Legal Definition of Large Print
Large-print books are unabridged editions of standard print books. The trick for publishers is to render the text in a larger font size while keeping the resulting volume small enough for readers to handle easily.
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History
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The first large-print edition came out in 1964. Large-print editions have only been available since the 1960s. Retired British publisher Frederick Thorpe, in response to the requests of elderly acquaintances, set out to produce book editions with larger printing for those who had difficulty reading standard editions.
Features
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Common sizes for large print are 16- to 18-point type. While no legislation provides legal parameters for large print, the U.S. Library of Congress has published guidelines for large-print editions. According to these guidelines, the minimum acceptable size for large print is 14-point type, while the most common size is 16 to 18-point type.
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Size
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Standard publications are printed in a 10- to 12-point font. Newspapers commonly use an 8-point font size for text. Enlarging a 10-point character to 18 points nearly doubles the size of the print.
Considerations
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The Smithsonian Institute's Accessibility Program sets out additional guidelines for large-print book editions. It recommends dense ink coverage, at least a 70 percent contrast value between the print and the paper color, paper with a non-shiny finish, and a minimum gutter margin--the white space at the bound edge of the page--of 7/8 inch.
Famous Ties
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Agatha Christie, author of "Murder on the Orient Express," was an early proponent of large-print book editions. Large-print originator Frederick Thorpe struggled during the founding period of his large-print book company, Ulverscroft, until he received the endorsement of mystery writer Agatha Christie.
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References
Resources
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