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Glossary Page C

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Glossary of Book and Ephemera Terms and Abbreviations

 

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~~~ C ~~~

 

C. copyright date, usually shown in conjunction with [title page date] (T.).

 

c. / ca. circa, meaning approximately, usually in regard to dates.

 

c. / cr. [copyright].

 

c&bw. color and black & white, referring to [illustrations].

 

cabinet card. a photo printed on heavy paper and affixed to a piece of thick [card stock] or mount. Such

items normally carried the photographer's [stamp] somewhere on the mount. The standard size was (11 x

16.5 cm) 4 1/4" x 6 1/2", notably larger than a [visiting card], though cabinet cards were sometimes used as

introduction or business cards as well. Introduced in 1868, declined about 1900, these are now a highly

collectible form of [ephemera].

 

calf. see [leather].

 

called for. listed but not present. For example, the term cold be used to indicate a missing [illustration], as in

"five [plates] of six called for."

 

calotype. an early type of photograph, in vogue 1841-1850s, patented by William Henry Fox Talbot.

 

cancel. a [tipped-in] page added to replace a page removed after a book has been [bound]. Normally seen

only in [antiquarian] books.

 

canvas. a strong, heavy cotton or hemp cloth, often used to bind account books and ledgers.

 

caption. [headline] above, or descriptive line of type below, an [illustration]. Also called a cutline.

 

card covers. a type of [softcover] with covers of fairly stiff [card stock].

 

card stock. a stiff but flexible type of heavy paper commonly used to print [postcards] and other [ephemera].

 

cartouche. small section of text enclosed in a decorative frame, usually [oblong], often seen on maps.

 

case. 1. any stiff material used for the [boards] of a [hardcover] book. See [casebound]. 2. [slipcase].

 

casebound. another term for [hardbound].

 

castrated edition. old term for a reprint of a popular work in which all "obscene" or "offensive" material has

been removed. See [bowdlerize].

 

catchword. word printed on its own line at the bottom of the page, identical to the first word on the next

page; a common feature of books from the 1700s to about 1810.

 

CDV (French: carte de visite). another name for [visiting card], a type of [ephemera] which, if it contains a

photo, is often collectible. Photo visiting cards flourished in the 1860s.

 

cellophane / cello. a thin transparent material made of plastic, vegetable fiber, or a combination of both.

Compare [acetate], [polyvinyl].

 

chalked endpapers. a type of [endpaper] made of clay-coated paper over which a solid colored chalk,

typically pale yellow, has been applied. Often seen in books of the 1840s and 1850s.

 

chapbook. 1. cheaply printed inexpensive book sold by street vendors in the 1700s and 1800s. The term

literally means "cheap book." 2. a type of [booklet], usually fifty pages or fewer, usually self published in

small numbers by poets or short story writers.

 

chapter book. any juvenile literature having chapters. This is a very recent term created to provide a label for

children's books other than [picture books] and [young adult] novels. It generally refers to material for

children aged about seven to thirteen. Chapter books are normally published in a slightly larger format than

[mass market paperbacks]; the standard size is (13 x 19 cm) 5 1/4" x 7 1/2". Compare [chapbook].

 

chemise. a cloth or soft leather cover, designed to be wrapped around a book, with pockets at both ends for

the [boards] to be inserted. Invented in the middle ages. Primarily seen today in conjunction with Bibles and

prayer books. Sometimes made of [imitation leather].

 

chewed. damaged by having been gnawed on by a toothed creature such as a dog or mouse. See also

[hamster damage].

 

chipped / chpd. small pieces are missing, or nicking or fraying has occurred, usually on the edges of a [dust

jacket] or book.

 

choice out. form of accelerated auction in which the auctioneer places several similar [lots] together, then

begins to auction them; the highest bidder gets their pick of any or all of the lots and pays the bid price times

the number of lots taken. If the winner does not take all the lots, the [backbidder] is then given their choice of

lots, for the same price per lot. If there are still lots remaining after that, the auctioneer commences a new

round of bidding. A helpful technique at a live auction if there are too many lots to auction in the usual manner

before the close of the session.

 

chrome. a color printing process much used on souvenir [postcards] beginning in 1939, named for

Kodachrome. Does not refer to a shiny or metallic appearance.

 

chromolithograph / chromo. a type of color [illustration] in which layers of different color are applied one at a

time. See [lithograph].

 

cibachrome / ciba. color print made from a color slide, printed on a specially prepared plastic sheet, rather

than paper, and noted for its sharp, intense colors. Developed by Ciba-Geigy Corporation of Switzerland in

the 1960s; Ilford company later purchased the rights and termed the process ilfochrome.

 

CIP. Cataloging In Publication data. Standardized descriptive information about a book, established by the

Library of Congress, or by similar agencies for books published outside the US. Often printed on the

[copyright page] of the book, the CIP gives the exact title, authors, and subject categories under which the

book should be indexed in a library card catalog in a standard format.

 

circular. another name for [flyer].

