How to say you call book parts in Latin?

[tukusejssirs]

Hi everybody!

I’d like to know if there is a collection term for front matter and back matter in Latin. I’ve searched the Internet, but with my limited knowledge of Latin, I couldn’t find anything reliable.

Just to note: Google Translate translates front matter as ante rem, which I am not quite happy with, as it it used in structuralism (philosophy of mathematics). That said, it might be used that way.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

I think, "prolegomena" or "prefatio" or "prolusio" might be used for "front matter"
and "paralipomena" (which actually means "things passed over") or more properly "peroratio" for the conclusion.

 

[tukusejssirs]

Thanks @EstQuodFulmineIungo, for your answer!

Prefatio reminds me of preface used in the Roman Catholic liturgy. As I need this in a liturgical book, I consider this a no-go. Also, it is used as a single part of the front matter (also in Latin, see the definition in Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary on perseus.tufts.edu).

Prolegomena sounds good to me, however, Lexico.com (which uses Oxford English Dictionary) defines it as a critical or discursive introduction to a book, which sounds to me like a prologue (of course, one of specific type). That said, it is an English dictionary, therefore the meaning and usage could differ.

A quick Google search of prolusio returns me a list of different book titles (like Prolvsio de vestigiis lingvae Hebraicae in lingva Graeca or De Antro Platonis prolusio) which sounds to me like a book/liturature type (like a novel, essay, diploma work, …), therefore I don’t really think it could be used in this sense. See also in Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary on perseus.tufts.edu.

On paralipomena: just like prolegomena, it is used (at least in English) as sort of addendum (see on Lexico.com).

Peroratio sounds like it is a conclusion but to a speech, therefore it is (usually) spoken, not written. See also in Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary on perseus.tufts.edu.

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Just to emphasise: I can be wrong in what I said above.

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That said, I’ve just found on Latin Wikipedia an article called Pagina Titularis which says Folium titulare (tegminis libri dissimilis) est praecipua pars praeliminarium. Therefore I presume that the correct term for front matter might be pars præliminaris or simply præliminaria (of course, Wikipedia does not always have it right). Please could someone check if the nominative of singular is pars præliminaris? Or is præliminaria better to be used in comparison with pars præliminaris? Thanks.

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There is a quite good article on English Wikipedia called Book Design, however, it lacks its Latin counterpart. The closest Latin artice is Liber, but although it lists some book divisions according to different factors, it does not include the one I am interested in.

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I still would like to ask you for the translation of the following parts of a book:
- front cover;
- back cover;
- front matter (pars præliminaris or præliminaria?);
- back matter;
- half title (not to be confused with title page, pagina titularis).

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

Praefatio is, as you said, incidentally used in the Missal too. Although a "preface" (eng) or "prefazione" (ita) is often found in books of any kind.
Prolusio comes from the verb "proludere", and means "to begin an exposition"; in fact, the term is also used as the formal name of the first lesson of an Universitary semester. I don't think it's a literary genre, but simply an introduction of some kind.
Prolegomena is mutuated from Greek (τὰ προλεγόμενα, neuter plural, passive present participle of προλέγω , to "say before").
Paralipomena is indeed an "addendum" or "appendix", which is often found at the end of the book.
Peroratio has indeed to do with a speech and rethoric, but as an extention it might be suitable in the case of a written book too.

I now realize, however, you were interested into a translation of the parts of a book as an item made of paper, not of words. I'm afraid (I might be wrong) this terminology was conceived only after more advanced print-related techniques were developed, well after the time of the Romans. Therefore I honestly don't know.
Maybe other users will pass by and be more helpful.

If I had to give my opinion pagina titularis sounds good. "titulus libri" wouldn't be bad either.

 

[tukusejssirs]

Praefatio is, as you said, incidentally used in the Missal too. Although a "preface" (eng) or "prefazione" (ita) is often found in books of any kind.
Prolusio comes from the verb "proludere", and means "to begin an exposition"; in fact, the term is also used as the formal name of the first lesson of an Universitary semester. I don't think it's a literary genre, but simply an introduction of some kind.
Prolegomena is mutuated from Greek (τὰ προλεγόμενα, neuter plural, passive present participle of προλέγω , to "say before").
Paralipomena is indeed an "addendum" or "appendix", which is often found at the end of the book.
Peroratio has indeed to do with a speech and rethoric, but as an extention it might be suitable in the case of a written book too.

Thanks for this in depth explanation!

I now realize, however, you were interested into a translation of the parts of a book as an item made of paper, not of words. I'm afraid (I might be wrong) this terminology was conceived only after more advanced print-related techniques were developed, well after the time of the Romans. Therefore I honestly don't know.
Maybe other users will pass by and be more helpful.

Thanks for trying anyway!

I know that front/body/back matter is a modern division, but I’d like to name the parts in Latin, as the book I am working on is written in Latin.

If I had to give my opinion pagina titularis sounds good. "titulus libri" wouldn't be bad either.

You didn’t understand me quite right on this.

1. Titulus libri means book title and book title is not the same as title page. (One is just the title, the other a specific page in a book with the title and other book metadata written/printed on it.)

2. I am quite fine with pagina titularis as the translation of title page. I wanted to know how could I call half title page which is different from the title page. For more information on the difference between them, you can read Book design (Front matter) article on Wikipedia.

 

[EstQuodFulmineIungo]

The title page probably might be called "frontispicium" (frons + spicere, to see in the front), however it's only one of the pages that build up the "front matter".

The half title, which is an odd numbered page, totally blank if it weren't for the title of the book, In my language goes under the name of "occhiello" (eye/little eye) because the term originate within the production of "incunabola" (before the "frontispicium" was even invented) and typographers used to enclose the title in an oval shape. However, I don't think there's a latin translation for that.

 

[tukusejssirs]

Thanks, @EstQuodFulmineIungo, for trying to help me!

 

[Gregorius Textor]

I noticed that the 1974 Graduale Romanum and the 1975 Graduale Simplex, which are Latin liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church, each have a section near the beginning called "Praenotanda", which is translated "Introduction." This might be more specific than what you are asking for, since an introduction is only one part of what is called "front matter."

But, are you still looking for answers to this? If there is no established Latin terminology, maybe it's time to invent some. But that calls for more Latin knowledge than I have.