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31 items, fully illustrated. The Rare Book Hub offers tools for the book collector and bookseller, especially old and rare books, antique or antiquarian books, hard to find, out of print, and collectible (collectable) books. Also covers rare book auctions, manuscripts, ephemera, broadsides, maps, prints, posters, bibliography, first editions. Catalog your collection of CDs, DVDs, books, comic books or video games. Download the software for PC or Mac, install the mobile app on your iPhone, iPad or Android device, or just use the Connect edition online. AbeBooks offers a huge selection of rare, collectible, and vintage books for sale from booksellers. You will find antiquarian books, out-of-print books, first editions, signed and inscribed copies, incunabula, limited editions, photography books, leather-bound books, and old books from the replace.me are also illustrated books, small and fine press books, artist’s books, and fine .
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Binding the method of holding pages or sheets together; may be simply stapled or sewn, or sewn and enclosed in wrappers, but most often refers to a “hard” binding or covers. C Calf book binding leather from a calf hide or cattle hide; a commonly used material for leather binding see also morocco, sheep, and vellum.
Philatelic terms explained: A guide to stamp collecting abbreviations.One moment, please
The term may come from the rust brown color of the paper aging process or from a chemical used to coat paper called ferric oxide. Foxing may also be caused…. Indicates that the cloth, paper, or other outer shell which covers the books boards has been worn to a point that it has exposed the boards beneath, and leaving the outer fringes aroung the exposure jagged or torn. A pre-publication state of a book. A galley proof edition has already undergone all basic edits for content and corrections, but is still prior to the final commercial production of a book.
The term refers to the historic process of book printing using moveable block letters. The letter blocks would be laid into the galleys to that held the type, and the proof copy…. A term used in bookbinding, where a gathering of sheets is folded at the middle, then bound into the binding together. The gathering can be seen from the top or bottom of the book. Older books are gathered and sewn together while newer books are glued at the gathering called “perfect binding”.
A decorative pattern pressed into the edges of the text block, typically in combination with gilding. The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in the front cover of the boards, for example. It is added by applying gold powder or a thin sheet of gold Gold Leaf to a cover, board or pages.
A thin, partially transparent or translucent paper covering often used as the protective outer layer for a book dust jacket. The glassine wrapper is sometimes printed on, most the time just a clear covering. Goatskin, leather made from goat, is durable and easy to dye. The original and finest examples of Morocco binding are goatskin. Good describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present.
Any defects must be noted. The oft-repeated aphorism in the book collecting world is “good isn’t good. Aka Half Binding, this indicates a book bound at the spine and corners with one material and the rest in another material.
A half title can be decorative or just a plain page with typeface of the book title. A strip of colored material attached to the text block at the top of the spine of a hard cover book. The same treatment applied to the bottom of the spine is called the tailband. Both may also be called endbands. Traditionally these were made of mercerized cotton or silk sometimes wrapped around a leather core.
The endbands were then sewn or stitched onto the…. A very recently published book where the market price has increased quickly due to book collectors speculating on the future value. Incunabula incunable or incunabulum refers to a book printed before – a pamphlet, a book or document that was not handwritten, but produced with movable type before the start of the 16th century in Europe. Two types of incunabula in printing are the typographic book, made with individual pieces of cast metal movable type on a printing press.
The other type is the “Block…. A proud, but humble professional practitioner of the venerable tradition of book purveying. The independent bookseller hand selects the finest books, and can provide knowledgeable recommendations for a wide variety of reader or collector. When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been written in the book usually on the ffep or front pastedown and is generally accompanied by a signature.
An edition of a textbook produced for teachers or professors, sometimes containing supplementary material intended for assisting the professor in creating lesson plans. An international edition textbook has been printed or produced for distribution in markets outside of the United States, usually at a substantially lower cost.
An international edition will typically share many of the same characteristics of the original edition, but vary in characteristics such as a difference ISBN, the inclusion of CD ROMs or other supplementary materials. While it was in sporadic use earlier, it was first standardized in as a digit number sometimes X can appear in the last position, which is an algorithmic checksum , it was later expanded to digits in in order to make it more compatible with common point of sale systems for products other….
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps around the binding of a book. The paper item can be a letter, picture, press release, map, or postcard which is loose inside the book. In rare book collecting, an autograph from the author can sometimes be laid-in, increasing the value of the book. Used in book collecting to refer to a book from a later run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some part of the binding or correction of the text which has been made during the first edition print run.
