Abbreviations and terms used on this website
To describe the internal structure of the pages of a book the following terminology has been used:
- Endpapers – in a hardback book these are what is immediately inside the actual boards that comprise the outside of the book. The leaves that are glued to the inside front and back covers are known as pastedowns and the leaf opposite is the first free endpaper (at the front of the book) or the last free endpaper (at the back). These endpapers may be white but are often coloured or patterned.
- half title – this is often the first page in a book and usually has just the title of the book.
- title – this is the page with the full title of the book and the author’s name. Sometimes the publisher’s name is also present.
- recto and verso – the front and back of a leaf of a book.
- [roman numeral in lower case] – this describes the number of pages that contain information, such as an author’s note or a list of the author’s other works, but are not the half title, title or a blank, e.g. ‘title, [ii]’, describes the title followed by two leaves that contain information but are not part of the actual text.
- blank – a blank leaf, e.g. at the end of a book there may be 2 blanks before the endpapers.
- page numbering – this describes the number of pages that are the actual text of the book, i.e. the part you read. For example, 100 pages numbered 3-102.
- measurements – all measurements for the dimensions of pages and dustjackets are given in millimetres. This may vary by a few millimetres between copies but not by more than that. If you find a copy that varies by much more or less then you may possibly have a different impression or edition.
For all bibliographic terms please refer to John Carter’s ABC For Book Collectors (Oak Knoll Press – 9th edition 2016).
For a useful colour guide (referred to when describing boards, endpapers and dustjackets) refer to :
MW Collection refers to the book collection of Mark Warner (the person who put this website together).
Thankyou for looking.