A Guide to our Catalogue Descriptions

Book descriptions can contain abbreviations or references that may not be familiar. Below is a brief guide to our basic catalogue descriptions and words, phrases and abbreviations.

For additional reading, we recommend John Carter’s ABC for Book Collectors which is an A-Z of words and terms relating to books and book collecting.

Example of a Basic Book Description.

List of commonly used abbreviations.

Ad.,

ads advertisement(s)

a.e.g.

all edges gilt

ALS / ALsS

autograph letter(s) signed

ANS / ANsS

autograph note(s) signed

b&w

black and white

b.f.t.p.

Bound from the parts

bibliog.

bibliography

cata.

catalogue

chromolitho.

chromolithograph

cm

centimetres

col.

coloured

contemp.

contemporary

d.w.

dust wrapper

dec.

decorated

e.g.

for example

ed.

edited

edn

edition

engr.

engraved

e.p., e.ps, f.e.p., & f.e.ps.

endpaper(s), free endpaper(s)

facsim.

facsimile

front.

frontispiece

fold.

folded, folding

illus.

illustrated

litho.

lithograph

mss

manuscript(s)

nos

number(s)

n.p.

no printer, publisher or place

orig.

original

p or pp.

page, pages

pic.

pictorial

port.

portrait

prelim.

preliminary.

sl.

slight

t.e.g.

top edge gilt

TLS / TLsS

typed letter(s) signed

v.

very

v.g.

very good

vol. / vols

volume or volumes

4to

quarto

8vo

octavo

12mo

duodecimo

16mo

sextodecimo

Commonly used words and their meanings.

Bevelled

A technique of binding in which the edges of the boards have been bevelled, i.e. cut at a slanting angle, before being covered, usually by cloth.

Bound from the parts (b.f.t.p.)

A book, Bleak House for example, bound into a volume using the original parts which were issued and sold periodically.

Brick

A book, first published in two or three volumes, issued later, and more cheaply, by the publisher in a single large volume.

Broadside

According to Carter a broadside can be applied to any piece of printed matter printed on one side only of a single sheet.

Buckram

A durable bookbinding cloth with a smooth finish.

Calf

Leather made from the hide of a calf. The most commonly used leather in bookbinding.

Catalogue (cata.)

Usually found at the end of a volume, a catalogue is a list of works or products offered for sale by a single publisher or company.

Chapbook

A short pamphlet popular, sensational, juvenile, moral or educational in character offered for sale by Chapmen (street sellers) rather than booksellers. Chapbooks tend to be small in size, usually in 8, 16 or 24 pages.

Contemporary (contemp.)

We use this to denote that a signature, binding, or book label, etc., dates from or very close to the date of publication of the book.

Copac (Now known as Library Hub Discover)

A database of library holdings in the United Kingdom. We would consider a book to be relatively rare if it is held in five or fewer libraries in the UK.

Defective

Referring to bindings and printing, it indicates that something is missing and not as originally issued or bound.

Disbound

A printed book that has been removed from its binding.

Edition (edn)

An edition comprises all of the copies printed at any time or times from one setting up of type without substantial change. For minor corrections to type see Issues.

Endpapers (e.ps)

Endpapers are not part of the book as printed but are added to the inside front and back by the binder. They consist of the pastedown (laid on to the inside of the front cover) and the free end paper forming effectively the first and last page of the book.

Engraving (engr.)

Illustration or decoration printed from a metal plate or wood block whose surface has been incised by an engraver’s tool, a graver or burin.

Errata Leaf

An errata leaf lists the printing errors discovered after the book has been printed.

ESTC

The English Short Title Catalogue lists books published (and some ephemera) mainly in the British Isles and America between 1473 and 1800. Each entry includes a list of libraries in which the book is held.

Etching

An illustration or decoration created by using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in the metal for the use of printing.

Facsimile (facsim.)

A facsimile is an exact copy of an object, leaf or printing, or whole book.

Format

The shape and size of the book denoted by how many times the printed sheet has been folded:

Folio folded once

4to twice

8vo three times

16mo four times

Foxing

The discolouring or staining of paper caused by a chemical reaction of poorly made or badly stored paper to a micro-organism. In addition to foxing, we also use the terms ‘browning’ or ‘spotting’.

Frontispiece (front.)

An illustration facing the titlepage of the book.

