G L O S S A R Y O F T E R M S
This abbreviated glossary covers only the most commonly encountered
terms. There may be exceptions to some of our definitions - our main
concern is to provide you with general concepts relative to commonly
used book jargon. Abbreviations appear alphabetized at the beginning of
each respective letter; only the most common abbreviations are included.
ABA: Antiquarian Bookseller's Association (U.K. antiquarian
booksellers assoc.); also the American Booksellers Association
(primarily independent booksellers offering new books for sale).
ABAA: Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America.
ABAC: Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada.
ABPC: American Book Prices Current, an annual compilation of book, autograph & manuscript auction records.
ADS: Autograph document signed ( see also ALS, ANS, LS, TLS).
a.e.g.: All edges gilt, gilt applied to top edge, bottom edge & foreedge of the volume (see also g.t. and a.e. m.).
a.e.m.: All edges marbled, marbling applied to top edge, bottom edge& foreedge of volume (see also a.e.g. and g.t.).
ALAI: Associazionne Librai Antiquari d'Italia (Italian antiquarian booksellers' association).
ALS: Autograph letter signed, letter handwritten by the person
signing the letter as opposed to LS, which is a manuscript letter
written by someone other than the signer (see also ADS, ANS, LS. TLS).
ANS: Autograph note signed.
ANZAAB: Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers.
Advance copy: a copy of a book usually sent to reviewers prior to publication, may be in a different format and may or may not be bound.
Advance sheets the unbound sheets of a new book, often galleys, distributed prior to publication.
Advertisements: Many books & pamphlets, especially of the
19th century contained ads, especially ones advertising others books by
the same publisher,often located at the back of the volume, following
the text pages.
All published: the book or set is complete as is, and any additional parts or volumes were never published.
BAL: Bibliography of American Literature.
BSA: Bibliographic Society of America.
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. This type of binding may be
covered with cloth, various leathers, or paper over boards or other
more exotic materials. The binding can be done by hand or by machine as
in a publisher's "trade binding". The following terms relate primarily
to leather bindings:
Full binding: volume is entirely encased in leather (calf, sheep, morocco, etc.)
Three quarter binding: volume has leather spine and corners
which occupy approx. 3/4 of the space along top edge of board (cover).
The remainder of the board is covered with marbled paper, plain paper,
cloth, different leather, etc.
Half binding: the spine and corner leather occupy only approx. 1/2 of top edge.
Quarter binding: usually lacks leather corners and leather of the spine occupies only approx. 1/4 of the top edge.
Binding copy: a book lacking the original binding or with a
binding in poor condition, i.e. a book in need of a new binding - can
also be referred to as a reading copy.
Boards: the covers of a hard bound book; the boards are the
stiff cardboard or paperboard which is usually covered with cloth or
leather; and when covered with paper, the covers are properly referred
to as "boards". Many pre-1850 books were issued by the publishers bound
in boards (paper covered), allowing for an inexpensive binding which
could later be replaced with leather by a hand book binder. Early
(medieval) manuscript volumes were often bound between two oak boards,
hence the probable origin of this term.
Book club edition: usually an inexpensive reprint utilizing poor
quality paper and binding and sold by subscription to members of a book
club; in general, of little interest to book collectors and of low
monetary value.
Book jacket: the paper, often with illustrations and information
about the book and author, used as a protective covering over the book;
usually referred to as a "dust jacket" or "dj", sometimes called a
"dust wrapper". Dust jacket art work is used to promote and sell the
book.
Book formats: the traditional terms in use for describing book
formats are derived from early printing methodology and the size of
early handmade sheets of paper. When two leaves (four pages when
printed on both sides) were printed on a sheet so that it could be
folded once, collated with other folded sheets and bound, the format of
the volume was a "folio". When four leaves (eight pages) were printed
on the same size sheet, which would later be folded twice, the format
of the resultant volume was a "quarto" (four leaves). The term "octavo"
relates to the sheet having eight leaves printed on it. Today some
booksellers are providing the height of a book in inches or centimeters
rather than using these early terms which do not relate directly to the
sheet size or process used for printing today. The following is offered
as a guide to convert book formats to approximate book sizes:
* Folio: more than 13 inches tall
* Quarto (4to): approx. 10 to 13 inches tall, average 12 inches
* Octavo (8vo): approx. 8 to 10 inches tall, average 9 inches
* Duodecimo (12mo): approx. 7 to 8 inches tall, average 7.5 inches
* Sextodecimo (16mo): approx. 6 to 7 inches tall, average 6.5 inches
There are smaller and larger books, i.e. many miniatures are 64mo, and
most hard bound books are either octavo or duodecimo in size.
