Book and Quill

Book and Quill

Rarity tier	Common
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	No

{
    "title": "Book and Quill",
    "rows": [
        {
            "field": "Common",
            "label": "(link to Rarity article, displayed as Rarity tier)"
        },
        {
            "field": "Yes",
            "label": "(link to Renewable resource article, displayed as Renewable)"
        },
        {
            "field": "No",
            "label": "Stackable"
        }
    ],
    "invimages": [
        "Book and Quill"
    ],
    "images": [
        "Book and Quill.png"
    ]
}

A book and quill is an item used by players to store and edit text. After signing, it turns into a written book with all the text inside saved permanently.

Obtaining

Natural generation

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Bedrock Edition
	Buried Treasure	Chest	1–2	18.9% { "item": "Book and Quill", "stacksize": "1–2", "chance": 0.18885870814101746, "structure": "Buried Treasure", "container": "Chest" }

Crafting

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Book + Ink Sac + Feather

Usage

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Written Book	+ Written Book	2345678	The input written book is not consumed. The new copies are "Copy of Original" or "Copy of Copy", depending on whether the input written book is "Original" or "Copy of Original". Copies of copies cannot be copied. Copied books of the same generation ("Original", "Copy of Original", "Copy of Copy", or "Tattered") stack.

Writing

By pressing use item or long pressing screen anywhere‌ while holding a book and quill in their hand, the player can open a text editor GUI.

In Java Edition, the player can write a single book up to 100 pages, with up to 1023 characters per page, and up to 102,300 characters inside the entire book.

No page may be longer than 14 lines and each line can have a width of 114 pixels.

In Bedrock Edition, the player can write a single book up to 50 pages long, with up to 256 characters per page, and up to 12,800 characters inside the entire book.

No page may be longer than 14 lines and may have a width of up to 121 pixels each.^[1] Formatting codes apply to the character limit but do not apply to the pixel limit.

The player has the ability to copy and paste into books. However, the paste does not work if the text being pasted is longer than a single page. Most Unicode characters are available in books, and they may be pasted in without issue.

In singleplayer, the world pauses while a book is being edited.‌

The book writing interface must be closed by pressing the Done button. Any other way of closing it (such as by pressing the Escape key) causes all work from the session to be lost.

Lecterns

A book and quill (as well as a written book) can be placed on an empty lectern.

The lectern then emits a redstone signal depending on the displayed page in the book. On the last page, the lectern emits a signal strength of 15.

Formatting codes

Text in a book can be styled using codes starting with the § character (section sign).

• §k creates randomly changing characters.
• §l creates bold text.
• §m creates strikethrough text.‌
• §n creates underlined text.‌
• §o creates italic text.
• §0 – f (hexadecimal) creates colored text.
• §r resets any of the previous styles so text after it appears normally.

If the player uses multiple codes, and continue typing past the end of a line, the next line exhibits only the last formatting code used.

Signing

Books can be signed by pressing the "Sign" button while in the interface. In Java Edition, when signed, a book bears the name of the player who wrote it and a title chosen upon signing. In Bedrock Edition, the book doesn't display the name of the player as the author; instead, the author can be any text the player wants. After it has been signed, it cannot be edited again – it has turned into a written book.

Special characters can be used in the title, if typed from a keyboard that supports them. Alt codes do not work, and the § character can be typed on Bedrock Edition using a keyboard that implements it, meaning titles can be colored or formatted in-game. Also, on Linux using the compose key to produce special characters does work.

The title of the book can be up to 15 characters long^[2], and the player cannot paste into a title. If a custom name is removed from a written book, it reverts back to the title it was given during the signing process.

Chiseled bookshelf

Using the chiseled bookshelf while having a book and quill in the main hand puts the book inside the chiseled bookshelf.

Trading

Villager	Probability		Villager wants	Player receives
	JE	BE
Expert Librarian	50%	100%	+ [t 1]	Emerald

Inserting screenshots

This feature is exclusive to Minecraft Education.