Very generally, “leaves” refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, “loose-leaf pages. A leaf is a single sheet bound in a book, and a leaf has two pages. The first page that you read on a leaf is the recto page, and you turn it over to read the verso page.
A letter line is a convention occasionally used by publishers to denote the printing of a particular book. It is generally located on the copyright page and consists of a sequence of letters, the lowest alphabetically of which generally indicates the number of the printing for example, “A” indicates a 1st printing, “B” a second printing, “C” a third printing, etc.
A type of reinforced binding designed for libraries, schools, or other applications where a book might experience high circulation. In some cases a library or institution will replace the original binding of a book or periodical with a strong, utilitarian binding.
In other cases, a publisher will offer a library binding edition as an option directly from the publisher or distributor, especially as an option…. A book bound in a flexible leather or cloth. The covering material is not affixed to boards, as are traditional hardcover books.
Instead, limp bound books rely on the stiff paste-downs to retain their form. The resultant volume is flexible, similar to a paperback, but covered in leather or cloth. Limp bindings are sometimes also pared with yapp edges. Little magazines are periodicals that publish experimental and non-conformist work of relatively unknown writers and artists.
They are often noncommercial in their outlook and occasionally irregular in their publication. Little magazines played a significant role for the writers and artists who shaped the avant-garde movements like Modernism and Post-modernism across the world in the twentieth century. A hardcover book with a decorative colored paper that imitates marble using a mottled, veined, or swirling pattern. Decorative colored paper that imitates marble with a veined, mottled, or swirling pattern. Commonly used as the end papers or covering for the outside of a hardcover book.
Marginalia, in brief, are notes written in the margins, or beside the text of a book by a previous owner. This is very different from an inscribed book. An inscription is a short signed note written in the front of a book. At first glance marginalia would seem to detract from a book’s value, and this can be true. From a collector’s perspective however,….
Mass market paperback books, or MMPBs, are printed for large audiences cheaply. This means that they are smaller, usually 4 inches wide by 7 inches tall, and the text is in a smaller font. These smaller sized books are often called pocket books, and they do fit easily into a purse or a back pocket. Mildew is an all-too-common affliction that plagues books and erodes their collectibility, value and preservation.
A fungus caused by an abundance of moisture and lack of proper airflow, it can readily discolor and distort cloth and paper. Left unattended, mildew will progress and further damage a book. In addition, it can pose a health risk to those living around books that suffer from mildew.
A book that is less then 3 inches in width and length. Books created this small were usually adaptations of larger books for easier transport and whimsy. Miniatures can be as small as half an inch with elaborate details such as raised bands and gilt. Morocco is a style of leather book binding that is usually made with goatskin, as it is durable and easy to dye. Crushed Morocco: No noticeable grain, as it has been flattened by pressing, ironing, or rolling the goatskin.
An edition of a book which is produced in conjunction with a movie which is usually based on the book, often with a cover image taken from the movie. A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, “new” is not actually a description of condition as a new book may possibly display shelf wear from the shop or distributor supplying it or printing errors or defects from publishing that were not detected.
The actual specifics of a…. A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that particular copy e. The following example is of a book that is in its 4th printing from Citadel Press. Note that despite the apparent declaration of “First…. Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer’s sheet folded four times, producing eight leaves, or sixteen pages.
Other standard sizes include folio which is folded only once, quarto which is folded twice for four leaves, and duodecimo, folded in a specific pattern for twelve leaves or twenty four pages. A technique of printing where the inked image or text is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, and finally to surface of a page or paper, thus “off-setting” the print.
There were two main kinds of off-set printing – one used in in England for printing on tin, and in in the United States for use with printing on paper.
Out of print. A book which is no longer being printed by the publisher. Generally only used copies of an out of print book are in distribution. A hardcover book designed to be presented without a dust jacket.
In modern hardcover publishing, the dust jacket covering the outside of a book was meant as the decorative portion of a book. In paper-over-boards, the covering materials on the front and back covers are typically decorated, eliminating the need for a separate dust jacket. Pages or book covering made from a prepared animal skin. Parchment describes any animal skin used for books, while vellum is a specific form of parchment made exclusively from calf skin.
Parchment is one of the oldest methods of creating book pages, predated, of course, by stone or clay tablets, paprys, tree bark among others. Parchment dates as early as BC, and lasted….
