Deckle edge

Deckle edge is the feathered edge of a page. Traditionally and historically, this was a side effect of the process of making paper. At the semi-liquid stage of paper making, a form called a deckle was used to create the size and shape of the sheet. Some of the paper seeping below the edge of the deckle would form an uneven edge on the outside. When the final sheet was then cut, the outside edges would form the fore edge of the book, leaving a slightly uneven edge. Modern publishers will sometimes use paper that creates that same effect as a decorative device. Contemporary book buyers may at times mistake that uneven page edge for a manufacturing defect, as the page edge looks somewhat like paper that has been ripped, rather than cut, but the effect is intended to be a reference to the history of publishing, and thus is often considered to be esthetically more refined than uniformly machine-cut edges.