Book sizes: see Book formats.
Bookworm: any of a number of moth or fly larvae which tunnel
through the pages of books leaving behind small channels, holes in
individual leaves. Very early books often have some evidence of
bookworm damage.
Broadside: a printing, often an official announcement or poem or
music, which occurs on a single sheet of paper and only on one side;
the verso (other side) is blank. When printed on both sides, the sheet
becomes a "broadsheet".
Broadsheet: a printing which occurs on both sides of a single leaf (see also broadside).
Buckram: a stiff, coarsely woven, filled cloth used for less
expensive, but stronger wearing, cloth book binding material; often
used for library books.
Calf: book binding leather from a calf hide or cattle hide; a
commonly used material for leather binding (see also morocco, sheep,
and vellum).
Cancel leaf: a new leaf, often the title page, to which changes
have been made, which is glued onto the narrow stub left by the removed
leaf which has been excised.
Cloth: book binding material woven from cotton, linen, wool or synthetic fibers.
Collation: used in descriptive bibliography as the term which
describes the non-binding portion of the book, verifying the proper
sequence and completeness of pages & their gatherings (signatures).
Colophon: a statement occurring at the rear of a volume
following the text, relating information about the printing history and
physical aspects of the book; often includes name of printer, type of
paper, typeface, size of edition, date of printing, etc. Early books
often had a colophon instead of a title page imprint and modern private
press or other examples of fine printing often use a colophon.
Conjugate leaves: leaves which are physically attached, part of the same sheet.
Covers: the binding of a book; i.e. cloth, calf, morocco, boards, wrappers, etc.
Cut edges: the most common type of book edges, trimmed even with
a large binders knife prior to finishing the binding process (see also
uncut, unopened, and deckle edges).
DAB: Dictionary of American Biography, a useful 20 volume
reference, especially when collecting manuscripts and autographs and
attempting to learn about the authors.
DNB: Dictionary of National Biography, multi-volume (number of
volumes dependent upon the edition) reference of biographies of British
citizens (the U.K.).
Dampstain: stain often of a shade of tan or gray resulting from
water or other liquid damage to a volume; tolerated by collectors when
it is minimal and occurs in very old, scarce volumes; its presence does
lower the monetary value.
Deckle edge: natural or sometimes artificial rough edge of page, left uncut (see also cut edges, uncut, and unopened).
Disbound: descriptive term for a book or pamphlet or ephemera which has been removed from its binding.
Dummy copy: book made to appear like a soon to be published title, but with a text block of blank pages (see also salesman sample).
Duodecimo: (see definition under "Book sizes")
Dust jacket: the paper, often with illustrations and information
about the book, used as a protective covering over the book; sometimes
called a book jacket (dj) or a dust wrapper (dw). Collectors of
literary first editions usually insist on having a fine copy of the
original dust jacket with the book.
Dust wrapper: (see above definition of dust jacket).
Edition & Printing edition includes the copies of a book or
other printed material which originate from the same plates or setting
of type. If 500 copies of a book are printed on Oct. 5 and 300 copies
are printed from the same substantially unchanged plates on Dec. 10,
all 800 copies are part of the same edition. Printing: the copies of a
book or other printed material which originate from the same press run
or from the same plates or setting of type at one time. In the example
given for "Edition" above, the 500 copies would be the first printing
and the 300 copies comprise the second printing. In the 19th century
some publishers labeled later printings as if they were later editions,
i.e. a second printing would be called a "second edition" on the
copyright page.
End paper: paper, often of coated stock or marbled paper or
otherwise "fancy" paper, with one half pasted to the cover; used
primarily to give a finished appearance to the binding.
Ex-library: legitimately removed (discarded/deaccessioned) from
an institutional library, such as a public library, university library,
historical society, etc. Often has catalog numbers inked or painted onthe spine, library bookplates, embossed or rubber-stamped
identification on the title page and plates, library card pockets and
often shows considerable wear and/or rebinding in a plain buckram.
Referred to as "ex-lib" and of considerably lower monetary value than
the respective book which has never been the property of an
institutional library.
Ex-libris: a Latin phrase meaning "from the books" or to
paraphrase, "from the library or collection of"; the phrase is
frequently used on bookplates.
