Columbia Encyclopedia

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bibliography

(Encyclopedia)bibliography. The listing of books is of ancient origin. Lists of clay tablets have been found at Nineveh and elsewhere; the library at Alexandria had subject lists of its books. Modern bibliography b...

paper

(Encyclopedia)paper, thin, flat sheet or tissue made usually from plant fiber but also from rags and other fibrous materials. It is used principally for printing and writing on but has many other applications. The ...

commercial paper

(Encyclopedia)commercial paper, type of short-term negotiable instrument, usually an unsecured promissory note, that calls for the payment of money at a specified date. Because it is not backed by collateral, comme...

paper birch

(Encyclopedia)paper birch: see birch.

paper nautilus

(Encyclopedia)paper nautilus or argonaut, pelagic, surface-dwelling cephalopod mollusk of the genus Argonauta. Like the closely related octopus, the paper nautilus has a rounded body, eight tentacles, and no fins. ...

rice-paper plant

(Encyclopedia)rice-paper plant: see ginseng.

national bank

(Encyclopedia)national bank, in the United States, financial institution of a class authorized by Congress in acts of 1863 and 1864. The acts were intended to provide a way of marketing the large bond issues made n...

Baskerville, John

(Encyclopedia)Baskerville, John băsˈkərvĭlˌ [key], 1706–75, English designer of type and printer. He and Caslon were the two great type designers of the 18th cent. in England. He began his work as printer an...

Sabin, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Sabin, Joseph săbˈĭn [key], 1821–81, American bibliophile, b. England. Sabin came to the United States in 1848 and established himself as a dealer in rare books in New York City and Philadelphia....

typography

(Encyclopedia)typography tīpŏgˈrəfē [key], the art of printing from movable type. The term typographer is today virtually synonymous with a master printer skilled in the techniques of type and paper stock sele...