Examples
Usually it is a series of numbers or letters as in the following examples:
| 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 |
|---|
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
|---|
| a b c d e f g h i j k |
|---|
Sometimes rather than follow in series the numbers alternate from left to right for example:
| 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 |
|---|
The purpose of this arrangement is to keep the line of numbers roughly centered even as the numbers are removed with subsequent printings. This format is seen in the copyright page image on this page.
Sometimes number lines will also include a date line for example:
| 2 3 4 5 6 73 72 71 70 |
|---|
This indicates a second printing (aka second impression) that took place in 1970. More specifically, it is this particular imprint's second impression of the edition.
Sometimes, when the publisher outsources the printing to a contractor, there will also be a code for which printing company was contracted in this case:
| 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 APC 00 99 98 97 96 |
|---|
The hypothetical printer’s key above decodes as third print run, printed in 1996, contracted to Acme Printing Corp.
Read more about this topic: Printer's Key
Famous quotes containing the word examples:
“There are many examples of women that have excelled in learning, and even in war, but this is no reason we should bring ‘em all up to Latin and Greek or else military discipline, instead of needle-work and housewifry.”
—Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733)
“No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)
“It is hardly to be believed how spiritual reflections when mixed with a little physics can hold people’s attention and give them a livelier idea of God than do the often ill-applied examples of his wrath.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)