chapbook

English

Etymology

Formerly sold by chapmen; see the etymology there, and book.

Noun

chapbook (plural chapbooks)

1. A small book, usually made from a single sheet, folded several times, containing poems, ballads or religious tracts.
   • 1849 Notices of Fugitive Tracts: And Chap-books Printed at Aldermary Churchyard, Bow Churchyard, Etc

     This was, till within the last few years, a favourite chapbook in the north of England.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 2]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     For Haines’s chapbook. No-one here to hear.

   • 2005 Kathryn A. Lowry - The Tapestry of Popular Songs in 16th- and 17th Century China

     Two such examples of slim, chapbook-style collections were both part of larger compendia […]

Translations

small book

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: chapbook
• French: livret de colportage (fr) f
• Polish: książeczka liryczna f
• Portuguese: folheto (pt) m, panfleto (pt) m, livro de cordel m
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can