Deckle Edge. Yay or nay?

It's often used for reprints of classic. If it's done well I like it.

I would probably find a deckle edge a bit pretension for a new release. It wouldn't really bother me however.

Along this same line . . .

I have a book of the complete plays of Shakespeare. It's hardback with some kind of textured surface. It feels like it's sticking to your hands when you hold it (like someone had actually spilled something sticky all over it; you almost have to "pull" you hands away). I can't stand it.

It's the only book I've ever seen quite like that.

I would prefer a heckled edge book. Every time you open it, it insults you.

"You're shit! You can't read! Boo!"

The first thing I thought was deckle of beef. Maybe I'm watching too much of Chopped.

I don't think it adds anything to a book, though.

I hate it, personally. I don't like the way it looks and feels - like a papercut waiting to happen.

I might be able to get behind heckle edging, though.

*does not need any encouragement*

Deckle sounds fecal, so I vote Nay

scarletpeaches said:

I would prefer a heckled edge book. Every time you open it, it insults you.

"You're shit! You can't read! Boo!"

Click to expand...

See?

Wait, what?

I don't think any publisher ever used Deckle Edge because anyone liked it. It's simply a much cheaper way of printing a book, and goes back to a time when you had to cut the pages of a book apart with a knife before reading it.

After enough time passed, deckle edge came to be thought of as showing the book, or stationery, was handmade. Well, handmade is always better than machine made, right?

In this case, no. Deckle edge is harder to read, tears much easier, and doesn't last as long, which is why you almost always see it on book club editions of novels.

Adam said:

Up until about twenty minutes ago, I'd never heard of Deckle edge book printing. Apparently those rough edged pages in the Drizzt hardbacks I own are done to make it look handmade. I just thought they were badly made.

So, what's your opinion on the technique? Love it? Loath it? Would you want your book printed using it? Let's have us a talk!

Linky for those who think I'm a little drunk. And here's the Wiki link.

Click to expand...

Oh, so it was intentional, huh? I thought the same as you that my poor Drizzt was being insulted by poor craftsmanship.

It's not appropriate for all books; the paper is thicker, and can be a problem with binding. You have to use slightly different kinds of inks in some printers because the paper is very absorbent.

I didn't know it had a name, but meh, I don't go for that business. If I wanted my books to "look" old, well shit, I'd buy an old book.

Deckle paper was used on chap books, for instance, and small print runs of hand-set lead type books that had engravings. It really was meant to suggest "hand made" and old, as in incunabula.

I like the look of deckled edges, but my problem with them is that it's distracting. Every time I turn the page, the uneven edge bushes over my finger pads, and for a split second, I'm distracted from what I was reading. I thought I'd get used to it further into the book, but not.

It's maddening.

I checked "don't like the look" but I do like it on a small book like a chapbook. On a regular mass-market book, I think it's usually pretentious faux-Renaissance crappitude.