress treatment.