• iconoclasm

    destruction or removal of the artworks and monuments of one’s own religion
  • iconography

    an art history method which deals with the identification and interpretation of images in the field of visual art
  • ideographic script

    a pictographic script which records thoughts and ideas independently of a fixed language
  • illiteracy

    an individual’s inability to read and write
  • illiterate

    a person who cannot read and write
  • illuminated manuscript

    handwritten book decorated with miniatures
  • illumination

    the artistic supplementation to a book or other written work by means of illustrations or other decorative elements
  • illumination (book painting)

    an art form and collective term for hand-painted decoration or illustration, above all in manuscripts, but also in printed books and other written works
  • illustration

    a supplementary image used as a means of visualising or clarifying the content of a text
  • image carrier

    carrier of print image, which may contain static characters (printing plate) or have dynamic characters (digital printing)
  • Imperial City

    a city under the direct rule of the German Emperor until the downfall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806
  • Imperial Territories

    all territories that belonged to the German Empire until 1806
  • Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine

    the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was under the direct rule of the German Empire between 1871 and 1918 and was not an independent federal state
  • imposition

    the arrangement of individual pages on both sides of the printed sheet to be in the correct sequence when book folding
  • imposition program

    computer software for the computer-aided arrangement of pages on printing blocks
  • imprimatur

    a declaration, issued by an author and a publisher, authorizing publication of a book, in some cases subject to the approval of an ecclesiastical or secular authority or, in the case of dissertations, a university committee
  • imprint

    a legal requirement in several German-speaking countries whereby a legal statement of ownership is included in publications providing information on the author, editor, publisher and place and year of issue of a given work
  • imprint publishers

    publishers who continue to use a traditional trade name or who use “imprints” to distinguish between printing runs or editions
  • Inca civilization

    South American civilization organised into grid-based cities but predominantly economically reliant on agriculture which ruled large parts of the Andes between the 13th and 16th centuries
  • incunable

    an early printed book from the pre-16th century made using movable type and also sometimes referred to as a “cradle book”
  • incunable and post-incunable

    the former are printed works prior to 1501, the latter from the period 1500-1530
  • incunable studies

    the branch of book science that deals with incunables
  • incunabulum

    early printing from before 1500 using moveable types, also known as incunable
  • Index librorum prohibitorum

    the list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church between 1559 and 1966 whereby ownership was punished with excommunication
  • India paper edition

    easy and manageable book edition printed on thin Bible paper
  • India/China ink

    writing and drawing material composed of solid pigment particles such as fine soot, which is mixed with a binding agent
  • industrial manufacturing/processing

    the mechanised or automated mass production or processing of material goods and commodities
  • Industrial Revolution

    a far-reaching and lasting economic and social transformation denoting the transition from agricultural to industrial society
  • inflation

    a persistent and significant rise in the general price level of goods and services
  • information

    a term in natural sciences, humanities and information technology that deals with sequences of symbols and their meaning
  • initial

    decorative letter at the beginning of a chapter or paragraph in a handwritten text or printed book
  • initials

    abbreviated signature under a piece of writing with which a contract that is not yet legally binding according to international law is signed provisionally, for example
  • ink

    a liquid that is intensely deep in colour used for writing and drawing using a feather, brush, fountain pen or for printing by means of an inkjet printer
  • inkjet printer

    digitally-controlled dot matrix printer that creates an image using fine drops of ink which are propelled onto paper
  • inkjet printing

    a digital printing process in which multi-coloured or single-coloured text and images are sprayed onto a surface using finely propelled ink droplets
  • inkstick

    blocks of solid ink, often decorated with script or images, that are ground over an inkstone in conjunction with water
  • input device

    device with which digital data can be entered or processed, e.g. keyboard, mouse, graphics tablet, scanner, digital camera
  • inquisition

    a form of legal proceeding in the late-Middle Ages and early-modern period which, with the involvement of church representatives, sought to persecute heretics
  • insignia

    flags, arms, seals, etc. symbolising a dominion or entity with a sovereign status
  • insignia

    a mark of state, class or intellectual power or dignity
  • Insular script

    derived from the half-uncial script used in Ireland, Scotland and England
  • intaglio

    printing process in which depressions in the printing plate are used to hold ink which is then applied to paper under great pressure
  • Intelligenzblatt (news sheet)

    an official 18th-century news sheet with announcements of forthcoming events, requests for tenders, etc.
  • interim binding

    conceived as a temporary bound edition issued by the publishing house which the purchaser could then replace with a cover in fitting with his or her own taste
  • interleave

    insertion of empty pages into a copy of a book in order to leave space for notes
  • interlibrary loan

    books not available at one library are obtained by loans from a further library to the first
  • internet

    a global system of interconnected computer networks facilitating data exchanges via standardized protocol
  • internet book retail

    a branch of the internet retail industry offering customers books and other media in addition to online ordering and payment services
  • invisible ink

    ink that is only rendered visible once the surface of a written document has reached a certain temperature or when suitable materials facilitate a chemical reaction
  • ISBN

    International Standard Book Number – a unique numerical code for the clear identification of books
  • issue

    form and creation of a media unit with regard to text version, illustrations, supplements and design
  • ivory

    elephant or mammoth tooth, also the tooth of the hippopotamus, narwhale and walrus, can be artistically worked by carving