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 in (220 × 340 mm) for printing or to 8 × 13 in (200 × 330 mm) for "normal" writing paper. This was a traditional paper size used in Europe and the British Commonwealth, before the adoption of the international standard A4 paper.

A comparison of the A4 and Foolscap folio papersize

A full (plano) foolscap paper sheet is actually 13 1⁄2 × 17 in (340 × 430 mm) in size, and a folio sheet of any type is half the base sheet size.

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.

History

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.

Oficio

In Venezuela, the 8 1⁄2 by 13 inches (216 mm × 330 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.

In Brazil, the same size is usually named folio, but is also sometimes called ofício II. This is a reference to the 8 1⁄2-by-14-inch (216 mm × 356 mm) paper size, which is known as ofício in Portuguese, despite being called legal in English .

F4
See also: Paper size § F4

F4 is a paper size 210 mm × 330 mm (8.27 in × 13.0 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 is often referred to as "foolscap" or "folio" because of its similarity to the traditional foolscap folio size of 8 1⁄2 in × 13 1⁄2 in (216 mm × 343 mm).

References
  1. Müller, Lothar (2014). White Magic: The Age of Paper. Cambridge: Polity Press. p. 173.
  2. Anon. "Foolscap". The Free Dictionary. Farlex Inc. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  3. 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.
  4. Prographic paper sizes Archived July 4, 2004, at the Wayback Machine

THE COLLATION a gathering of scholarship from the Folger Library showing image of Foolscap folio watermark

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