Editing Foolscap folio

{{Short description|Paper size historically common in some parts of Europe, and former British territories}}
[[File:FolioA4.svg|thumb|A comparison of the A4 and Foolscap folio papersize]]
'''Foolscap folio''', commonly contracted to '''foolscap''' or '''cap''' or '''folio''' and in short '''FC''', is [[paper]] cut to the size of 8.5 × 13.5 in (216 × 343 mm) for printing or to 8 × 13 in (203 × 330 mm) for "normal" writing paper (foolscap).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.papersizes.io/|title=Paper Sizes|website=www.papersizes.io}}</ref> This was a traditional [[paper size]] used in some parts of Europe, and the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]], before the adoption of the international standard [[ISO 216#A series|A4 paper]].

==Size==
A full (''plano'') foolscap<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://paper-size.com/size/foolscap-imperial-sizes.html|title=Foolscap Size in CM - Imperial Paper Sizes|website=paper-size.com}}</ref> paper sheet is actually {{cvt|13+1/2|xx|17|in|sigfig=3}} in size, and a [[folio (printing)|folio]] sheet of any type is half the base sheet size.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Foolscap folio
! Name !! inch × inch!! mm × mm !! [[aspect ratio|AR]] !! Characteristic
|-
! Foolscap folio
| 8½  ×  13½|| 216 × 343 ª || 1:1.5879 ||Imperial (half foolscap), printing
|-
! Foolscap folio
| 8  ×  13|| 203 × 330 || 1:1.6256 ||Traditional British, writing <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.papersizes.org/old-imperial-sizes.htm|title=Foolscap Size & Dimensions For The Old British Imperial Paper Sizes|website=www.papersizes.org}}</ref>
|}
ª <small>[[Approximate]] measure in current use in [[Latin America]]: 216 x 341 [[Millimetre|mm]].</small>

[[Ring binder]]s or lever arch files designed to hold foolscap folios are often used to hold A4 paper ({{cvt|210|xx|297|mm|disp=comma|frac=8}}). The slightly larger size of such a binder offers greater protection to the edges of the pages it contains.

==History==
Historically, there were two prevalent foolscap folio paper sizes: British foolscap and imperial foolscap. The British foolscap measured approximately 8.0 by 13.0 inches (203 mm by 330 mm) and was widely used in the United Kingdom for official documents and administrative records. On the other hand, the imperial foolscap was slightly larger, measuring around 8.5 by 13.5 inches (216 mm by 343 mm). This larger format was preferred in some regions of the British Empire for similar purposes. Both paper sizes represented an era when handwritten records and official documentation were prevalent, but they have since faded into history, replaced by contemporary paper standards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imperial Foolscap Paper Size |url=https://papersdb.com/imperial/foolscap |access-date= |website=papersdb.com |language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=British Foolscap Paper Size |url=https://papersdb.com/traditional-british/foolscap |access-date= |website=papersdb.com |language=}}</ref>

===Europe===
Foolscap was named after the [[Court jester|fool]]'s [[cap and bells]] [[watermark]] commonly used from the 15th century onwards on paper of these dimensions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Müller |first=Lothar |title=White Magic: The Age of Paper |place=Cambridge|publisher=Polity Press |date=2014|page=173}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/foolscap|title=Foolscap|last=Anon|work=The Free Dictionary|publisher=Farlex |accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref> 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 (borough)|Dartford]], Kent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/gallery/|title=Entry in the Dartford Holy Trinity parish register for Sir John Spielman (Spillman), 8 November 1626 |work=Medway: City Ark Document Gallery|publisher=Medway Council|accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref>

The general pattern of the mark was used by Dutch and English papermakers in the late 17th and 18th centuries, and as early as 1674 the term "foolscap" was being used to designate a specific size of paper regardless of its watermark.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ashbee |first1=Andrew |last2=Thompson |first2=Robert |last3=Wainwright |first3=Jonathan |chapter=Appendix I: 08-Watermarks and Paper Types |publisher=The Viola da Gamba Society |page=279 [29] |chapter-url=https://vdgs.org.uk/indexmss/08%20Watermarks.pdf |title=Index of Manuscripts containing Consort Music |volume=1 |url=https://vdgs.org.uk/indexmss/ |accessdate=13 July 2021}} Shows several types of foolscap watermark.</ref>

Apocryphally, the [[Rump Parliament]] of 1648–1653 substituted a fool's cap for the royal arms as a watermark on the paper used for the journals of Parliament.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Johnston
 |first=William G.
 |title=Life and Reminiscences from Birth to Manhood of Wm. G. Johnston
 |place=Pittsburgh
 |publisher=Knickerbocker Press
 |year=1901
 |page=195
 |url=https://archive.org/details/lifereminiscence00john/page/195/mode/1up}}</ref> According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins'', there is no basis in fact for this statement.<ref>{{Citation |last=Cresswell |first=Julia |title=fool |date=2021-07-22 |work=Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198868750.001.0001/acref-9780198868750-e-2108?rskey=J4p3HH&result=2161 |access-date=2024-02-08 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi= |isbn=978-0-19-886875-0}}</ref>{{efn|[[Charles I of England|Charles I]] was executed on 30 January 1649, which would have been the cause of this supposed change. There were only around 40 mills making hand-made paper in England between 1601 and 1650, with 23 of them within 30 miles of London.<ref name="Hills" >{{cite book
 |last=Hills
 |first=Richard Leslie
 |authorlink=Richard L. Hills
 |title=Papermaking in Britain 1488-1988: A Short History
 |series=History: Bloomsbury Academic Collections
 |edition=reprint
 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing
 |date=2015
 |page=52
 |isbn=9781474241281
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zn5qCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA52}}</ref>  It appears that the manufacture of white paper in England had come to a halt in around 1641, perhaps because of the lack of a [[linen]] industry for raw materials, and more likely because of the impact of the troubled times leading to the [[First English Civil War|Civil War]]. The French had become the most prominent supplier of white paper from around 1600 to 1675, when the Dutch took over.<ref name="Hills" /> If there is any truth in the matter, it is possible that imported paper bearing such a mark might be the cause.}}

