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Glossary
When we find your book, we will
sent you a description of it, so you can decide whether or not you want to buy
the book. The description will be sent by the bookseller to us, and will
probably contain a fair amount of jargon and shorthand that is common in the
book trade. This page is designed to help you make sense of that description.
The description will obviously
include the author and title of the book, so double check to make
sure it is exactly the one you want. It will nearly always include the publisher
and year of publication, and sometimes the ISBN number and/or a brief
description of the content. Of course we will also include a price.
The description may look
something like this:
Samuel Beckett - Proust and
three dialogues
Calder & Boyars, London, 1970. Reprint. 8vo. Fine hardback copy in near
fine d/j, back shows shelf wear.
The quality of the book here is
described as Fine/Near Fine. The book is described first, then the dustjacket.
See the table below which has more information about book qualities.
8vo refers to the size
of the book (in this case it means between 7¾" an 9¾" tall). Again,
see the
table below for more sizes.
| As
New |
This means
the book is in the same immaculate condition as it was when it was
published. There will no defects (such as missing pages, library stamps,
underlining, etc.) and the dust jacket (if it had one when it was was
published) will be equally perfect, without any rips. |
| Fine
(F or FN) |
Very
similar to 'As New', but without that crisp feel. Again, there will be no
defects, etc., and if the jacket has a small rips or looks worn, this will
be noted. |
| Very
Good (VG) |
Describes a
book that shows a few signs of wear - but no tears - on either binding or
paper. Any defects will be noted. |
| Good
(G) |
An average
used book that has all pages or leaves present. There will be a little
wear, and any defects will be noted. |
| Fair |
Worn book
that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may
lack endpapers, half-title, etc. (which must be noted). Binding, jacket
(if any), etc., may also be worn. All defects must be noted. |
| Poor |
Describes a
book that is really quite worn. It may be soiled, scuffed, stained or
spotted and may have loose joints, hinges, pages, etc. However, unless
otherwise noted, it will have the complete text, including maps or plates. |
| Double Elephant Folio |
A book that is up to
50" tall (127 cm) |
| Atlas Folio |
A book that is up to
25" tall (63.5 cm) |
| Elephant Folio |
A book that is up to
23" tall (58.4 cm) |
| Folio |
A book that is up to
15" tall (38.1 cm) |
| 4to (Quarto) |
A book that is up to
12" tall (30.5 cm) |
| 8vo (Octavo) |
A book that is up to 9¾"
tall (24.8 cm) |
| 12mo (Duodecimo) |
A book that is up to 7¾"
tall (19.7 cm) |
| 16mo (Sextodecimo) |
A book that is up to 6¾"
tall (17.1 cm) |
| 24mo |
A book that is up to 5¾"
tall (14.6 cm) |
| 32mo |
A book that is up to
5" tall (12.7 cm) |
| 48mo |
A book that is up to
4" tall (10.1 cm) |
| 64mo |
A book that is up to
3" tall (7.6 cm) |
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