physical form

n.The overall appearance, configuration, or shape, derived from material characteristics and independent of intellectual content.

Citations

Duranti 1998, p. 134 The term physical form refers to the external make-up of the document, while the term intellectual form refers to its internal articulation. Therefore the elements of the former are defined by diplomatists as external or extrinsic, while the elements of the latter are defined as internal or intrinsic.