plates : Full page illustrations or photographs. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e., they are not sewn as parts of gatherings.

8vo : Short for Octavo, A book whose page size is approximately 8-10 inches tall. The size is based on a sheet of paper 25 inches by 38 inches, the size of paper traditionally used by book printers, which has been folded and cut into 16 pages.. Unfortunately often misunderstood to mean 8 volumes.

VG/VG : Very Good Condition book with a Very Good Condition dust jacket. Very Good Condition indicates a used book that does show some small signs of wear - but no tears - on either binding or paper. Any defects must be noted. (as defined by AB Bookman's Weekly).

Cloth : Generally refers to a hardcover with cloth covering the outside of the book covers.