The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an essential part of a book’s structure, and along with the exterior binding of the book, comprises the hinge of the book’s cover. The paste-down keeps the text pages of the book in place, and fixed to the cover. A paperback book. These books can be a mass-market paperback editions, or trade paperback editions.
Paper back original. Indicates that the paperback release is the first publication of the book, without a hardcover edition preceding. Pebbled cloth or leather describes the covering of a hardcover book with a decorative texture of repeated small raised bumps, somewhat resembling tiny pebbles one supposes. First introduced around , pebbled decoration on the cloth or leather covering the boards of a book became a common method of adding a decorative texture and is still used in some cases by contemporary publishers, although more….
Pictorial wraps are color illustrated covers for paperback books. Preceding mass-market paperbacks, this format brought popular best-selling titles to a wider reading public. The practice of printing low cost books in eye catching colors goes back to the nineteenth century, and Victorian-era readers were long familiar with the practice.
Many of these books were reprints, but much like paperbacks today, some works were printed…. Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. Points are physical attributes that are specific to a printing or edition of a book, such as a typo on a specific page that was corrected in later printings of a book.
An issue of a book is a specific change in the book during the printing of an edition. A first edition of a book may sometimes have two or more states, which…. A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any missing pages must be specifically noted.
When a book is described as price-clipped, it indicates that the portion of the dust jacket flap that has the publisher’s suggested retail price has been cut off.
This may have been done by the original retail bookseller to avoid customer confusion, or when a person gives the book as a gift, or even by the publisher when remaindering the book. Generally, this is…. A book which is printed by special order. Often a paperback printing, reproduced by scanning or photocopying the text from a copy of a book, reproduced with permission.
A hardcover book comprised of cloth over hard pasteboard boards. Beginning toward the middle of the 19th Century, publishers began moving toward a tradition where the book had a finished binding as it was offered directly from the publisher. Prior to this change, the binding that a book was first produced with was considered to be a temporary covering awaiting a book binder to finalize with…. A piece of paper from the publisher included in an advance review copy or an uncorrected proof copy of a book.
A publisher’s slip usually provides information such as the anticipated publication date, the number of pages, and possibly contains advance marketing information such as publicity tours, or books signings.
Magazines published primarily in the 20th Century named for the cheaply produced wood pulp paper on which they were printed. The quality of the materials used in production was in keeping with the stories printed in the magazines. Cheap and accessible, but not intended to last very long. These magazines became popular diversions for readers, offering hard working writers a steady income, and…. Quality paperback is simply another term for a trade paperback, describing a paperback generally the approximate size of a hardcover book.
The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the page is folded twice, and cut to fit inside the binding.
It is one of several standard sizes of books, including folio, octavo, and duodecimo. Some of the earliest forms of bound books would have used actual wooden boards, often covered with leather, sewn over the pages of…. These are popular books republished and sold at a discounted price by one of these many clubs, the best-known being the Book-of-the-Month Club aka BOMC. The books are printed in a smaller text format on cheaper paper, using cheaper boards, and the dust-wrapper is thinner or printed on uncoated paper stock.
Book club editions can be identified by a small blind-stamped dot, square, or…. An informal name for a dealer who makes a practice of dismantling a book in order to sell individual leaves typically plates or maps. The practice is controversial in cases where the book that is being pieced-out was complete and whole, but in cases of heavily damaged or incomplete books, it can be seen as a method of preserving what is otherwise beyond repair.
A generic term denoting a book which was produced or distributed by one of any number of book club organizations. Usually the overall quality of the book’s materials is lower than the same book as printed by a traditional publishing house.
Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former owner, of a book. Most often bookplates are affixed to the endpaper of a book. Book plates have a long tradition, and some are collected solely for their artistic or historical value. Others show ownership by famous personages, and can help tell a…. Generally used to refer to a clear plastic cover that is sometimes added to the dustjacket or outside covering of a book.
The name refers to the company by the same name which produces many book repair and archival products. Damage to a book from improper handling or shelving that creates a break in the spine which can cause the cover to be creased, the book to open or stop at a certain section, or the pages become loose and fall out.
A plain weave fabric normally made from cotton or linen which is stiffened with starch or other chemicals to cover the book binding or when rebinding. Buckram covering is strong, moisture resistant and mildew resistant best used when covering repeatedly handled books, such as library books. Indicates that the affected part of the book has been impacted in such a way so as to cause a flattening, indention, or light bending.
Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the skin to create different decorative looks. Diced Calf: Decorative diamonds or squares cut or scored into the leather. Marbled: The leather is stained with diluted acid to produce a swirling effect.
Mottled Calf: The diluted acid from marbling is…. A hardcover book where the entire textblock is bound separately from the covers by means of either glue or stitching. The pages of the text are bound together and then united to the outside coverings by means of endpapers. The endpapers are attached to the back of the textblock and then glued to the book covers. A very short, cheaply produced volume, of a few leaves.
Modern chapbooks may be a collection of folded leaves loosely held in a folded cardboard or stiff paper cover, or the pages might be stapled. Historically, chapbooks were introduced in the 16th Century to meet the demands of a growing literate populace by allowing for very cheap books.
The term chapbook was introduced in the early…. A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or a dust jacket. A protective box designed for storing and preserving a bound book or loose sheets. A clamshell box is hinged on one side, with the remaining three sides of both the top and bottom of the box extending in such a way that one side neatly fits into the other when closed.
Clamshell boxes are used for archival and decorative purposes in library archives and…. Closed tear indicates a torn page in which no material has been lost. A closed tear can be pressed back into place or sometimes fixed with archival repair tape. The cloth is stretched over the boards, and is mainly to protect and shield the book from any damage.
The cloth can then be printed on, embossed, or stamped for decorative purposes or with designs of book information details. Refers to a state where the spine of a book is lightly “twisted” in such a way that the front and rear boards of a book do not align when the book is lying flat.
Severity may differ. The colophon contains information about a book’s publisher, the typesetting, printer, and possibly even includes a printer’s device. The term colophon is Latin for top, summit or finishing. In early books, the colophon was usually found at the end of the text, register, or index. Later this became known as the title page. A completist is a book collector who seeks all collectible editions of a particular title, subject, author, or other focus of their collection.
Rather than just seeking the first edition of a book or work, a completist may seek all first appearances, including foreign publications, and works and objects ancillary to the book. A completist that collects a particular author seeks to assemble and…. The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book’s author, publisher, date of publication and generally the printing history of that book. This page is typically within the first few pages of a book on the verso of the title page.
It is referred to as the copyright page for the simple reason that it will often…. In reference to a hinge or a book’s binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate, revealing the stitching or binding underneath. A term often used to indicate a book’s new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp will not have ‘well-read’ pages, i.
An imprinted decoration or mark on the outside cover of a book. Publishers will press a design or mark into a book’s cover for various reasons, such as the convention of the publisher Alfred A Knopf who presses their logo into the back board, near the hinge on their hardcover editions.
Deckle edge is the feathered edge of a page. Traditionally and historically, this was a side effect of the process of making paper. At the semi-liquid stage of paper making, a form called a deckle was used to create the size and shape of the sheet.
Some of the paper seeping below the edge of the deckle would form an uneven edge on the…. A copy of a book inscribed by the author and personally presented to the dedicatee mentioned in the book.
Borders on the inner edge of a book with a lacy pattern, most often gilt. Popular in France during the 18th century on covers of books, used more on the inside of modern books. Especially for older books, a printer’s device refers to an identifying mark, also sometimes called a printer’s mark, on the title page or the colophon.
A device can be quite ornate, and stylized. Printing houses relied on this mark as their brand, far more than bindings or book covers, since in previous centuries books could be rebound several times over its life. A decorative design of repeated diamonds or geometric shapes on the cover, usually on cloth boards. The design is usually in gilt, raised pressing, or ink print. A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.
Also called a twelvemo, duodecimo comes from Latin, and refers to the practice of taking a standard printing sheet from a printing press, and folding and refolding it until the pages are at the desired size.
More familiar terms include folio…. Also known as book jacket, dust cover, or dust wrapper, a dust jacket is a protective and decorative cover for a book that is usually made with paper and wraps around the binding of a book. The dust cover has folded flaps to cradle the book, those flaps often contain a summary of the book, a blurb about the author of the book, and something…. A book which is produced and supplied in an electronic form only, rather than a printed edition, known also as a digital book or e-edition.
Ebooks are book publications in digital form which contain text, images, or both. Ebooks can be opened and read on a computer or other e-book formatted electrical devices. The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a book not covered by the spine. Endbands, also called headbands or tailbands, are portions of colored material sewn or adhered at the head and tail of a book spine, slightly hidden under the headcaps of the leather covering.
