Book Description
London: Printed by J. C. for Samuel Speed.. 1676. 8vo. (18),368pp. Index. Copper engraved frontispiece portrait. Cont. calf, rebacked with an elaborately gilt tooled spine, red morocco spine label. A very nice copy.
Not sure what some of these terms mean? Look it up in our glossary.
spine : The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf. Also known as the back.
rebacked : having had the material covering the spine replaced.
gilt : The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book. The edges of the text block, or an inlay in the front cover of the boards, for example.
frontispiece : A portrait or illustration on the page opposing the title page.
calf : Leather binding made from calfskin. Most common form of leather binding.
8vo : Short for Octavo, A book whose page size is approximately 8-10 inches tall. The size is based on a sheet of paper 25 inches by 38 inches, the size of paper traditionally used by book printers, which has been folded and cut into 16 pages..
Unfortunately often misunderstood to mean 8 volumes.