Extra-illustrated: usually a volume made into a unique copy with
additional illustrations, autographs, or manuscripts added by carefully
gluing or tipping-in this extra material.
First Appearances: this term can refer to several different concepts:
* The first time an author appears in print, i.e. Henry D. Thoreau's
first appearance in print was as an anonymous obituary in a Concord
newspaper.
* The first time a specific writing of an author appears (in a magazine
or newspaper or anthology), Emily Dickinson's poem "I'm nobody Who are
you" appears first in "Life", March 1891.
* The first time a specific subject is treated in book form, i.e. the
first American book on the subject of dry fly fishing was written by
Emlyn Gill and published in 1913.
First Books: the first book appearance by an author (usually
refers to a book entirely by the author, not merely a first appearance
of a poem or short story in an anthology). Frequently an established,
well known author's first book is not widely known; i.e. James Fenimore
Cooper's "Precaution".
First Edition: All of the copies printed from the first setting
of type; can include multiple printings if all are from the same
setting of type. Every printed book has a first edition, many never
have later editions. A later edition would have substantial changes in
the printing plates or type such as the addition of a new preface or
new chapter or major changes throughout the text and often is printed
from a complete resetting of the type. When book collectors use the
term first edition, they are usually referring to the first printing
and if there are different states or issues, the earliest of those.
First Edition some related terms:
* Issue: a portion of an edition printed or published
deliberately by the printer or publisher in a distinct form differing
from the rest of the printing relative to paper, binding, format, etc.
The distinction between "issue" and "state" is that the former relates
to changes done on purpose by the publisher and intentionally treated
as a separate unit, i.e. a large paper issue.
* State: a
portion of a printing with changes such as minor alterations to the
text either intentional or accidental; insertion of cancels,
advertisements, or insertions; copies on different paper without
intention of creating a searate issue; and other changes other than
folding or collating or binding. An example would be when a pressman
discovers battered or broken type, stops the presses and resets that
portion of the page by replacing the broken type and then resumes the
printing.
* Variants: usually refers to differences in
bindings or end papers ( paper located just inside the front and rear
covers, one half of which is glued to the cover) within an issue or
printing. One variant may have a title stamped on the front cover in
black and another may be stamped in red.
Flyleaf: a blank leaf (or leaves) inserted during the binding
process between the free end paper and the beginning or end of the
printed pages.
Foxing: rust colored spots which occur on paper resulting from
oxidation of both organic and iron impurities left behind during the
paper making process. Only when these impurities exist in the paper,
given exposure to the right humidity and temperature factors, will
foxing occur. This process is intrinsic to the paper; some paper will
never have the rusty, brown, yellow spots known as foxing.
Folio: see Book size.
Frontispiece: an illustration or plate inserted immediately in
front of the title page, with the illustration facing the title page,
often abbreviated as frontis.
Full Binding: usually refers to leather binding, see Binding.
g.t.: Gilt top, gilt applied to the top edge of the text block (see also a.e.g.)
Gathering: a folded printed sheet of leaves prior to binding; referred to as a signature after binding.
Gutter: the inner margin of the leaves of a bound book; adjacent inner margins of facing pages when book is open.
Half title: a page which precedes the the title page and the text, with the title (often abbreviated) usually centered on the page.
Hinge: the inside portion of the flexible area where book cover
meets the book spine; often used interchangeably with the term joint,
which should be used to designate the outside or exterior portion of
the "hinge". A volume which has received heavy or rough use often has
cracked or broken hinges.
Holograph: Anything handwritten entirely by the writer; i.e. a
letter written entirely in the handwriting of the correspondent is a
holograph of that person.
ILAB: International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the
bookseller organizations of at least twenty-one nations are members of
the league.
Imprint: when used as a noun refers to the publication data
located at the base of a title page, usually includes the city of
publication, name of the publisher (sometimes the printer), and the
year of publication. Sometimes this information is located in a
colophon at the back of a book. Imprint can also be used to refer to a
printed piece from a certain location or period of time, i.e. the
university has a collection of 18th century Massachusetts imprints.
Incunable: anything printed during the 15th century, the first
century of printing with "moveable type"; from the Latin, meaning "from
the cradle"; can also be used in a relative sense to refer to other
early printings, i.e. incunables from the Pacific islands.
Inscribed: a book, or other printed piece, with a handwritten
and signed statement usually written for a specific named person(s) and
often located on the end paper or title page; when "inscribed" is used
to describe a book, unless otherwise stated, it is implied that the
author has written the inscription. When used to designate the
recipients of a book as a gift from the author (or publisher), it is
called a "presentation inscription".
