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Why is the last page number missing in books?

3.7.2020

Translation: machine translated

Pages must be numbered. This applies to bachelor theses as well as fiction. Almost, because the last page of books seems to be exempt from this rule. Why?

I have just finished reading "Unterwegs" (original title "On the Road") by Jack Kerouac. A book about intoxication, women, friendship, jazz and, in a broader sense, artistic liberation. A wonderful story of the so-called Beat Generation - a literary movement in the USA in the 1950s - in 379 pages. Wait, that's not right. 380 pages. But the last one isn't numbered. As is so often the case. But why?

Is Gutenberg to blame?

I've often asked myself this question. Perhaps Gutenberg ran out of ink just before the last page of the very first letterpress. In honour of his invention, the practice is still being dispensed with today. Or do publishers have such a low opinion of readers' cognitive abilities that they want to make it clear to them that the book ends on the page without a number? Or perhaps Bill Gates is simply to blame. I have enough wild theories, but I have never come to a plausible conclusion.

First and foremost because not all books lack the last page number. So it can't be a normative practice. Is the decision perhaps up to the publishers? No. I looked at two books published by Knaur. One is paginated to the end, the other is not. There is clear disagreement within the publishing house. Nor can I find any regularity in the age, publication and genre of the book in my selection. What I do notice, however: Only German books are numbered in the footer. For English and French editions, the page number can be found in the header. Right up to the last page.

However, this still does not explain why the German language does not use continuous pagination. Even your friend and helper, Google, doesn't spit out much on the topic. Just once in a single forum for book lovers has anyone other than me asked this question. The first few articles don't provide much useful information. Then Inka chimes in. She seems to have found the solution in a Wikipedia article on the topic of pagination.

For reasons of aesthetics, the numbers are omitted from the title and other pages such as the table of contents, the beginning of new chapters or main sections. Furthermore, this is customary in fiction on the last page of the book and therefore usually not completely filled with text; this also applies to the pages at the end of chapters if the text does not fill more than a third of the page.

Wikipedia

Thomas Meyer reveals the secret

Inka and Wikipedia in honour, but I have to verify this hypothesis. To clear up the mystery once and for all, I'll ask someone who should know. Thomas Meyer, author of the bestselling novel "Wolkenbruchs wunderliche Reise in die Arme einer Schickse", confirms: "If there are more than 5 blank lines after the text, you leave out the page number at the bottom - at least at Diogenes. Always. Not just at the end of the book."

For reasons of aesthetics. No conspiracy theories, no referential practice, no affront to the readership. A page number simply doesn't look nice if there is a large gap above it. This also explains why foreign-language works with a page number in the header are always numbered through to the end. The simplest explanations are usually the most coherent, if not the most exciting. At least there are a few rebels who don't subscribe to the principle of aesthetics.

Paulo Coelho and Diogenes are pro-aesthetics, Michael Tsokos and Knaur are not.

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Carolin Teufelberger

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carolin.teufelberger@digitecgalaxus.ch

My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.

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