This technique adds strength to the binding head and tail at the joints. Endbands provide a firm grip to the text pages across the spine. The double leaves bound into a book at the front and rear after printing. These pages consist of a double-size sheet that is folded, one half is pasted against the inside cover and the other is serving as the first free page in the book. These endpapers are usually left blank and in rare cases printed information is placed here.
When seeking an autograph…. In Book Arts, erasures can also mean a type of poetry where the contents of a book is narrowed and picked apart to create a poem. A piece of paper either laid in to the book correcting errors found in the printed text after being printed and intended corrections to book content. Erratas are commonly placed in the book after the first publishing and later corrected in future editions. A former library book, generally containing library acquisition and ownership stamped markings, and other typical indications of the library’s use.
Books legitimately released from institutional libraries such as a school library, public library, historical society, university, etc. Also named “ex-lib” will be lower in resale value due to library card pockets, rubber stamp identification information on spine or title pages, catalog numbers inked or stamped…. An exact copy of an original work.
In books, it refers to a copy or reproduction, as accurate as possible, of an original source, whether a book, map, manuscript, or other historical item. Is a worn book that has complete text pages including those with maps or plates but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc.
Binding, jacket if any , etc. All defects must be noted. A common abbreviation for Front Free End Paper. Generally, it is the first page of a book and is part of a single sheet that also spans across the inside of the front board called the front pastedown via a fold along the gutter with the purpose of connecting the boards to the stitched textblock. A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the crispness of an uncirculated, unopened volume.
Any flaws of any kind must be clearly noted as exceptions to fine condition, as in “small crease on FFEP, else fine”.
An elaborate and decorative binding, example including a leather-bound book with gilt edges, raised blind stamps, raised ribs, or even a cover that is embedded with jewels or embroidered. In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in cases where it has been published in multiple forms, including foreign releases or editions with substantially changed content such as an illustrated or a limited edition.
Typically, the earliest version of the book is considered the first edition, with subsequent…. Used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some part of the binding or correction of the text which has been made in later versions of the first edition print run.
The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical information about the author, ISBN, a short summary of the book, date of publishing or publisher name, and the cost of the book. A flatsigned book is signed, and not inscribed, directly on a page of the book, rather than on a bookplate or with an accompanying inscription.
Flatsigned means the same thing as signed, thus, most books that have a standalone signature will simply be described as signed. Any further personalization will make the book inscribed.
A folio usually indicates a large book size of 15″ in height or larger when used in the context of a book description. Further, folio sizes are often sub-divided and described as being one of: Crown folio 15″ – 18″ Medium folio 18″ – 20″ Royal folio 20″ – 23″ Elephant folio 23″ – 25″ Atlas folio 25″ – 50″ Double elephant folio 50″ and up However, folio also has a distinct….
Former Owner’s Name. Indicates that the previous owner of the book has written their name in the book. The portion of a book that is opposite the spine. That part of a book which faces the wall when shelved in a traditional manner. Depending on context, may refer to either the text edges, or the board edges. The fore edge of the text block may be decorated in some cases, such as gilding, stain, or deckle edge, or in the most opulent….
Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process happens to the paper in a book it is referred to as “foxed”. The term may come from the rust brown color of the paper aging process or from a chemical used to coat paper called ferric oxide. Foxing may also be caused…. Indicates that the cloth, paper, or other outer shell which covers the books boards has been worn to a point that it has exposed the boards beneath, and leaving the outer fringes aroung the exposure jagged or torn.
A pre-publication state of a book. A galley proof edition has already undergone all basic edits for content and corrections, but is still prior to the final commercial production of a book. The term refers to the historic process of book printing using moveable block letters. The letter blocks would be laid into the galleys to that held the type, and the proof copy….
A term used in bookbinding, where a gathering of sheets is folded at the middle, then bound into the binding together. The gathering can be seen from the top or bottom of the book. Older books are gathered and sewn together while newer books are glued at the gathering called “perfect binding”. A decorative pattern pressed into the edges of the text block, typically in combination with gilding. The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in the front cover of the boards, for example.
It is added by applying gold powder or a thin sheet of gold Gold Leaf to a cover, board or pages. A thin, partially transparent or translucent paper covering often used as the protective outer layer for a book dust jacket. The glassine wrapper is sometimes printed on, most the time just a clear covering.
