a box shaped as a book

[STELLA]

i'm still looking for the correct word that means a box shaped as a book

[Quizmonster]

Didn't you like the one I made up for you when you asked this a few months ago, Stella? Lots of words - especially in the field of 'collecting things' such as boxes - are made up from Greek roots. (A teddy-bear collector, for example, is called an arctophile on that basis.)

This time, I'm going to suggest a book-shaped box should be called a "bibliopyx". 'Biblion' is Greek for 'book' and 'pyx' for 'box'.

[FredPuli]

And of course a slip-case is a box in which a book fits tightly, to protect it, while leaving the spine of the book visible. I'm sure there's a word for a box in which a bible is kept, too, but I can neither remember nor find it; sorry, if that's what you want.

[Quizmonster]

I could be wrong, Fred, but I suspect what Stella is after is the name for one of those 'crafty' things which is designed to appear like something else. Looking at this object from whatever angle, it appears to be nothing but a book, with spine, covers, pages etc. However, when you open the supposed front 'cover', you discover that it is, in fact, a 'lid' and beneath it there are no pages but only the innards of what is a box. I've actually seen such a thing, though I know of no specific name for it. (It's because I suspect there is no name that I keep on 'inventing' them for Stella's benefit!)

[paul69]

maybe.......Then came the codex, the book in the shape of a box (which the Romans invented for ease of use in the field). ......http://www.altx.com/ebr/ebr6/6tomasula/htmls/knowi
ngwriting2.html

[Quizmonster]

'Codex' in Latin originally meant 'the trunk of a tree', but came to mean any 'wooden tablet' and, later still, any significant book such as a Codex of Laws. Obviously, a series of such wooden tablets - just like a series of pages today - forms a book in the shape of a box.

Since the vast majority of both books and boxes are rectangles with depth, virtually all books are in the shape of a box, effectively. However, 'codex' certainly does not fulfil the description of the object I provided in my previous response. A codex is simply a book and not at all a box.

Of course, since Stella has not commented on my supposition as to what she actually means, I've no idea whether my earlier description even fits what she wants. If my 'hollowed-out book that creates a box' - ie a receptacle into which things might be put - idea doesn't fit the bill, then clearly I've got it wrong.

[STELLA]

sorry i haven't got back to you quizmonster but i've been busy lately, yes i think they mean a box that on the outside looks like a book i presume there is a name for it but goodness knows what o well i have to post the quiz in today when i do get the answer i will let you know and put us all out of our misery many thanks for your help anyway