Elephant Folio

With extremely large dimensions of approximately 14" x 20" (355mm x 508mm), the Elephant Folio format has a massive surface area around 280 square inches or 1806 square cm. Also known as Double Elephant Folio, this oversized book size provided huge space for illustrations, maps, and tables that needed to be printed very large. Elephant Folios became popular in the 17th-19th centuries for grand presentation books and lavish art volumes showcasing big visuals. The enormous 14" x 20" pages allowed books to indulge in detailed engravings, scientifically accurate diagrams, and dramatic panoramic images. Especially common for exotic travel volumes and important botanical or zoological reference works, Elephant Folio conveyed prestige and visual power. But its origins trace back to mammoth paper size standards used by printing presses and drawing offices. The Elephant Folio size comfortably fits around 100 pages printed on just one side. Extremely unwieldy for casual reading, Elephant Folio granted books unmatched presence and impact when displaying content on a grand scale.