Issue: a portion of an edition printed or published deliberately
by the printer or publisher in a distinct form differing from the rest
of the printing relative to paper, binding, format, etc. The
distinction between "issue" and "state" is that the former relates to
changes done on purpose by the publisher and intentionally treated as a
separate unit, i.e. a large paper issue. ( see also first edition,
state, variant).
Joint: the exterior flexible "hinge" where book cover meets book
spine; "hinge" is usually used to designate the equivalent inside or
interior flexible area. The joint is often an area that splits or
cracks or otherswise shows wear in an older cloth or leather volume.
LS: Letter signed, a letter written by another, usually a
secretary, but signed by the correspondent, as opposed to an ALS which
is written entirely in the hand of the correspondent (see also ADS,
ALS, ANS and TLS).
Large paper copy: a special edition printed with the pages
reconfigured to result in larger leaves with very wide page margins;
the text of the individual pages remaining the same as the normal
edition; usually large paper copies are printed in small, limited
editions.
Leaf (leaves): refers to the smallest, standard physical unit of
paper in a printed piece; in the case of books and pamphlets, usually
with a printed page on each side of a leaf; a broadside is printed on a
single side of a single leaf.
Marbled edges: usually the top, bottom and foreedge of a book
with a multi-colored, swirled design, somewhat resembling the
coloration pattern of marble stone (see also a.e.m.).
Marbled paper: paper decorated with a multi-colored, swirled
design or pattern; often used for end papers or for paper covered
boards, especially with 3/4 or 1/2 leather bindings.
Morocco: leather binding made from goat hides; usually used in
high quality or fine bindings for the interesting texture of the
leather; originally tanned with sumac in the country of Morocco (see
also calf, sheep and vellum).
NAN: Nederlandsche Vereeniging Van Antiquaren (Netherlands or Dutch antiquarian bookseller's association).
n.d.: This abbreviation means "no date" provided in the imprint.
n.p.: "No place" of publication provided in the imprint.
NUC: National Union Catalogue; when used in antiquarian book
descriptions usually refers to the pre-1956 imprints NUC which lists
Library of Congress holdings plus the holdings of all reporting
libraries in the U.S. When a catalog description states "Not in NUC",
the item described is usually rare (in terms of U.S. library holdings).
o.p.: Out-of-print.
Octavo: see "Book sizes".
Out-of-print: no longer available from the publisher (o.p. or op).
Plate: an illustration(s) printed on a separate sheet of paper
(usually heavy and better quality than the text pages) and added to the
book during the binding process.
Pre-publication price: When a new title is first offered for
sale, often this special lower price is promoted and available for a
limited time before publication.
Presentation copy: a copy of a printed item inscribed and signed by the author (or publisher) and provided as a gift; see "inscribed".
Printing: the copies of a book or other printed material which
originate from the same press run or from the same plates or setting of
type at one time. In the example given for "Edition", the 500 copies
would be the first printing and the 300 copies comprise the second
printing. In the 19th century some publishers labeled later printings
as if they were later editions, i.e. a second printing would be called
a "second edition" on the copyright page. (see also edition).
Prospectus: printed material, often in the form of a leaflet or
broadside, which describes a forth-coming title in detail, often
including information on ordering the book including pre-publication
price.
Quarto: see "Book formats".
Reading copy: well worn, usually abused copy of a book, often in
need of rebinding; i.e. suitable for reading, but unlikely to be
included in a book collection unless rebound; sometimes refers to a
copy that can be read, but is not of a quality worth rebinding.
Rebacked: the spine or backstrip has been replaced with new
material, in some cases the original worn backstrip is saved and glued
over the new material.
Rebound: copy of a book which has had the original binding
removed and a new binding attached; when there is no need to resew or
trim the book, the term "recased" is sometimes used to indicate that a
new binding and new end papers have been added.
Recto: the front side of a leaf or in the case of an open book the page on the right, with the page on the left being the verso.
SA: Svenska Antivariatforeningen (Swedish antiquarian booksellers' association).
SLAM: Syndicat National de la Librarie Ancienne et Moderne (French booksellers' association).
Salesman sample: volume made for door-to-door sales of a
forth-coming title, usually has examples of several binding styles, the
title page, a few pages of text and some illustrations (if any) and
often a few ruled leaves bound in the back to be used to record the
sales transaction including the name and address of those ordering the
book.
