Glossary

Association copy
A copy once owned by someone connected with the author or the book.

Binder's Ticket
A small paper label inside the cover giving the binder’s name.

Blindstamp
An uninked stamp, usually a mark of ownership, used to press a name or coat-of-arms into the paper, leaving an impression or indentation on the surface.

Bookplate, Book Label
The label on the endpapers, or sometimes elsewhere in the book, used to mark ownership (with a monogram, owner’s name or with a coat-of-arms).

Browning
Usually caused by acidification of the paper, which varies according to the paper stock used and the conditions in which the book has been stored.

Contemporary binding
It means that book was bound at or very shortly after publication.

Dust Jacket
A detachable paper cover issued with a case-bound book, with flaps folding around the fore edges of the cover.

Endpapers
A single sheet, half of it pasted to the inside of the binding, and half forming a blank leaf at the beginning or end of the book.

Errata slip
A piece of printed paper smaller than the page size, either loosely inserted or tipped-in, listing errors and their corrections.

Foxing
Brownish-yellow spots staining the paper, probably as a result of reaction between atmospheric damp and impurities in the paper.

Frontispiece
An illustration facing the title-page of a book.

Inscribed
A book, or other printed piece, with a handwritten and signed statement usually written for a specific named person(s) and often located on the end paper or title page.

Provenance
The history of a book’s previous ownership. It can be indicated by signatures, inscriptions, bookplates, etc.

Rebacked
To reback is to replace the damaged spine (backstrip) of a binding. In some cases the original worn backstrip is saved and glued over the new material (matching the original as closely as possible).

Rebound
The book has been put into an entirely new binding, which may or may not resemble its first binding.

Recornered
The outer corners of the boards have been restored with new leather or cloth.

Rubbed
The binding has suffered some superficial abrasion but the underlying material does not show through.

Signed
Refers to a printed item on which the author (or illustrator or publisher) has written their name.

Spine
The back of a book, that is, the part bearing the title, etc., which is visible when the book is standing on a shelf.

Title page
The page at or near the beginning of a book which bears the title. It typically bears the title of the book, the name of the author, and the publisher’s imprint and date of publication at the foot. 

Uncut
Refers to the edges of a book in an untrimmed state. 

Unopened
A book in which the folds have not been slit. Contain many pages which cannot be read without first opening the pages with a knife. 

Wrappers
The paper covers, often of a paper of heavier weight than the text paper.