all edges gilt The top,
fore-edge and foot of the book are
trimmed smooth and coated with gold
leaf.
anthropodermic
bibliopegy The practice
of binding books in human skin.
antiquarian 1. Of or relating
to antiquarians or to the study
or collecting of antiquities. 2.
Dealing in or having to do with
old or rare books.
apocryphal of questionable
authorship.
archives
A place or collection containing
records, documents, or other materials
of historical interest.
artists'
book An art object
in the form of a book.
backstrip The covering over
the book's spine.
bastard title a first page
of some books displaying only the
title of the book [syn: half title]
bibliophile
1. A lover of books. 2. A collector
of books.
block
printing (a) A mode
of printing (common in China and
Japan) from engraved boards by means
of a sheet of paper laid on the
linked surface and rubbed with a
brush. --S. W. Williams. (b) A method
of printing cotton cloth and paper
hangings with colors, by pressing
them upon an engraved surface coated
with coloring matter.
bookbinding
The art, trade, or profession of
binding books.
book
of hours The most
common type of surviving medieval
illuminated manuscript. Each Book
of Hours is unique, but all contain
a collection of texts, prayers and
psalms, along with appropriate illustrations,
to form a convenient reference for
Christian worship and devotion.
bookplate A label bearing
the owner's name or other identification
that is pasted usually on the inside
cover of a book. Also called ex
libris.
broadside
1. A large sheet of paper usually
printed on one side.
2. Something, such as an advertisement
or public notice, that is printed
on a broadside. Also called broadsheet.
buckram
A coarse cotton fabric heavily sized
with glue, used for stiffening garments
and in bookbinding.
calligraphy
1. a. The art of fine handwriting.
b. Works in fine handwriting considered
as a group. 2. Handwriting.
chase A rectangular steel
or iron frame into which pages or
columns of type are locked for printing
or plate making.
chirography
The study of penmanship/handwriting
in all of its aspects.
codex
(pl. codices) A manuscript volume,
especially of a classic work or
of the Scriptures. Word History:
Cdex is a variant of caudex, a wooden
stump to which petty criminals were
tied in ancient Rome, rather like
our stocks. This was also the word
for a book made of thin wooden strips
coated with wax upon which one wrote.
The usual modern sense of codex,
“book formed of bound leaves
of paper or parchment,” is
due to Christianity. By the first
century B.C. there existed at Rome
notebooks made of leaves of parchment,
used for rough copy, first drafts,
and notes. By the first century
A.D. such manuals were used for
commercial copies of classical literature.
The Christians adopted this parchment
manual format for the Scriptures
used in their liturgy because a
codex is easier to handle than a
scroll and because one can write
on both sides of a parchment but
on only one side of a papyrus scroll.
By the early second century all
Scripture was reproduced in codex
form. In traditional Christian iconography,
therefore, the Hebrew prophets are
represented holding scrolls and
the Evangelists holding codices.
(alt. def.: a set of folios nested
together and sewn through the fold.)
codicology
The study of a codex.
collation assembling in
proper numerical or logical sequence
colophon
1. An inscription placed usually
at the end of a book, giving facts
about its publication. 2. A publisher's
emblem or trademark placed usually
on the title page of a book.
deckle edge A rough edge
left by a deckle on handmade paper
or produced artificially on machine-made
paper.
dentelle Ornamental, lace-like
tooling
dust
jacket A removable
paper cover used to protect the
binding of a book. Also called dust
cover.
end paper Either of two
folded sheets of heavy paper having
one half pasted to the inside front
or back cover of a book and the
other half pasted to the base of
the first or last page. Also called
end leaf.
ephemera
Printed matter of passing interest.
errata An error in printing
or writing, especially such an error
noted in a list of corrections and
bound into a book.
first
edition 1. The first
published copies of a literary work
printed from the same type and distributed
at the same time. 2. A single copy
from a group published first.
flyleaf A blank or specially
printed leaf at the beginning or
end of a book.
folio 1. a. A large sheet
of paper folded once in the middle,
making two leaves or four pages
of a book or manuscript. b. A book
or manuscript of the largest common
size, usually about 38 centimeters
(15 inches) in height, consisting
of such folded sheets. 2. a. A leaf
of a book numbered only on the front
side. b. A number on such a leaf.
c. A page number.
fore edge the front edge
of a book or folded sheet, etc.
foxing
The effect on certain papers of
the oxidation of iron or other substances
in the pulp or rag from which the
paper was made. It is responsible
for the spots and browning seen
on old books, documents, postage
stamps, and so forth.
frontispiece An illustration
that faces or immediately precedes
the title page of a book, book section,
or magazine.
galley
proof A proof taken
from composed type before page composition
to allow for the detection and correction
of errors.
glassine A nearly transparent,
resilient glazed paper resistant
to the passage of air and grease.
hardcover
(or hardback or hardbound) is a
book bound with rigid protective
covers (typically of cardboard covered
with leather, cloth or heavy paper).
They may have stitched spines, although
most modern commercial hardcover
books have glued spines.
headband 1.An ornamental
strip at the top of a page or beginning
of a chapter or paragraph. 2. Printing.
