© 2006–2024 Daniel Austin

Glossary of Book Condition Terminology (page 6 of 6)

• Signature: The group of pages produced by folding a single printed sheet, ready for sewing or gluing into a book.
• Spine: The book's backbone, where the signatures are gathered. The spine is covered with the backstrip.
• Uncut: The pages of the completed book have not been trimmed down to a uniform surface.
• Underlining: Using a pencil or pen to underline passages in a book to draw attention to parts of the text.
• Unpaginated: The pages are not numbered (although each signature may be designated by letter).
• Very Good: Shows some small signs of wear, but no tears on either the binding or the paper. Any defects are noted.
• Waterstain: Stain on a book cover or leaves from water or other liquids. May cause discoloration and perhaps actual shrinking.
• Worming: (Also wormholes.) Small holes resulting from bookworms (the larvae of various beetles).
• Wrap-Around Band: A band of printed paper the length of the dust jacket of a book. Promotional wrap-around bands are put around some copies of books.