Quick guide for book definitions and abbreviations

• Author — The person or persons who wrote the work that is published.
• Book — The bound format of a published work.
• Condition —
  • M — Mint Condition
  • NM — Near Mint Condition
  • VF — Very Fine Condition
  • F — Fine Condition
  • NF — Near Fine Condition
  • VG — Very Good Condition
  • G — Good Condition
  • Ok — Poor Condition (Readable)
  • ex-Libris — ExLibrary or Discard
  • = Newly added title to the store
  See the Short Book on Books Chapter on Condition for more information.
• Copyright — The date that the work was originally published.
• Cover —
  • Hard Cover — A book that has cloth, leathor, or paper covered boards (made from cardboard or wood).
  • Soft Cover — Trade Paperback. A book that is larger than a paperback but has a paper cover.
  • Paperback — also known as a Massmarket Paperback. Close to a standard size of 4¼ x 7 x T (where T is a variable of thickness). With a stiff paper cover.
• Dust Jacket — (DJ), A removable paper cover that wraps around the cover of a book.
• Edition — A print run that has had major changes done to the work being printed.
• Editor — The person who checks and oversees a work to be published before it goes to press.
• Illustrator — (Ill.), The person or persons who provide artwork for a work.
• ISBN — International Standard Book Number
• ISBN10 — Books published before Jan. 1, 2007 use the ISBN10 number format
• ISBN13 — Books published on or after Jan. 1, 2007 now use the ISBN13 number format
• LCCN — Library of Congress Control Number
  • On books added to the stacks of the Library of Congress before the Jan. 1, 2001, the LCCN is a 8 digit number (##-######) assigned by the U.S. Library of Congress. If the number printed in a book is less than 8 digits then add zeros to the beginning portion of the second set of numbers after the dash (-) to make a total of 6 digits. (ex. 87-4816 is the published number in the book, 87-004816 is the actual lccn number.)
  • On books after Jan. 1, 2001, the LCCN is 10 digits (####-######). If the number printed in a book is less than 10 digits then add zeros to the beginning portion of the second set of numbers after the dash (-) to make a total of 6 digits. (ex. 2002-995 is the published number in the book, 2002-000995 is the actual lccn number.)
• Pages — The number of two sided sheets of paper that are between the covers containing the printed work.
• Printing — The number of print runs or times a work was set to press.
• Print Run — The setting up of a press to print a specific number of books.
• Published — The date a particular printing or edition was printed
• Publisher — The person or business that brought the work to market. The financial backer of a work being brought to market.
• Review — The thoughts and ideas of a person about a given work.
• Size — The dimension of a book in inches. width by height by thickness (where applicable).
• Synopsis — A short blurb that gives a summary or teaser of what a particular work is about.
• Title — The name of the work.
• Translator — The person or persons who translated a book from one language to another.