The endpapers or end-papers of a book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

 are the leaves of paper before the title page

Title page

The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title and author, usually together with information relating to the publication of the book...

 and after the text. Booksellers sometimes refer to the front end paper as FEP.

Before mass printing in the 20th century it was common for the endpapers of books to have paper marbling

Paper marbling

Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as paper or...

. Sometimes the endpapers are used for maps or other relevant information. They are the traditional place to put bookplate

Bookplate

A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner...

s, or an owner's inscription.

there are many styles of endsheets or endpapers that are specifically designed for use with different bindings.

For example, endsheets reinforced with cloth are used in sewn bindings. The cloth holds the stitches and prevents the paper from perforating and tearing.

Other styles are designed for use with perfect binders. Combined and Universal Endsheets are loaded into the cover feeder of an automatic perfect binder and attached – instead of the soft cover – automatically producing a book block reinforced from head to tail. The Folded Tabbed End sheet is collated with the text pages, milled and bound along with the book block.

There are also many styles of endpapers that are engineered to meet text book standards and library binding standards as well as endsheets for conservation and book repair.