Book Description
London: Hector M'Lean.. 1819. 4to. (4),iv,198pp. Illustrated with 4 copper engraved plates and a copper engraved headpiece. Cont. diced calf (front cover with some burn marks), rebacked in modern brown morocco with burgundy morocc o spine label. Cloth reinforced inner hinges. Ma rbled edges. Bookplate on front pastedown.
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.
calf : Leather binding made from calfskin. Most common form of leather binding.
plates : Full page illustrations or photographs. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e., they are not sewn as parts of gatherings.
bookplate : A device (often decorative) affixed to the book, usually on the endpapers, which designates ownership (or former ownership).
4to : Or quarto. A term used generally to describe the approximate size of a book, a book that is about 10" to 12" tall and roughly squarish in shape. The term is based on the size of paper traditionally used by book printers which has been folded and cut into 16 pages.
pastedown : The paper glued to the inside cover of a hard cover book.
Cloth : Generally refers to a hardcover with cloth covering the outside of the book covers.
