Booksplendour: Glossary of terms traditionally used by booksellers for describing used books offered for sale online, and their definitions.
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DESCRIBING OUR BOOKS Currently we use the program named HomeBase to maintain our
book inventory. The important thing for us is being as accurate as possible, when we provide the information about each book that we offer for sale. When we
advertise our inventory, it depends on the individual site how it reads and interprets this information. Most sites are programmed to recognize HomeBase, and
display our inventor properly. However, it still can happen that part of the data mysteriously disappears in the cyber void, and the entry concerning a particular book
may appear distorted, incomplete, or not at all. We apologize for any inconvenience that this might cause to our customers. |
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AUTHOR
Surname first, followed by given names and/or initials. Where author is not known we normally use the abbreviation N/A. When relevant, we
try to include the name of translator, i.e. Aquinas, S. Thomas; Ashley, John M.
(translator). When applicable, we include the name of the editor, or the editor-in-chief
when an editorial team was involved.
TITLE
As appears on the Title Page, not as it is on the cover or dust
jacket, which might be different. This means that any subtitles are normally also included. The title thus could be quite a mouthful, particularly with the older books:
The Homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas Upon the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays of the Christian Year. To Which Appended The Festival Homilies
However, some more recently published titles could be equally or even more wordy:
The Professional Service Firm 50: Fifty Ways to Transform Your "Department" into a Professional Service Firm Whose Trademarks Are Passion and Innovation! (Reinventing Work Series)
ILLUSTRATOR
Usually only included when illustrations form a vital part of a book, or when the illustrator is well known.
PUBLISHER
As appears on the title page or the copyright page. In case of well-known publishing houses, such as William Collins and Sons, only the simplified one word version
Collins would normally be used. ISBN searches however might bring up the full version of the publishers' name; if that happens we
would use the full version.
With book club editions, such as Book Club Associates or The Companion Book Club, this appears in the slot reserved for the publishers, often abbreviated as BCA or CBC.
PLACE OF PUBLICATION
Usually as appears on the title page or copyright page. With mass-market paperbacks, which are often published simultaneously in several cities (countries), only the first city (country) is usually stated.
YEAR OF PUBLICATION
As appears on the title page or the copyright page. With older book particularly, the year of publication was sometimes omitted by the publishers. In such cases we offer an estimate, c. 1920, or c. 1890s, based on our research, usually with the book description. Occasionally, a previous owner’s inscription or a gift inscription might be dated – if that is the case we include this in our description to give our customers at least some indication of the book’s minimal age.
KEYWORDS
We include as many keywords as possible, to assist our customers with their searches. Some of the sites would display them in visible form; others just use them as meta-tags that remain hidden. With a typical book on some aspect of the Christian religion, for instance a book of sermons, we might include the following keywords or their combinations:
Religion; Christian Church, Faith; Christianity; Theology; Religious philosophy, Creed, Belief, Pastoral; Religious Education, Biblical Studies, Nonfictions, Non-Fiction, Early Christian Church…
With a crime novel, on the other hand, we might use the keywords:
Mystery, Murder Mystery, Crime, Detective, Crime Detection, Suspense novel, Psychological Thriller, Who-done-it, Whodunit, Fiction, General Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Courtroom Drama, etc.
EDITION
Here, to the best of our knowledge, we state the edition, such as the First Edition, First British Edition, First Australian Edition, First Paperback Edition, First English Language Edition, New Revised Edition, etc.
With older books in particular, it is sometimes difficult to identify first editions. When we are not sure whether the book is a first edition or a reprint, we would leave this slot empty, as we would do with any reprint.
BOOK CONDITION
We adhere to the scale of rating recognized by most sellers of used books. As a general rule, we always try to be conservative, rather than optimistic, in our assessment. The five basic categories are described thus:
Fine (F) – Book has no defects, it has had little usage. Older books may show minor flaws.
Very Good (VG) - Book shows some signs of wear and is no longer fresh, though it still appears attractive.
Good (G) – A majority of second hand books
belongs here. The average used book with all pages present. Books with
somewhat loose bindings, highlighting or annotations, cocked spine, torn or edgeworn dust jackets, can also fall into this category. The major faults are included in the description.
Fair (FR) - Obviously well worn and
frequently handled, but no text pages are missing, however, it may be without endpapers or a title page. There might be
markings, highlights or annotations, but they do not interfere with readability.
Poor (P) - All text is legible but
the pages may be soiled. The could be binding defects. Reading copies and binding copies fall into this category.
Often books that quite obviously do not fit neatly into any one of these categories come into our hands. For instance, a book might be very close to being described as “fine”, except for a relatively minor flaw, such as a light crease to one
or two of the pages. Or there is a previous owner's name on the front
endpaper, neat and not obtrusive. Such a book we would probably describe
as “very good-fine”. On the other hand, “fair-good”
classification would be in order when we need to properly describe a book that has a fair amount of wear, but would clearly not deserve to be described only as “fair”.
Nearly always our descriptions end with a phrase, such as:
"Digital images, more info, available on request and supplied without delay" or "Obtainable on request and readily supplied are scanned images, further information".
A potential buyer can thus find out more about the book's condition, or receive scans of the covers, illustrations, the copyright page, etc., before they make up their mind about buying. We often answer such enquiries almost instantly, usually within a few hours, rarely later than in 24 hours.