Self-wrappers: the wrappers of a pamphlet consist of the first
leaf of the first signature and the final leaf of the last signature;
i.e. no special or distinct paper wrappers have been added; often
government pamphlets and almanacs have self-wrappers.
Sewn-as-issued: a pamphlet which has been sewn together and
exists in its original state relative to binding; normally a pamphlet
with self-wrappers.
Shaken: indicates that sections (signatures) of a book or pamphlet are becoming quite loose, but remain attached to the binding.
Sheep: a common leather binding material from sheep hides; used
like calf for a less expensive binding than morocco, appears to have
been frequently used for text books and law books in the 19th century
(see also calf, morocco, and vellum).
Shelfback: another term for spine or backstrip.
Signature: a group or gathering of leaves printed together on a
sheet of paper which is folded, bound with other signatures and trimmed
to form a book or pamphlet; i.e. a section or grouping of pages in a
book resulting from printing and binding methodology; also refers to a
person's self handwritten name (autograph signature).
Signed: refers to a printed item on which the author (or
illustrator or publisher) has written their name, usually on the end
papers, title page, or in the case of pamphlets on the wrappers.
Slipcase: a box with one open side, into which a volume or a
multivolme set is "slipped" for protection; publishers often issue a
slipcase with two and three volume sets.
Solander case: a box in which a book is stored for protection
which has one end (often leather) which resembles the spine or
backstrip of a book.
Spine: the back portion of a book's binding which is visible
when a book is shelved in a bookcase; the portion which is attached at
the joints to the front and rear covers.
Started: indicates that one or more signatures of a book are
protruding beyond the rest of the fore edge, i.e. beginning to pull
away from the binding to which they are still attached; not as loosened
as the term "shaken" indicates.
State: a portion of a printing with changes such as minor
alterations to the text either intentional or accidental; insertion of
cancels, advertisements, or insertions; copies on different paper
without intention of creating a searate issue; and other changes other
than folding or collating or binding. An example would be when a
pressman discovers battered or broken type, stops the presses and
resets that portion of the page by replacing the broken type and then
resumes the printing. (see also first edition, cancel, issue, and
variant).
t.e.g.: top edge gilt.
TLS: typed letter signed, as opposed to ALS, a handwritten letter signed by the writer (see also ADS, ALS, ANS and LS).
Three quarter binding: see "Binding".
Unbound: indicates that the item has never been bound, i.e.
unbound sheets; not the same as disbound which indicates that the
binding has been removed.
Uncut: refers to the edges of a book in an untrimmed state, edges are somewhat uneven, also see "Deckle edges".
Unopened: a book with signatures which have never been cut as
opposed to untrimmed and uneven (see "Uncut"); unopened books retain
the folds of the original gathering and contain many pages which cannot
be read without first opening the pages with a knife. Some collectors
prefer an unopened book because it indicates that the book has never
been read; other collectors who read their books would rather not have
the task of cutting open pages and risking tears and jagged leaf edges.
VDAV: Verband Deutscher Antiquare e. V. (German antiquarian booksellers's association).
Variants: usually refers to differences in bindings or end
papers ( paper located just inside the front and rear covers, one half
of which is glued to the cover) within an issue or printing. One
variant may have a title stamped on the front cover in black and
another may be stamped in red. (see also first edition, issue, and
state).
Vellum: true vellum is a thin specially treated untanned
"leather" from calf skin, also known as parchment (high quality
parchment from calf skin is called vellum; general quality parchment is
made from calf, goat or sheep skin) ; used for documents and for book
bindings; many early books (of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries)
have vellum bindings; paper makers have produced parchment and/or
vellum papers also used for book bindings.
Verso: the reverse or opposite or left-hand side, especially
used in reference to a leaf which has a recto and verso side; in a open
book the recto is the right hand page and the verso is the left hand
page; in the case of a broadside only the recto is printed and the
verso is blank.
w.a.f: with all faults, indicates a book or other item which is
being offered without careful delineation of its condition or without
careful collation; usually indicates a less than "very good" copy,
which probably does has faults, often including excessive wear or
missing leaves, plates or maps.
Wrappers: abbreviated as "wraps", wrappers are the paper covers
of a pamphlet, often of a paper of heavier weight than the text paper;
when you see "wrappers" you know the item is not a hard bound book, but
is instead a pamphlet or magazine with paper covers; usually not used
to refer to 20th century paperback books which are called "soft bound"
(with paper covers).