 

Screenshots in the portfolio can be inserted into book and quill.^[3] This can be done by clicking the pencil button on the bottom of the page, and clicking the photo button (shown as an icon that looks like photo with a plus next to it).

The photo button brings up the portfolio menu, where players can select which screenshot to be inserted into the book and quill page. Each screenshot takes up one page.

Players can export their books and quills photos and written texts as a PDF file. The default name for the file is formatted "(Book Name) (Author Name)".

Sounds

Java Edition

Bedrock Edition:

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Item tags	Translation key
Book and Quill	writable_book	Item	bookshelf_books lectern_books	item.minecraft.writable_book

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item tags	Translation key
Book and Quill	writable_book	510	Item	minecraft:bookshelf_books minecraft:lectern_books	item.writable_book.name

Item data

Java Edition:

Bedrock Edition:

Video

History

Java Edition
1.3.1			12w17a				Added books and quills.
			12w18a				Game no longer pauses when writing in a book and quill.
1.7.2			13w36a				Books and quills can now be crafted with a written book to clone the written book.
1.8			14w05a				Copying written books now mark them as "Copy of Original" or "Copy of Copy".
							The copying status of a book is now denoted in a separate line in the tooltip, beneath the author's name.
							Copies of copies cannot be copied.
1.14			18w43a				The texture of books and quills has now been changed.
							Added support for editing anywhere in the book and quill.[4]
							Books and quills now permit copying and pasteing text.[4]
							The page limit of books and quills has now been increased from 50 to 100 pages.
			19w02a				Books and quills can now be put onto lecterns.
			19w11a				Librarian villagers now buy books and quills instead of written books.
1.16			20w17a				The character limit for book titles has been decreased from 16 to 15 characters.[2]
1.19.3 Experiment Update 1.20			22w42a				Books and quills can now interact with chiseled bookshelves.
1.21.6			pre3				The turn page sound is now controlled by the "UI" source.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			beta 1.2.0.2				Added books and quills.
1.4.0			beta 1.2.14.2				Books and quills can now be found inside buried treasure chests.
1.6.0			beta 1.6.0.1				Pages within books and quills can now be turned using the controller bumper buttons.
1.10.0			beta 1.10.0.3				The texture of books and quills has now been changed.
1.11.0			beta 1.11.0.4				Books and quills can now be sold to librarian villagers.
1.21.30			Preview 1.21.30.22				Changed name from "Book & Quill" to "Book and Quill" to match Java Edition.
Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU25	CU14	1.17	1.17	1.17	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added books and quills.
TU69		1.76	1.76	1.76	Patch 38		Books and quills can now be found inside buried treasure chests.
			1.90				The texture of books and quills has now been changed.
							Books and quills can now be put onto lecterns.
			1.91				Books and quills can now be sold to librarian villagers.

Data history

Issues

Issues relating to "Book and Quill" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

• The in-game restrictions on books are not hard limits. Third party editors or commands can make books have more than 100 pages‌ (2,147,483,639 pages), more than 256 characters per page (32,767 characters per page), can change author names, and can have colored titles, among other things. These books still function properly in vanilla Minecraft, meaning the player may encounter such books on adventure maps or multiplayer servers.^[5]
• If the player renames a book and quill in an anvil before signing it, it retains the name from the anvil instead of taking the name from signing.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  The first image of a book seen.^[6]
• 
  The GUI of writing a book.
• 
  The GUI of signing a book.
• 
  A signed book.
• 
  Display of styles used in a book. "e" and "f" are difficult to see.
• 
  A book and quill in Bedrock Edition.
• 
  An example of text in a book and quill in Java Edition.

References

External links

• Bookshop - Book Sharing And Editing Tool
• Full-Width Text Generator
• Small Caps Text Generator
• Revise - External Book Editor
• Taking Inventory: Book and Quill – Minecraft.net on July 11, 2025

See also

• Book
• Bookshelf
• Written Book

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