A frontispiece is an illustration placed so that it faces the title page, on page ii. In a biography it is usually a portrait of the subject; in a work of history it might be a map or a facsimile document. It is the only illustration in a book that is listed on the contents page.
It is not obsolete, but it is rarer than it was, and New Hart's Rules explains exactly why.
The Definition
New Hart's Rules gives the fullest account:
"A frontispiece is an illustration that, in print, faces the title page, an important position that is justified by the significance or representative content of the image. In a biography a frontispiece is usually a portrait of the subject, in a work of history it might be a map or a facsimile of a document, and so on."
The phrase "justified by the significance or representative content" is the operative test. A frontispiece occupies the most prominent illustration position in the book, so a decorative image does not earn it. A single image that stands for the whole work does.
Its position is confirmed independently by Yale University Press, whose element list reserves the slot and marks it as present in every book: "Blank page or callout for frontispiece (p. ii)". The Chicago Manual of Style's front matter order gives page ii as a shared slot: "Series title, other works, frontispiece, or blank."
So page ii, the back of the half title leaf, holds one of four things: a series title, an "also by the author" list, a frontispiece, or nothing.
Why It Is Rarer Now
Two reasons, both from New Hart's Rules, and neither is that the convention died.
Cost. If the book's illustrations are printed on glossy plate paper rather than the text stock, the frontispiece has to be physically inserted:
"the frontispiece will appear on the verso of a single leaf tipped in (that is, inserted and pasted) between the half-title verso and the title page. Note that tipping-in is a costly process and is best avoided if possible."
Editions. "As a frontispiece may not always be reproduced in all subsequent editions of a book (a paperback edition, for example), the author should avoid referring to it in the text."
That second point is a real constraint on how you write. Any sentence in your text that says "the portrait opposite the title page" breaks the moment a paperback drops it.
Where a book's illustrations are printed on the text paper rather than plates, no tipping-in is needed and the cost objection disappears, which is the normal case in print on demand.
It Counts, But Shows No Number
This is the detail people get wrong, and it is worth stating precisely because it involves two different numbering systems.
Page numbering: counted, not printed. New Hart's Rules:
"All pages are counted in the pagination sequence, but the folio is not shown on some pages, including some in the prelims, turned pages (that is, those on which material is printed in landscape format), those taken up entirely by illustrations, figures, or tables, and blank pages."
So the frontispiece is page ii of the roman sequence and displays nothing. The Chicago Manual of Style states the same principle for praise pages: they are "generally unnumbered, but they count in the overall roman-numeral pagination at the beginning of the book." The distinction between counting and printing is covered in what is a folio in book printing.
Figure numbering: excluded entirely. Yale is explicit: "Do not number the frontispiece, jacket or cover illustrations, or your author photo." So it is not "Figure 1", and it does not enter the figure sequence.
The contents page: included, exceptionally. New Hart's Rules again: "The frontispiece is, exceptionally, listed on the contents page", and its section on contents confirms the list "usually includes reference to the frontispiece if one is present." This is unusual, since front matter items generally are not listed, and it is the clearest signal of the frontispiece's status.
What Deckle Does
Deckle has no Frontispiece document type. Its Front Matter menu offers Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Epigraph, Foreword, Preface and Table of Contents.
To make one, create an ordinary document holding just the image, positioned in the Binder immediately before the title page, and turn its heading off so no title prints above the illustration. Because export order follows Binder order, that puts the image on the verso facing the title page, which is the position the convention describes.
Two Deckle behaviours worth knowing:
- Full Page Bleed is the image setting that fills the page edge to edge, which suits a frontispiece portrait or map. Note that in EPUB this path emits no alt attribute, so a meaningful frontispiece should be described in the surrounding text if accessibility matters to you. See alt text for ebook images.
- Front matter numbering applies, so it takes the roman sequence when restart numbering at Chapter One is on, and Deckle prints no running header on it.
In an ebook the concept largely dissolves. There are no facing pages in a reflowable file, so a frontispiece becomes simply an image early in the book. That is expected rather than a fault, and it is one of the differences between fixed pages and reflowable text.
For the surrounding pages, see half title page vs title page and what is front matter in a book.
Common Mistakes
- Referring to it in the text. Later editions may drop it, and New Hart's Rules advises against it.
- Numbering it as a figure. Yale excludes it from the figure sequence.
- Leaving it off the contents page. It is the one illustration that is listed.
- Expecting a printed page number. Counted as page ii, folio not shown.
- Using a decorative image. The position is earned by significance, not by looking nice.
- Expecting it to survive into the ebook. Reflowable files have no facing pages.
FAQ
Q: What page is the frontispiece on? A: Page ii, the back of the half title leaf, facing the title page on page iii.
Q: Is it still used? A: Yes. Yale's current guidelines reserve the slot in every book. It is less common mainly because of printing cost.
Q: Does it appear in the list of illustrations? A: It is listed on the contents page, which New Hart's Rules calls exceptional for an illustration.
Q: Should it have a caption? A: It may, printed beneath the image or at the foot of the title page verso.
Q: What if I have no frontispiece? A: Page ii is blank, or carries a series title or an "also by the author" list.