In most books, there are blank pages after the book ends. What purpose do they serve?

mrsoliverwood

I suppose its for people who make notes on the books. When I first finish a book I use the pages to write bits of information in the book I want to read up on. Aug 07 05, 6:19 PM

lanfranco

Not much today. But once, they were the result of cutting and folding to create certain page sizes, were used to help "stiffen" a book and to add pages for notes and comments -- and some additional printing, if needed. This has largely become a tradition. Here are two discussions: http://teched.vt.edu/gcc/HTML/PrintingsPast/EvolutionOfBook.html http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/story.php?f=2&t=6725&i=&v=f&story=6725">http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/story.php?f=2&t=6725&i=&v=f&story=6725 Aug 07 05, 6:20 PM

JoshCaleb12

In printing, the pages of a book are actually printed on a huge sheet of paper and then folded up prior to being cut... In some older books, you'll find some pages that have not been cut, and so you have to tear them to read what's inside... The group of pages (usually 16 pages) is called a signature. If you look straight down onto the top of a hardcover book, you'll see groups of pages... a book is made up of several signatures. Sometimes the author hasn't written enough to fill all the pages of a signature, and this may result in some blank pages at the end of the book. Aug 07 05, 9:36 PM