Goatskin, leather made from goat, is durable and easy to dye. The original and finest examples of Morocco binding are goatskin. Good describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present. They want high-quality, in-depth ebooks that they can download and peruse at their leisure. We are happy to announce that we’ve produced several such guides and they are available to any of our readers free of charge.
More are on the way. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Let us know. Many of our best ideas have come from readers like you. The Book Restoration Guide offers a great overview for learning the basic principles of rare book restoration. Learn how to prevent and reverse foxing, banish “old book smell,” win the battle against bookworm, banish ghosts and shadows, and learn some of the terms and simple principles of care for your books collection.
The Caldecott Collector’s Guide reveals how to begin or expand a Caldecott collection of lasting value, including a brief history of Randolph Caldecott and the Caldecott Award, a synopsis of each winning book with cover illustration, a checklist format for tracking your collection, and first edition identification guidance for most titles.
You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Search for: Search. Glossary of terms used in book descriptions Booksellers and book collectors use various terms to describe books, their constituent parts and condition.
Binding The cover of the book which surrounds the text block. Boards The stiff binding material that surrounds most books Book Club Edition BCE A separate edition of a book usually printed especially for a book club. C Cancel A tipped-in i.
Conjugate Leaf The un-severed second half of a printed page. D Damp stained A light stain on the cover or pages caused by moisture such as a piece of food or perspiration.
Deckle Edges Another term uncut or untrimmed page edges. Dents Damage to the edges of the cover of hardcover books. Dog-eared Book pages that have been folded over in the corners. DuoDecimo 12mo A book approximately seven to eight inches tall. Elephant Folio A large book about 23 inches tall.
Extra Illustrated A copy of a book with additional illustrations. F Figured Cloth A cloth binding decorated with embossed patterns. Fore-edge The front edge of the text block — opposite the bound edge. Foxed, Foxing Brown spotting of the paper caused by a chemical reaction. G Galleys Long sheets of paper bearing a trial impression of the type.
Glassine A transparent paper dust jacket. Half cloth Paper-covered boards with the spine and corners bound in cloth. Heel The bottom of the backstrip. Hypermodern Collectable first editions published within last 10 years or so. I Impression A much misunderstood term.
Issue The priority of copies within the first edition or, occasionally, a subsequent edition Issue points Changes between various copies of the same book. Joint The exterior flexible area where the book cover meets the spine. Juvenilia Something an author wrote as a child. L Laid in A letter or other sheet s inserted but not glued into a book. Limp A flexible binding, often of suede, leather or imitation leather.
M Marbled Pages or bindings decorated with an imitation marble pattern. Marginalia Notes written in the margins of a page around the text. Misboundv Pages or signatures sewn together in an improper order. Monograph A work, generally short, dealing with a single subject. O Obverse The right-hand or recto page of a book. P Paper Boards Stiff cardboard covered in paper. Provenance The history of ownership or possession of a given book. Q Quarter binding Binding where the spine is covered in a different, generally superior, material to the rest of the book.
Quarter leather A book quarter bound in leather. Quarto 4to A book roughly between 11 to 13 inches tall. R Raised bands Raised ridges the spine concealing a cord that is attached to the covers. Re-backed A book where the spine has been replaced and the joints mended. Rebound A book where the original binding has been replaced.
Re-cased A book that has been glued back into its covers after coming loose. S Scuffed A condition description similar in meaning to rubbing but implies a greater defect; and scuffing can affect panels as well as edges. Self-wraps Covers that have turned-in flaps that imitate a dust jacket. Sextodecimo 16mo A small book, approximately 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall. Shaken The pages are beginning to come loose. Sliver A small narrow chip, nick or tear usually at the edge of a dust jacket.
T Tailpiece Decorative ornament or illustration on the lower part of a page at the end of a chapter or section of a book. Tender A term used to describe a book where the binding is beginning to loosen. True First The correct first edition for any given title — the original first edition from the first country in which the book was produced U Uncut The pages edges have not been evenly cut to form a smooth surface to the text block edge.
V Vellum A thin sheet of leather produced from a calf which has not been tanned but de-greased for use in writing, printing or as a binding material. Verso The left-hand page of an open book.
Faced the obverse page. W Waterstain Stain from water or other liquids causing discolouration or shrinkage.
Wrappers The covers of a paperback. Like this: Like Loading Pingback: Describing old books BookAddiction. Pingback: Research Task: Book Terminology.
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