Book Description
Paris: Lacombe. 1774. Full Calf. Very Good. Sm. 8vo. viii,481,(3)pp. Indices. Illus. 2 copper engraved plates. Cont. mottled calf, gilt decorated spine, rubbed, and a bit chipped at extremities. Large engraved bookplate on front pastedown. Scarce.
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.
chipped : A defect in which small pieces missing from the edges.
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.
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.
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.
bookplate : A device (often decorative) affixed to the book, usually on the endpapers, which designates ownership (or former ownership).
pastedown : The paper glued to the inside cover of a hard cover book.
