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BOOK DESCRIPTIONS GLOSSARY
Purpose:
This glossary is NOT intended to be a comprehensive listing of specialised terms relevant to the used bookselling trade. It is an easy to use explanation of terms routinely used by Rivermead Books, with helpful suggestions as to the necessity of these terms and their practical significance for a used book buyer.
Extremely useful for first-time buyers of used books on the Internet. The glossary only relates to our own in-house style for describing appearance, condition & quality of a used book.
SIZE, SHAPE & FORMAT:
Folio – largest sizes, Folio is not uncommon, Atlas Folio & Elephant Folio are rare. These are all large books that will not fit into an ordinary household bookshelf in upright position. Such books are often art books with few pages but extremely large illustrations. Usually overweight because of size, and attracting extra shipping costs.
Quarto – (4to), up to 12” tall.
Octavo – (8vo), up to 9 ¾” tall, common size for hardcover books.
12mo – up to 7 ¾” tall, a common fiction paperback size.
16mo, 24mo, 32mo – small books that fit into pocket easily. Depending on purpose a buyer often needs to know the book size before buying.
pp – means number of pages, 736pp means pages 1-736 inclusive, indexes may be quite lengthy but not numbered pages.
Unpaginated – means pages are not numbered at all, may be too many to bother counting, or could be paginated by section which is effectively the same thing for book description purposes.
BOOK APPEARANCE:
dj – a dustjacket (as supplied by the publisher).
dw – dustwrapper (applied by previous owner or library, not on original publication).
These 2 terms are used indiscrimately by amateurs, we are very specific with them. Often a dw is on top of a dj.
Typically a commercially available dw is a transparent slip=on cover.
“as new” – means there are no signs that book has ever been read or on bookshelf for browsing.
VG/VG – best condition of a book with a dj. The first VG concerns the book contents, the second VG refers to condition of dj. If only VG shown it means book does not have dj now or never had one at time of publication. Often the seller would not know if book ever had a dj.
VG/G – a common description for book with nice clean contents but dj just showing first minor signs of wear at edges. Generally very acceptable to a buyer.
VG/Fair or VG/Poor, means dj is deteriorating and may be close to end of use.
Good/Good – is often representative of an ex-library book. However, an ex-public library book should not be described as VG since it will have the markings and must have been well used. But reference or scientific/technical books from academic or institute sources may be described as VG/VG or VG/G since they have not been in the public domain and are generally nice and clean. Markings do not detract from content.
Hardcover – book with durable stiff covers meant to last indefinitely. May be cloth, buckram, leather, leatherette, heavy-duty cards or library-bound volumes. Dj not present, if an older book never had a dj.
Softback – pliable but durable covers, often plastic covers or cloth-covered cards, durable but inexpensive. No dj of course.
Paperback – simple card covers, as with most cheap fiction.
Quarter-bound – book with a leather spine.
Half-bound – book with leather spine and cover corners.
DESCRIPTIONS:
Our book descriptions are in 2 parts (a) outer appearance on the shelf – helps staff to locate a book quickly when an order is received. For example: “VG, hardcover, maroon cloth covers with gilt titles in cream panel on spine fading to grey”. Occasionally this is helpful too to a serious collector who knows a lot about outer appearance of certain editions.
(b) to enable buyers to fully appreciate the quality, condition and/or defects present in a book. Most important single comment to the buyer is:-
“contents are clean and unmarked” – everything following the contents page is in clean acceptable condition without any particular defects and all intact.
“Previous owner’s details” - may just be a signature or full name & address & even date of purchase. But could include an ex-libris sticker & sometimes prize/award labels with details. According to who the recipient was this could add value to the book.
“gift messages” – is self-explanatory.
“presentation copy” – may mean several things, often it is a book presented by the author to a close friend, date may be many years after publication since book came from author’s personal supply. Depending on author and recipient it could create added interest in the book.
“previous owner’s details” elaborated on somewhat – with older books (early or pre-1900s, details are given of the owner since someone may be searching the internet for antecedents, so “ Sunday School prize for L.S. Clark 1933 Nuneaton” – a search engine might come up with this listing for someone searching for “Clark”. Family bibles may be a bargain if details are of relevance, but shipping costs are generally prohibitive. So any references in an ordinary book are valuable.
