Foolscap folio
Foolscap folio (commonly contracted to foolscap or folio and in short FC) is paper cut to the size of 8 1⁄2 × 13 1⁄2 inches (216 × 343 mm) (for "normal" writing paper, 13 × 8 in (330 × 200 mm)). This was a traditional paper size used in Europe and the British Commonwealth, before the adoption of the international standard A4 paper.
A full foolscap paper sheet is actually 17 × 13 1⁄2 inches (432 × 343 mm) in size, and a folio sheet of any type is half the standard sheet size or a subdivision of this into halves, quarters and so on.
Ring binders or lever arch files designed to hold foolscap folios are often used to hold A4 paper (210 × 297 mm, 8 1⁄4 × 11 3⁄4 in). The slightly larger size of such a binder offers greater protection to the edges of the pages it contains.
Contents
History[edit]
Foolscap was named after the fool's cap and bells watermark commonly used from the fifteenth century onwards on paper of these dimensions.[1][2] The earliest example of such paper was made in Germany in 1479. Unsubstantiated anecdotes suggest that this watermark was introduced to England in 1580 by John Spilman, a German who established a papermill at Dartford, Kent.[3] Apocryphally, the Rump Parliament substituted a fool's cap for the royal arms as a watermark on the paper used for the journals of Parliament.[citation needed]
Oficio[edit]
In Brazil, the 8 1⁄2 by 13 inches (215.9 mm × 330.2 mm) paper size is usually named folio, and it is also sometimes called ofício II, a reference to the 8 1⁄2-by-14-inch (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm) paper size (which is named legal but in Portuguese is better known as ofício.
In Venezuela, the 8 1⁄2 by 13 inches (215.9 mm × 330.2 mm) paper size is named oficio. While laws expressly permit any paper size, public offices require all documents to be presented in oficio paper size.
F4[edit]
F4 is a paper size 210 mm × 330 mm (8.27 in × 12.99 in).[4] Although metric, based on the A4 paper size, and named to suggest that it is part of the official ISO 216 paper sizes, it is only a de facto standard.
It may be referred to as "foolscap" or "folio" because of its similarity to the traditional foolscap folio size of 8 1⁄2 by 13 1⁄2 inches (215.9 mm × 342.9 mm).
References[edit]
- ^ Müller, Lothar (2014). White Magic: The Age of Paper. Cambridge: Polity Press. p. 173.
- ^ Anon. "Foolscap". The Free Dictionary. Farlex Inc. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
- ^ Anon. "Entry in the Dartford Holy Trinity parish register for Sir John Spielman (Spillman), 8 November 1626". Medway: City Ark Document Gallery. Medway Council. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
- ^ Prographic paper sizes Archived July 4, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
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