Folks who collect books printed from roughly the mid-16th century to the late-18th century often encounter catchwords at the bottom right of a book's pages. Catchwords were meant to help printers and bookbinders make certain that pages were set up correctly in the press, and that such pages were bound in their correct sequence once they left the press. Theodore Devinne noted that catchwords also were believed to be needed by the reader to make clear the connection between...two pages:
The catchword above is "from"....
Catchwords appeared earlier in medieval manuscripts, and had begun to appear in printed books by the end of the 15th century, though the practice did not become widespread till the middle of the following century.
The practice is outlined in a number of books about early press practices, such as those depicted below....
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