First edition” – many books are unsuccessful (particularly in “vanity publishing”) and so they are first editions (never got reprinted). What a collector is generally looking for is a first edition of a particular book by that author and it is the first printing run, not 17th reprinting in first year which would still be a first edition. It may be necessary to enquire further of the seller exactly what the print run history is for that book.
“proof-copy” – means a paperback pre-printing edition NOT allowed to be sold, either for proof-readers or authors, etc. Sometimes the version for sale is now scarce and the proof-copy becomes desirable.
“price-clipped” – means a corner flap of the dj has been cut off so the cost is not visible when giving as a present, however it is always mentioned because many buyers don’t like this.
“foxing” – is minor brown blemishes, often only present in a few preliminary pages and end pages, sometimes only at page ends and not visible until book is closed. Depending on extent of foxing, book may still be valuable, particularly if wanted for illustrations which may be free of foxing.
“faded” – usually on the spine and/or top covers of books, due to continual action of sunlight over the years.
“tarnished” – opposite of faded, ageing of colours so they become darker, brownish or messy looking grey.
“scrolling” – marks on dj or glazed book covers, due to writing on papers with book underneath, mentionable but sometimes barely visible. Often on children’s books.
“water-damaged” – this may be just the covers or entire book, if the content is important and damage is only at page ends it may not be a problem for buyer.
“reading-copy only” – means pages have browned with age and probably become brittle, if content is important read it and then discard. Not one for the bookcase, usually good material at little cost.
“highlighting – usually in textbooks, if only occasional or in a particular chapter only this may not be a big problem, but if widespread book is unsaleable.
“annotations” – writing in the margins, depending how much or if in pencil or ink, may be a deterrent to purchase or not. Sometimes the previous book owner was a professional or expert in that subject and the annotations are a critique of the author’s viewpoint. In such cases the annotations do not detract from book value and may make the book more saleable.
All of the above conditions would be mentioned in our book description as relevant.
ILLUSTRATIONS:
b/w – means black and white.
Extensively illustrated - means a picture usually every 2-3 pages, often just in b/w.
Elaborately illustrated – means numerous pictures, sometimes more than one per page, often in colour & b/w, may include maps & diagrams too.
Pictorial – implies book is essentially illustrations with relatively little text, sometimes merely a paragraph of details per picture.
OTHER ASPECTS OF DESCRIPTIONS:
ISBN – International Standard Book Number – all new books are now being published with a 13 digit specific identification code. Most used books in circulation now have only 10 digits. Books before the late 1960s do not have ISBN numbers. The first numbers identify the language group, second are the publisher’s identity, third is actual publication code, fourth is a single number to create a check if number is valid.
Book searches may be conducted by title, author or specifically by ISBN if known.
“untitled” means spine is thin and stapled, etc so no title visible as stored, mainly a problem for the seller.
“undated” – usually a classic book that has been reprinted many times.
Book club edition – later printings by another publisher, probably not identified by ISBN, often worth having but not collectable.
“limited edition” – usually a valuable collector item, printed initially as a small print run (<1,000), with each book having a unique serial number printed on title page or thereabouts. Not usually found on shelves for browsing. Higher quality than later regular print runs.
Ephemera – means old postcards used as bookmarks, newspaper clippings, publisher’s notices, etc from the period of publication and left in the book by original owner and then bookseller. A bit of added value/interest for the buyer. May be very enlightening.
Out of copyright reprintings, generally is classic literature reproduced by book guilds after the copyright has expired (75 years or so) affordable and look nice on the shelf but not collectable items.
Copyright 2008 Rivermead Books - Rivermead Marketing Limited trading as Rivermead Books
Telephone 01722 744802,from Overseas +44 1722 744802
RIVERMEAD MARKETING LIMITED.
REGISTERED IN ENGLAND AND WALES. COMPANY NUMBER 03227371. REGISTERED OFFICE:11 BEECH HOUSE, LINGWOOD CLOSE, BASSETT, SOUTHAMPTON, HAMPSHIRE, SO16 7GF
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