the page numbers

They're called "folios"

There is no way to teach you how to design a book in an internet post, just like you can't teach me -- a good book interior designer -- how to make an effective print ad with a post or two.

BTW, in the book world, ITC Garamond is generally considered a joke.

Having said that, for an Optima-like variant, take a look at Sumner Stones's Magma -- I think a weight in the *compact* family might serve you best, perhaps the semi-bold for the smaller type, normal for anything over, say, 24 point, but use you own judgement.

http://www.stonetypefoundry.com/magmaoverview.html

For the text, it kind of depends if you want to emphasize that historical feel with a traditional typeface, or use something that would appeal to a post-2000 audience. I've heard people say of Scala, for example "Oh, it's so 1990s..."

In any case, it is best to be sure of your text face first, then select a display. Here's an off-the-wall suggestion I have used, Magma for display and Quadraat for text. It is elegant, but definitely not elegant old-school-British (i.e., Caslon, Baskerville, Scotch). I have used the Quadraat/Magma pairing several times for an academic works, once I believe for a university press book on an analysis of the I Ching. It met it's audience & I think looked quite nice.

Pretty sure this is the one, but sadly, you can't "look inside."

http://www.amazon.com/Fathoming-Cosmos-Ordering-World-Evolution/dp/08139...

FWIW

This is wide open, so I would trust your own judgement.
Peruse a large bookstore and find some books with type treatments that you think will be appropriate to the task in hand, and that you also like the look of. The trick is to then identify said fonts—which you can do here in the ID forum, or at MyFonts “WTF”.

It is indeed very hard to give good advice here, but any advice is better than none.

To narrow down your search, I would offer these beliefs of mine:
- Don't use a sans for a large amount of text.
- One way to look "elegant" is to use a (relatively) narrow font.
- Another way is to use a font with long extenders (i.e. small x-height).
- The category of type that best conveys "trust" is wedge serifs.
Some mentioned here: http://typophile.com/node/39407

hhp

Brilliant, thank you all for the advice and suggestions of fonts, it's been a real help. Particularly about ITC Garamond, I'm only two days off of 18 so I'm not exactly well versed in what the industry thinks of certain fonts. I'll try the ones you said out, thanks again!

Note that the scorn of the industry is usually directed just at ITC's particular cut of Garamond, not at Garamond altogether. You might try Garamond Premier Pro (which is an Adobe font, but not the same as Adobe Garamond) for a more authentic, and arguably more "elegant" and "smart" alternative.

Apart from these adjectives, is there any particular aesthetic / time period / culture / mood you're aiming for? Have you thought about other aspects of the design — trim size? kind of paper? margins? measure? layout? second color? All these things will have an impact on how your design feels.