One final word on the subject of descriptions. In some dealers’ descriptions you might come across such terms as “in as new” condition, “in mint” condition, or similar.
Our principle is that so long as we remain in business of selling USED books we cannot in all honesty allow such description past our keyboard. “As new” can only mean one thing – a book that is NEW, i.e. book that was taken from the printers' press and delivered through the means of some distributor to a new book dealers’ store.
A book that has passed through the hands of a previous owner, even if apparently never read, is by definition
a USED or SECOND HAND book. We have no right to describe such book as NEW. The same goes for the expression
MINT, which might be useful for describing the condition of coins, but not for describing
used books. We might mention in our description that the book was "apparently never read" (one can usually tell these things), we would still classify it only as
FINE.
JACKET CONDITION
Basically as above, using the same scale of five categories and subcategories.
BINDING
There are two basic types of books – hardbacks and paperbacks.
Hardbacks could be full leather, half leather or three-quarter leather,
though most hardbacks published within the last century or so are bound in cloth. Many other binding materials have also been used, such as laminated boards, simulated leather, etc. Until the beginning of the 20th century, nearly all books published were hardbacks, though the publishers might have issued cheaper popular versions alongside the more luxurious, usually leather bound, copies.
Paperbacks began to appear with some frequency early in the 20th century, and quickly took over the role of popular cheap books. In the more recent times, many books have been published in their first edition only as paperbacks
(or softbacks), while the traditional hardbacks are becoming rather scarce.
Two main categories of paperbacks, sometimes also described as softcovers, are mostly encountered by buyers:
Mass market paperback (mmpb) - the pocket sized books, not larger than 12mo (or 73/4" tall), mass produced, and with
a low original price.
Trade paperback (tp) - any paperback larger than 7 3/4". Typically of a better standard, often using better quality
printing paper and more solid binding than the mass market paperbacks.
SIZE
The metric system has left the book trade largely unimpressed, the imperial measures are still being widely used, and we also use them for this purpose.
While there exists a scale of twelve sizes, ranging from the tiny 64mo (sixtyfourmo) to the huge double elephant folio, most books fall into one of the five middle categories, between 16mo (or sextodecimo – a rather small pocket sized book of 5 3/4” to 6 ¾”), to folio (12” – 15” – a fairly large coffee table book). In fact, probably around 99 percent of books that an average reader will encounter, would be either 12mo or duodecimo: 6 ¾” – 7 ¾” (most current mass produced paperbacks and many older hardbacks), 8vo or octavo: 7 ¾” – 9 ¾” (most hardbacks and many trade paperbacks, nowadays often published as first editions), or 4to, quarto: 9 ¾” – 12” - oversized hardbacks or softbacks).
Here is the whole range of book sizes, as used in the book trade:
64mo - A book that is up to 3" tall.
32mo - A book that is up to 5" tall.
24mo - A book that is up to 5 ¾" tall. 1
16mo (Sextodecimo) - A book that is up to 6 ¾" tall.
12mo (Duodecimo) - A book that is up to 7 ¾" tall.
8vo (Octavo) - A book that is up to 9 ¾" tall.
4to (Quarto) - A book that is up to 12" tall.
Folio - A book that is up to 15" tall.
Elephant Folio - A book that is up to 23" tall.
Atlas Folio - A book that is up to 25" tall.
Double Elephant Folio - A book that is up to 50" tall
While acknowledging that these terms will probably remain in use in the initiated circles for some time to come, we also know that many Internet users are
no longer familiar with the Imperial measures. Moreover, a book described as "Octavo"
could be quite small in size when at the lower end of this category, or rather
large when at the higher end, which can confuse some potential buyers. We have therefore resolved to break the
most popular sizes into 3 subcategories, small, medium and large, and include in our descriptions both the sizes in inches and fractions, as well as their approximate metric equivalent, for example:
Small Octavo (8vo), approx. 8" (200mm) tall.
Large Octavo (8vo), approx. 9½" (240mm) tall.
BOOK TYPE
The book type is normally specified only when our copy is an ex-library, or in rarer cases, large print, privately published, review copy, or advanced reading copy, etc. Ex-library copies, when in good condition, can still be quite valuable, and when we come across such books we often buy them. The buyer, however, must be told that the book once belonged to a library collection.
SIGNED COPIES
Books autographed by author, or in some cases by the illustrator, might be of interest to collectors. Their value is usually somewhat higher than
with ordinary copies, sometimes a great deal higher. It could sometimes be difficult to verify the signature, and when we are in doubt we clearly state that we cannot be certain of its authenticity.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
With the less valuable books we tend to only point out the major flaws the copy might have, offering
instead the customer to provide a more detailed description, other information that we can access, and a scanned digital images of the cover or other parts of the book they specify. The copies that are scarce or downright rare on the world market usually get more of our attention, and consequently a larger write-up. We usually respond to any requests within 24 hours.
BOOK STATUS
Most books in our inventory are “for sale”. As soon as a book is sold or a customer asks us to put the book on hold (for a short period only), it is marked as such, and its status is updated. We update the inventory approximately every 24 hours, but unfortunately, on some occasions, we still cannot prevent double orders occurring. “The first come the first served” always applies in such
cases.
