19-04-2026, 12:57 PM
(19-04-2026, 06:45 AM)ReneZ wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.parchment books had been made from hides before that for many centuries, and hides came in non-normalised (but also non-uniform) sizes.
What surprised me in that plot was how close the aspect ratios are to the A4 ratio of sqrt(2) = 1.414...
I think it shows that the aspect ratio of traded sheets was standardized, if not their sizes. If the original ratio was, say , 1 (square) or 2, the halved and quartered sheets would have one of those two ratios. An original aspect ratio of phi = 1.618... would give books with aspect ratios alternating between ~1.62 or ~1.24.
Quote:The reason I showed the plot is that there is almost a continuum of sizes even in this small sample of herbal books. Your plot also shows that clearly.
I can understand that people with deficient pareidolia could see it that way. I see many clusters...
Someone in that thread stated that they had done a much more extensive survey. I haven't checked that yet. Did they consider this question? Like looking for regional size standards (French, German, Italian, ...), or vellum x parchment?
All the best, --stolfi
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