blockbooks

(noun)

Short books of up to 50 leaves, block printed in Europe in the second half of the fifteenth century as woodcuts with blocks carved to include both text and illustrations. The content of the books was nearly always religious, aimed at a popular audience, and a few titles were often reprinted in several editions using new woodcuts.

Related Terms

Examples of blockbooks in the following topics:

  • Graphic Arts

    • From the middle of the fourteenth century, blockbooks with both text and images cut as woodcut seem to have been affordable by parish priests in the Low Countries, where they were most popular.