===Mexico===
In Mexico, the foolscap folio paper size is {{convert|8+1/2|×|13+1/2|in|sigfig=3}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.officedepot.com.mx/medias/6892.jpg-1200ftw?context=bWFzdGVyfHJvb3R8MjEwNTMxfGltYWdlL2pwZWd8aDZiL2hmMS8xMDM0OTgyMjM3ODAxNC82ODkyLmpwZ18xMjAwZnR3fDIwZTc1NTBhN2Y2N2ExNDNkNjg5MmVlYTNjYjM5MTUyYjFjYzBkNmViZDIzOWFmZWYxMjc4ZDgxNDg1ODE1NzE|title=Photo of foolscap folio paper (''oficio'' - mexican).}}</ref> and is named (locally) ''oficio'' ('official').

===United States===
Today in the United States, a half-foolscap sized paper for printing is standardized to {{convert|8+1/2|×|14|in|sigfig=3}}, widely available and sold as "legal sized paper" for printing, writing, note-taking etc. A full foolscap size paper of {{convert|14|×|17|in|sigfig=3}} is also widely available for arts and crafts etc. alongside the {{convert|11|×|17|in|sigfig=3}} tabloid size.

In the United States in the 19th century, paper was sold either flat or folded in half. Folded foolscap was often {{convert|12+1/2|×|16|in|sigfig=3}}, but smaller and larger sizes were also found.<ref name="Monachesi" >{{cite book
 |editor1-last=Monachesi
 |editor1-first=Herbert D.
 |editor2-last=Yohn
 |editor2-first=Albert B.
 |title=The stationers' hand-book; a practical business guide chiefly intended for the use of retail stationers and book-sellers
 |place=New York
 |publisher=Office of the Publishers' Weekly
 |year=1876
 |pages=4–8
 |url=https://archive.org/details/stationershandbo00mona}}</ref> Legal foolscap of {{convert|8|×|24|in|sigfig=3}} was always sold ruled and folded in half at the printers by a [[folding machine]], resulting in a leaflet {{convert|8|×|12|in|sigfig=3}}, almost the same as modern A4 paper, which is {{convert|8.27|×|11.69|in|sigfig=3}}<ref name="Monachesi" />

There were numerous other sizes with variations on the "cap" name:<ref name="Monachesi" />
* Flat cap (i.e. unfolded). {{convert|14|×|17|in|sigfig=3}}
* Small Flat cap (or law blank cap, corporation cap or legal cap). {{convert|13|×|16|in|sigfig=3}}
* Exchange cap – thin, highly [[calender]]ed, hard and strong paper used for bills of exchange, certificates and other blanks where light weight and ability to receive hard usages was required.
* Drawing cap – cold-pressed, for making drawing books and printing imitation antique work.
* Double cap writing – for both writing and ledger papers. {{convert|17|×|28|in|sigfig=3}}
* Double foolscap. {{convert|26+1/2|×|16+3/4|in|sigfig=3}}

==F4==
{{see also|Paper size#F4}}
'''F4''' <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://paper-size.com/size/f4-transitional-sizes.html|title=F4 Size in CM - Transitional Paper Sizes|website=paper-size.com}}</ref> is a paper size {{cvt|210|x|330|mm|sigfig=3}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.prographic.com/Paper_sizes/body_paper_sizes.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040704181010/http://www.prographic.com/Paper_sizes/body_paper_sizes.html|url-status=dead|title=Prographic paper sizes|archivedate=July 4, 2004}}</ref> Although metric, based on the A4 paper size (210 mm × 297 mm), and named to suggest that it is part of the official [[ISO 216]] paper sizes, it is only a ''de facto'' standard.

It is often referred to as (metric) "foolscap" or "folio" because of its similarity to the traditional foolscap folio size of {{cvt|8+1/2|x|13+1/2|in|sigfig=3}}.

==References==
;Notes
{{notelist}}
;Citations
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://collation.folger.edu/2012/06/learning-to-read-old-paper/ The Collation]. a gathering of scholarship from the Folger Library showing image of Foolscap folio watermark
* {{cite web |url=http://ihl.enssib.fr/en/paper-and-watermarks-as-bibliographical-evidence/bibliographical-annotations-and-orientations |last=Harris |first=Neil |title=Paper and Watermarks as Bibliographical Evidence |place=Lyon |date=2017 |publisher=Institut d'histoire du livre}}

{{Paper}}

[[Category:Paper]]
[[Category:Stationery|Foolscap Folio (also called 'Folio')]]