31-01-2026, 02:36 PM
It occurred to me that the Author may actually have intended to make a bound book, but did not realize that, for that purpose, the pages had to be written on the bifolios in a complicated order, because the bifolios would have to be gathered and nested into quires.
That mistake may seem too stupid once one thinks about it, but it is the kind of thing that could be overlooked by someone who had no previous experience in creating a book. And that seems likely to be the the case for both the VMS Author and his Scribe.
(I seem to recall making that mistake myself when trying to laser-print on A4 paper, two-sided, what was meant to be a booklet in A5 size. And I seem to recall that some word processor or PDF viewer had an option to do the necessary shuffling of the pages.)
All the best, --stolfi
That mistake may seem too stupid once one thinks about it, but it is the kind of thing that could be overlooked by someone who had no previous experience in creating a book. And that seems likely to be the the case for both the VMS Author and his Scribe.
(I seem to recall making that mistake myself when trying to laser-print on A4 paper, two-sided, what was meant to be a booklet in A5 size. And I seem to recall that some word processor or PDF viewer had an option to do the necessary shuffling of the pages.)
All the best, --stolfi