Half calf – quarter calf

Books bound in half calf, half cloth, etc. have the calf (or cloth) covering the spine and corners of the boards.

Books bound in quarter calf, cloth, etc. have the calf (or cloth) covering just the spine.

Full calf, or any other type of leather covers the whole binding.

Half title

A leaf preceding the title that includes the printed title or series title of the book.

Impression

Carter describes this as ‘the number of copies of an edition printed at one time’. The term impression is also used to describe the quality of printing, e.g. ‘with fine impressions of the plate’.

Imprint

The publisher or printer of the book or printed item. This is usually found at the bottom of the titlepage.

Issues & States

A minefield of bibliographical fog! These terms are used differently by different bibliographers (and booksellers) so you may see that descriptions of books can vary. Put broadly, a different issue or state indicates when identifiable alterations, corrections, additions or excisions are made during the printing process. This may also include alterations to the titlepage. It is important to note that a different issue does not always imply, as much as the ‘issue-mongers’ may wish, a priority of one issue or state over another. Some books were printed in print runs of many thousands of copies and small changes to text were inevitable. A first edition may include examples of numerous different issues or states.

Issue can also refer to the date at which an edition or impression is distributed for sale. You may for example, have a ‘later issue’ of a first edition if there is evidence that it has been issued at a later date. Evidence for this might include a different binding or a publisher’s catalogue with a later publication date.

Laid down

When something is stuck down on to another sheet of paper. This can be within a volume or on to a loose sheet of paper. E.g. Newspaper clipping laid down on to half title.

Lithograph

An illustration created from a stone or metal plate using the mutual repulsion of oil and water.

Morocco

An attractive leather made of goatskin particularly suitable for dyeing in strong colours.

Mottled

Bindings (in calf) that have been given a mottled effect by staining the leather with acid. This includes ‘Tree calf’ or ‘Sprinkled calf’.

OCLC (WorldCat)

The World’s largest online public access catalogue recording the locations of books in libraries worldwide

Original (orig.)

This denotes that a book is as it was when first produced. Orig. cloth or boards for example means that the book was first issued in cloth or boards. Most books were not issued in leather so that ‘Original Calf’ is rarely used.

Pastedown

See endpapers

Plates

Whole page illustrations, printed separately from and (usually) bound into the volume. As plates are printed separately to the main text, plates are rarely included in the pagination.

Primary Binding

The earliest of any different publisher’s binding styles (almost always cloth but sometimes boards) used on the same edition of a book. Later bindings might be ‘secondary’ or ‘remainder’ (see ‘Brick’).

Rebacked

This indicates that the binding has been given a new spine.

Recased

A book that has been taken out of its binding and then re-inserted to make it more secure. It is usually quite easy to spot if a book has been recased; there may be new endpapers, the spine ends might be quite hard and the book may open stiffly.

Recto

The front side of a leaf, i.e. the right hand page of an open book.

Roan

A thin sheepskin used by binders as a cheap alternative to morocco (see above) from the 1790s onwards. Used more widely from the 1870s onwards 19^th century roan tends to not be durable and is often found in poor condition.

Russia

A binding leather made from cowhide tanned by a special process giving a rich, smooth effect, and impregnated with birch-bark oil.

Sammelband

A volume in which two or more separately published works are bound together.

Sheep

A soft and very durable leather with little grain. Used from c.1770 for binding cheaper books.

Three-Decker

A 19^th century novel issued in three volumes.

Tipped-in

A sheet, usually an illustration, lightly attached within a book, usually on a single edge (the inner edge).

Titlepage

The page indicating the title of the work, together with, but not always, the edition, imprint and date of publication.

Tree calf

A calf binding stained with acid (usually copperas) and polished to resemble the graining of wood.

Unopened

The leaves of the book are untouched following printing meaning that the folded leaves have not been cut (or opened) and thus the pages cannot be turned.

Uncut

Meaning that the edges of the text block are untrimmed but have been opened.

Variant

A term used to describe a copy or copies of an edition or impression exhibiting a (usually) subtle variation whether of text, paper, or binding.

Vellum

The skin of a calf, not tanned but de-greased and stretched. Vellum is used for writing or printing on, or in binding. It can also be made from lambskin or goatskin.

Verso

The back of a leaf, i.e. the left hand page of an open book.

Yellowback

A nickname given to a particular type of cheap edition, issued in colourfully illustrated boards, most commonly on yellow paper, offered for sale at railway stations.