The Swing Era

Glossary

shelfwear

Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge....[more]

spine

The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf. A...[more]

fine

A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the crispne...[more]

tight

Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use....[more]

edges

The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a ...[more]

First Edition

In collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in cases ...[more]

New

A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new...[more]

octavo

Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing ei...[more]