Blue book

[Charles Doyle]

I just noticed that the OED omits the academic sense of "blue book," which has been prevalent (in America) for at least half a century: 'cheap stapled folio consisting of blank ruled pages (typically 16) with a thin light-blue paper cover, used for the writing of exam essays'. Surely "blue book" in that sense is thoroughly lexicalized. (Yes, my students are taking a final exam at the moment!) I wonder what the origin and history of those blue books is?

The second-most prevalent American sense (I'd say) of "blue book" is not specified in the OED either (though arguably it can be subsumed under the OED's general sense of the phrase): 'book listing the approximate value of used automobiles of the various makes, models, and years'; also used attributively ("blue book price," "blue book value," etc.)

--Charlie
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