A cloth band attached to the top
of the spine of a book.
holograph A handwritten
book or document written wholly
in the handwriting of the person
whose signature it bears.
illuminated
manuscript A manuscript
in which the text is supplemented
by the addition of decoration or
illustration, such as decorated
initials, borders and miniatures.
imposition
The arrangement of printed matter
to form a sequence of pages.
imprint A publisher's name,
often with the date, address, and
edition, printed at the bottom of
a title page of a publication.
incipit
The beginning or opening words of
the text of a medieval manuscript
or early printed book.
incunabulum
A book, single sheet, or image that
was printed — not handwritten
— before the year 1501 in Europe.
in octavo (also 8vo or 8º)
A sheet folded in half 3 times to
make 8 leaves. Also called: 8-page
signature.
in quarto (also 4to or 4º)
A sheet folded in half twice at
right angles to make four leaves.
Also called: 4-page signature.
in sextodecimo (also 16mo
or 16º) A sheet folded in half
4 times to make 16 leaves. Also
called: 16-page signature.
leaf A single complete page,
front and back, in a finished book.
letterpress
1. a. The process of printing from
a raised inked surface.
b. Something printed in this fashion.
2. Chiefly British. The text, as
of a book, distinct from illustrations
or other ornamentation.
library
1. a. A place in which literary
and artistic materials, such as
books, periodicals, newspapers,
pamphlets, prints, records, and
tapes, are kept for reading, reference,
or lending. b. A collection of such
materials, especially when systematically
arranged. c. A room in a private
home for such a collection. d. An
institution or foundation maintaining
such a collection. 2. A commercial
establishment that lends books for
a fee. 3. A series or set of books
issued by a publisher.
lithography
A printing process in which the
image to be printed is rendered
on a flat surface, as on sheet zinc
or aluminum, and treated to retain
ink while the nonimage areas are
treated to repel ink.
marbled
paper A decorative
paper in a swirling pattern often
used as endpaper.
marginalia
Notes in the margin or margins of
a book.
miniature
book A very small
book, sized from .5 inches square
to roughly 2 by 3 inches.
movable type Type in which
each character is cast on a separate
piece of metal.
offprint A reproduction
of or an excerpt from an article
that was originally contained in
a larger publication.
offset
printing The process
of printing by indirect image transfer,
especially by using a metal or paper
plate to ink a smooth rubber cylinder
that transfers the ink to the paper.
paleography
1. The study and scholarly interpretation
of earlier, especially ancient,
writing and forms of writing. 2.
a. The documents whose writing is
so studied. b. The manner of writing
in an earlier, especially ancient,
document or set of documents.
palimpsest
A manuscript, typically of papyrus
or parchment, that has been written
on more than once, with the earlier
writing incompletely erased and
often legible.
paper
1. A material made of cellulose
pulp, derived mainly from wood,
rags, and certain grasses, processed
into flexible sheets or rolls by
deposit from an aqueous suspension,
and used chiefly for writing, printing,
drawing, wrapping, and covering
walls. 2. A single sheet of this
material.
paperback
A book having a flexible paper binding.
parchment
1. The skin of a sheep or goat prepared
as a material on which to write
or paint. 2. A written text or drawing
on a sheet of this material.
3. Paper made in imitation of this
material.
philology
The study of ancient texts and languages.
printing
press A machine that
transfers lettering or images by
contact with various forms of inked
surface onto paper or similar material
fed into it in various ways.
private
press A printing
press operated as a personal hobby,
rather than as a purely commercial
venture.
quire A set of leaves which
are stitched together. This is most
often a single signature, but may
be several nested signatures. The
quires for a single book are arranged
in order and then stitched together
as a set.
quoin A wedge-shaped block
used to lock type in a chase.
recto
A right-hand page of a book or the
front side of a leaf, on the other
side of the verso.
scroll
1. A roll, as of parchment or papyrus,
used especially for writing a document.
2. An ancient book or volume written
on such a roll.
signature a large sheet
printed with several pages, intended
to form four or more leaves in the
finished book. The pages are arranged
on the sheet so that all of the
pages orient the same way and are
in proper sequence after the sheet
is folded.
spine The hinged back of
a book.
three-quarter binding A
bookbinding in which the leather
or fabric covering the spine extends
onto the covers for one third of
their width.
trimming allows the leaves
of the bound book to be turned.
A sheet folded in quarto will have
folds at the spine and also across
the top, so the top folds must be
trimmed away before the leaves can
be turned. A signature folded in
octavo or greater may also require
that the other two sides be trimmed.
Deckle Edge, or Uncut books are
untrimmed or incompletely trimmed,
and may be of special interest to
book collectors.
typeface
1. a. The surface of a block of
type that makes the impression.
b. The impression made by this surface.
2. The size or style of the letter
or character on a block of type.
3. The full range of type of the
same design.
typography
1. a. The art and technique of printing
with movable type. b. The composition
of printed material from movable
type. 2. The arrangement and appearance
of printed matter.
uncial
Of or relating to a style of writing
characterized by somewhat rounded
capital letters and found especially
in Greek and Latin manuscripts of
the fourth to the eighth century
A.D. It provided the model from
which most of the capital letters
in the modern Latin alphabet are
derived.
vellum
1. a. A fine parchment made from
calfskin, lambskin, or kidskin and
used for the pages and binding of
books. b. A work written or printed
on this parchment. 2. A heavy off-white
fine-quality paper resembling this
parchment.
verso
A left-hand page of a book or the
reverse side of a leaf, as opposed
to the recto.
wrappers a book jacket