BOOK SIZE Terms
Folio - a book that is roughly 12-14 inches in height
4to (quarto) - a book that is roughly 9-12 inches in height
8vo (octavo) - a book that is roughly 7-9 inches in height
12mo (duedecimo) - a book that is roughly 6-7 inches in height
16mo - a book that is roughly 5 inches in height
Smaller numbers refer to even smaller books.
General Book Condition Terms
The condition of a book with dustjacket is often abbreviated in the form of two terms divided by a slash. The first word refers to the overall condition of the bound book; the second refers to the condition of the dustjacket. E.g. "Fine/V.G." refers to a Fine copy in a Very Good dustjacket.
As new or Mint - mint or as new condition means the book is without any defects in crisp, tight, and fresh conditon.
F or Fine - fine condition means that the book is basically in the same condition as issued by the publisher with no noteworthy defects of any kind, and generally indistinguishable from "As new".
NF or Near-fine - near-fine condition means some small defect is present (such as a cornertip dent or light shelf-rubbing or a small soil smudge), or in the case of the dustjacket the spine ends might be crinkled or the corners a bit rubbed.
V.G.+ - very good plus condition; better than V.G., and therefore a very nice copy, but there may be several small defects that combine to eliminate this copy from being described as near-fine
V.G. - very good condition; there is some wear, or minor soiling, or in the case of the dustjacket perhaps some small tears or chips.
V.G.-. - very good minus condition; in spite of the defects, the book makes a better impression than a "Good" copy
Good - good condition is not what most users of language would call good. Good is still a sound copy with all pages present but there are some major defects or soiling or considerable wear which hopefully is described. You should ask about the condition of a good copy.
Fair or Reading copy - major defects or wear in the condition (such as a scotch-taped spine, stains, text with highlighting or endpapers missing.) All text must be present and readable.
Binding copy - a book which needs to be rebound, and is worth
rebinding
Other Book Terms:
aeg, a.e.g. - all edges gilt (a thin layer of gold leaf applied to the edges of a book's pages); teg - top edge gilt
ARC - advanced reading copy (typically sent out by a publisher to reviewers or to promote sales to the book's publication.)
Association copy - refers to the prior ownership of a particular copy of a book, usually a copy which belonged to a notable person whose relationship to the book or author may be of additional interest
BC, BCE - book club edition, usually less valuable
bds. -boards, usually the hard covers of a book's binding, typically covered, as in "papered bds.", "marbled bds."
blindstamp - an uncolored embossed design or text on the binding or inner pages
b&w - black and white (as in b&w illus.)
bumped - lightly dented (usually on edge of boards or cornertips)
chipped - small tears or excisions along the edge of pages or the dustjacket; (see "closed tear")
closed tear - a tear in a page or dustjacket that is nearly invisible, with no loss of paper
cl. or cloth - cloth-covered boards or spine of the binding
1/4 cloth - only the spine is cloth-covered; the front and back boards are usually covered in paper
d.j., dj or dw - dust jacket (aka dust wrapper) NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH "wrps."
ed. - edition
ep or endpaper; the piece of paper that is pasted to the boards and which attaches the book to its binding. The side that is stuck to the board is the "pastedown"; the other side is the "free endpaper" or "flyleaf" ("ffep" - front free endpaper)
exlib, ex-lib, ex-library - book from a library, usually with library markings of some kind
ffep - front free endpaper (SEE ep above)
first edition - the first published appearance of a book. (To read about the various accepted definitions of this term in the antiquarian book trade see John Carter's ABC for Book Collectors, Oak Knoll, 1992.)
foxed - brownish spotting of paper, usually because of acid content in the book's paper or if an acidic piece of paper was in contact with it
frontis. - frontispiece (initial illustration, usually facing the title page)
gilt - gold leaf or imitation thereof (as in "title lettering in green and gilt")
h.t.; half-title - the page before the title page, with only the book's title printed on it
illus. - illustrations
insc.; inscr. - inscribed. "Inscribed" (without further clarification) refers to an inscription by the author of the book
laid in - (loosely inserted). Refers to a sheet of paper such as a letter or errata statement which is inserted but not glued into a book
ltd., limited ed. - an edition limited to a specified number of copies, generally a smaller number than the usual large press run
nd; n.d. - no date stated for publication
NF - near-fine condition (SEE General Book Condition terms above)
np; n.p. - no place, publisher or printer stated
octavo, 8vo - SEE Book Size terms above
offsetting - the shadow image (of lines of type or an illustration) on the page facing the original impression
orig. - original (as in original cloth binding)
owner inscription- the copy is inscribed by a previous owner other than the author or artist
pastedown - the page pasted onto the inside board of a book
p.c., or price clipped - when one of the front inside corners of a dust jacket is cut off to remove the indication of a book's price
pb - paperback (SEE also "wrps.")
pub.- published
quarto, 4to - SEE Book Size terms above
recto - the right hand page or front side of the leaf (as opposed to "verso" - the left hand page)
rem. mark - Remainder mark. A rubber stamp mark or black line or spray (usually on one of the edges) marked by the publisher or distributor to distinguish a book no longer in print.
rubbed - indicates that the outer layer of the material used on the binding has been rubbed off
scuffed - indicates that the outer layer of the binding or edges is dulled (not perfectly shiny or sharp)
self-wraps - paper or card covers that also have folding flaps like a dust-jacket
shaken - used to describe a book that is no longer firm in its covers (typically, publisher's cloth) because of deteriorating inner hinges, but is still attached to the covers
spine - the bound outer edge of a book
stapled wrps. - paper covers without a spine that are bound with staples rather than glue
stiff wrps. - paper covers made of stiff heavy card stock; nicer exhibition catalogues are frequently bound in stiff wrps.
tec - top edge colored (top edge of text block colored (usually) to match the color of the binding)
teg - top edge gilt (gold leaf or pseudo-gold leaf applied to top edge of text block)
tipped in - a sheet or sheets which were not part of the press impression, are added at a later stage by dabbing minute amounts of glue onto the edge or corners of the sheet to be pasted into the book (for example, color plates or errata sheets)
tp, titlepage - the page bearing the title of the book and usually the name of the author and publisher
trade edition - usually, "first trade edition" is a term used to distinguish this edition from limited editions which are often signed or with special paper or bindings, which are issued or printed prior to the full commercial publication of a book
ts - typescript
verso - the left hand page or back side of the leaf (as opposed to "recto")
vol. - volume
wrps., wrappers - paperback, paper covers