• Terminology.
  • Page - One side of a leaf.
  • Pamphlet - A small separate work issued in paperwraps.
  • Paperback - Books in paperwraps published after the 1930s.
  • Paper Boards - Stiff cardboard covered in paper; otherwise there should be a fuller discription.
  • Parts - The practice of publishing a novel in parts for monthly installments in magazines or magazine format, done particularly in the nineteenth century.
  • Pastdown - The half of the paper that lines the inside of the cover.
  • Pictorial - A book with a picture on the cover.
  • Pirated Edition - An edition printed without the consent of the author or copyright owner.
  • Plates - Whole-page illustrations printed separately from the text.
  • Points -
    1. Facts of an issue or copy of a book to help determine the value.
    2. A term used to refer to a unit of measurement for type.
  • Presentation copy - A copy inscribed by the author and presented to a person the author knows as opposed to inscribing the book for someone the author did not know at his/her request.
  • Price Clipped - The price has been clipped from the dust jacket.
  • Printed Cover - A dust jacket or paper cover that is lettered only, without picture.
  • Printing - Alternative word for impression.
  • Private Press - A printer who prints what they like instead of what a publisher pays them to print.
  • Privately Printed - A book that is published and distributed by other means than commercial channels.
  • Provenance - The history of a books ownership.
  • Proofs -
    1. A test sheet printed to reveal results and any errors
    2. The uncorrected book sent the author to proof read before actual publication.
  • Publication Date - The date the book is to be put on sale, allowing for time of shipping and reviews after the printing.
  • Rare - A scarce book, found perhaps once every five or ten years.
  • Rebacked - A new spine or backstrip has been applied to the book.
  • Recased - The book has been resewn or glued back into its covers, usually with new endpapers.
  • Recto - The front of a leaf, the right hand page of an open book.
  • Rejointed - The book was repaired and still contains the original covers and spine.
  • Remainder - Books that the publisher decides not to stock any longer. The books are then sold for significantly less than cover price.
  • Remainder Marks - Publishers mark the bottom of books sold as remainders with a stamp, black marker, or spray paint that speckles the bottom.
  • Reprint -
    1. A new impression from the same type setting.
    2. A new edition with new type but few corrections.
  • Reverse - The back of a leaf, the page on the left of an open book.
  • Saddle Stitch - To bind the sheets together where they fold at the spine.
  • Second Edition - A new set of plates that have been produced with corrections made for printing the book.
  • Signatures - Letters or numerals printed in the margin of the first leaf of each gathering.
  • Slipcase - A cardboard case which holds and protects a book.
  • States - A state occurs when changes are made during printing, so that variant coppies go on sale at the same time.
  • Stub - A narrow strip of paper left after the majority of a leaf has been cut away.
  • Sunned - Covers that have been bleached or faded by the sun.
  • Tipped-in - The plate, letter, photo, autogragh, etc. is attached to the book.
  • Tooling - Impressions on the cover, usualy in leather, made for decoration.
  • Trade Edition - A regularly published edition for general distribution, as opposed to limited or signed copies.
  • Trade Paperback - non-fiction paperback books for sale in book stores as opposed to mass market outlets. Better paper and a larger size.
  • Uncut - The edges have not been trimed smooth.
  • Unopened - The leaves of the book are still jointed at the folds, not slit apart.
  • Variant - A book that differs from others of the same impression.
  • Vellum - A thin sheet of specialy prepared skin of calf, lamb, or kid used for writing, printing, or the cover.
  • Verso - The left page of an open book, the back of a leaf.
  • Waterstained - Discoloration and/or shrinkage of the leaves or binding.
  • Woodcut - The oldest known printing method, reached it height in the 15th and 16th centurys.
  • Wrappers - The printed or unprinted cover of a phamplet or book bound in paper.
  • Yapped - The torn and/or frayed edges of the cover of a book bound in soft material.

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