Glossary of Book Condition Terminology (page 5 of 6)
Marbled: Paper decorated with an imitation marble pattern.
Marginalia: Notes written in the margins of a page around the text.
Misbound: Pages or signatures sewn together in an improper order.
Offprint: A separate printing of a section of a larger publication such as a periodical.
Pictorial: Describes a book with a picture on the cover.
Plates: Whole-page illustrations printed separately from the text. (Illustrations printed in the text pages are called cuts.)
Poor: Worn to the point that it does not have the complete text. Any missing maps or plates are noted. It may be soiled, scuffed, stained or spotted and may have loose joints, hinges, pages, etc.
Presentation Copy: A copy of a book given by the author to someone of his acquaintance, usually with an inscription of some sort testifying to this.
Price Clipped: The price has been clipped from the corner of the dust jacket.
Self-Wraps: Wrappers which have vestigial flaps that imitate a dust jacket.
Shelf Wear: The wear that occurs as a book is placed onto and removed from a shelf. It may be to the bottom edge of the covers, the dust jacket, exterior of the covers, or to the head of the spine.
