Pagenumber change; causing margin (and marginnotes) to switch sides

Question

I am using \documentclass{article} to formulate an a4paper in twoside mode; Every thing is fine ... Well nearly, there is a small glitch somewhere in the standard LaTeX defaults between the page numbering function and the margin setup.

Here is a simplified version of the problem, initial pages are numbered with {roman} numerals; The main bulk of the document is then enumerated with {arabic} numerals.

Between the roman and the arabic numerals; The margin weight for the double page spread is shifting from outer to inner, or vice versa; The problem arises if the format change is made on an even page as it resets the count to an odd number.

\documentclass[a4paper, twoside]{article}

\begin{document}
\pagenumbering{gobble}
\title{Jabberwocky}
    \author{Lewis Carroll}
    \date{1871}
\maketitle

\newpage
\pagenumbering{roman}
\tableofcontents
\setcounter{tocdepth}{1}
This is an unfathomably long line of relative yet diminutive sense, such that
the totality of the page is spread with ink.

\newpage
\pagenumbering{arabic}
\section{Twas brillig}
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

\section{Beware the Jabberwock}
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

\section{He took his vorpal sword}
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

\section{And, as in uffish}
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

\newpage
\section{One, two! One, two!}
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

\section{And, has thou slain}
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

\section{Twas brillig}
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. 

\end{document}

And a screen shot of the pdf; Notice the difference in width of the juxtaposed margin between the title page and the content page i, and again between the content and page 1:

Answer 1

By definition, \pagenumbering resets numbering to one.

Standard packages put odd numbers in recto pages and even in verso pages (recto = front and even = back for left-to-right languages).

You can sustitute \pagenumbering{arabic} with something like:

\renewcommand{\thepage}{\arabic{page}}

It renews command \thepage to arabic format without reseting page counter.

If you want to put an specific number from one page use:

\setcounter{page}{7} % sustitute 7 for the number you want.

Answer 2

I have resolved my initial conundrum using a selection of the advice given in the comments and reply above; Perhaps this will help others to quickly resolve this leap in understanding that is quite necessary in avoiding teething problems when staring out with the LaTeX package.

As explained above the numbering system is inextricably linked to the double sided page printing layout; As such, this effects the placement of the left and right margins, if they are not of equal width and also the placement of margin notes when they are included. To resolve this issue there are various differing techniques, of which; The following has worked well for me.

First set the title page to \pagenumbering{gobble} and the page number to \setcounter{page}{0}; The prologue and contents section is then enumerated with roman numerals; Forced to finish upon an even numbered page, by way of the \cleardoublepage command. The actual content is numbered using indic numerals, by using the \pagenumbering{arabic} command; This gives the desired result. In essence; each segment must end upon an even number, before the page count is reset to one, if this is not done; The margins switch sides. In my screen capture example there is included an image, which achieves the same; Note that the \cleardoublepage command remains in the code but that it does not add a page when it is not required.

\documentclass[a4paper, twoside]{article}

\begin{document}
\pagenumbering{gobble}
\setcounter{page}{0}
\title{Jabberwocky}
    \author{Lewis Carroll}
    \date{1871}
\maketitle

\newpage
\pagenumbering{roman}
\tableofcontents
\setcounter{tocdepth}{1}
\cleardoublepage

\newpage
\pagenumbering{arabic}
\section{Twas brillig}
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

\section{Beware the Jabberwock}
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

\section{He took his vorpal sword}
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

\section{And, as in uffish}
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

\newpage
\section{One, two! One, two!}
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

\section{And, has thou slain}
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

\section{Twas brillig}
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. 

\end{document}

The finished result: (with image added)

If you require that the larger margin be placed upon the other side of each page; this can be achieved by omitting the \setcounter{page}{0} from the title page and including a \cleardoublepage, a dedication, or perhaps an image instead.