An elephant folio is a book with pages that are at least 23 inches (58 cm) tall and 30 inches (76 cm) wide. Such a book is too large to be printed using a standard printing press, and must instead be printed using a larger, custom-made press. Elephant folios are usually reserved for books with particularly large or detailed illustrations, such as atlases, natural history books, and other works of art on paper.
The largest extant elephant folio is the Atlas Major, a 11th-century work containing detailed maps of the world. Other notable elephant folios include John James Audubon’s The Birds of America (1827-38), which contains 435 life-size bird illustrations, and the Codex Gigas (13th century), the largest surviving medieval manuscript.
While elephant folios are no longer common, due to the expense and difficulty of printing them, they remain an impressive format for certain types of books.
The Folio is the largest book format that was commonly produced during the early modern period. Folios were usually bound in two volumes, with each volume containing half the text. This format was often used for Bibles and other religious texts, as well as for works of philosophy, science, and history. The Elephant Folio is the largest book format that was commonly produced during the early modern period. Folios were usually bound in two volumes, with each volume containing half the text. This format was often used for Bibles and other religious texts, as well as for works of philosophy, science, and history. The Folio was the largest book format that was commonly produced during the early modern period. Folios were usually bound in two volumes, with each volume containing half the text. This format was often used for Bibles and other religious texts, as well as for works of philosophy, science, and history. The Elephant Folio is the largest book format that was commonly produced during the early modern period. Folios were usually bound in two volumes, with each volume containing half the text. This format was often used for Bibles and other religious texts, as well as for works of philosophy, science, and history.