 

ck. check. Seen in some dealer's terms as a form of acceptable payment.

 

ckbk. cookbook; book of recipes.

 

cl. [cloth].

 

clamshell box. a tray-shaped box with a tray-shaped lid that folds down along the edge of the box, usually

used to store high quality books or [archival] papers. Clamshell boxes without lips around the edge of the lid,

more or less similar to cigar boxes, are less expensive but do not serve to protect the book as well. Also

called lipped clamshell box, drop-spine box.

 

clipped / price clipped / pc. indication that the corner of the [dust jacket], where the price was printed, has

been cut off and discarded. In most cases it refers to a diagonal cut of the inside upper front corner of the

jacket.

 

clipping. a type of paper [ephemera] consisting of a section physically cut and removed from a larger work,

such as an article trimmed from a newspaper. Compare [disbound].

 

clo. [cloth].

 

closed tear / cl.tr. rip or tear in which no material is missing. The opposite is an [open tear].

 

cloth / clothbound. a [hardcover] book with [boards] covered with cloth. Cloth was first used to cover

boards in 1823; prior to that, boards were covered in either paper or leather. Common cloths used in

bookbinding include [buckram], [canvas], [linen], muslin, and [ribbed cloth].

 

cloth tape. see [library tape].

 

clr. color.

 

cl.tr. [closed tear].

 

COA / CoA. Certificate of Authenticity. A document issued by a manufacturer or other authority validating

that the item in hand is genuine, not a fake.

 

coated. covered with a thin durable transparent surface permanently bonded to the material. See also

[glossy], [slick]. Compare [laminated].

 

cocked. indicates that the [spine] is twisted or askew, or that the [boards] do not line up evenly with each

other. May be minor or severe. Also called slanted, or the book is said to lean.

 

cockled. having an uneven or wrinkled surface, referring to paper.

 

codex. 1. early writing on wooden tablets or tree bark. 2. a written collection of laws.

 

coffee table book. general term for any large, heavy book with a lot of good quality photo [illustrations],

suitable for browsing, often employed as an object of display in household living rooms.

 

collation. the examination and notation of the physical makeup of a book in order to confirm the presence of

every leaf or page originally in the volume when issued. [Antiquarian] books offered for sale are often

accompanied by a collation statement.

 

collectible. refers to anything for which there are enough collectors to make the item sought after. Generally

speaking, the value of an item increases when the number of collectors increases, or when the rarity of the

item increases, or when the example in hand is in the best possible condition.

 

collodion positive. another name for [ambrotype].

 

Colograph (brand name). a patented printing process using pure oil paints to produce a durable, waterproof

print. Invented in 1918, the process was used mainly for producing outdoor advertising signs and posters.

 

colophon. 1. a descriptive paragraph or emblem from the printer or publisher. In the US, the colophon

usually appears at the front; in European and in some older US books it is often at the rear. 2. a short

paragraph describing typestyles or other typographical information about the book, usually appearing at the

end. 3. any trademark or logo of the publisher.

 

colportage. 1. door-to-door sale of religious books and tracts. 2. general term for lowbrow writing or trashy

fiction.

 

colporter / colporteur. one who sells religious books and tracts door to door.

 

comb. a type of binding, the [spine] consisting of a cylinder with a number of teeth, each page having holes

through which in the teeth pass. Usually plastic, sometimes metal, comb bindings are often seen on

cookbooks published for local fund raisers. Plastic combs were first used to bind books in the 1930s but did

not become common until the 1950s.

 

comic book. small, thin, softcover [booklet] containing color pictures, captions and dialog rather than pages

of text, usually featuring fantastical characters and storylines, and often superheroes. Not considered a book

by some dealers. See [graphic novel].

 

compartments. sections on the [spine] set off by [raised bands]. Usually found only on [antiquarian] leather

books and expensive bindings.

 

composite. inexpensive paper-based material having a finish vaguely resembling cloth, sometimes used for

covering [boards].

 

concertina folded. another name for [accordion folded].

 

concise edition. another term for an [abridged edition].

 

concordance. a form of reference work which indexes every word of a particular work, excluding common

words such as "and" or "the". The most common concordances have been published for the Bible and

Shakespeare.

 

conjugate leaf. opposite [leaf]; opposite half of a printed page. For example, in a book with one [signature]

of 16 pages, pages 1-2 and 15-16 will be conjugate leaves, being two halves of the same piece of paper.

 

contemporary. 1. refers to the same period in which the book was published. For example, "contemporary

leather" means the leather over the [boards] is as old as the book and presumably original. 2. contemporary

inscription: an author [inscription] dated the same year the book was published.

 

copper plate engraving / copperplate. a type of [engraving] in which the original illustration was prepared on

a copper sheet and printed from the copper. Replacing the [woodcut], copperplates were invented some

time in the 1400s; they were gradually replaced by [steel engravings] beginning in the 1820s.

 

copyright. ownership of a written work, or of an intellectual work such as a piece of art or music. Under

common law all created works are copyright to the creator, but for legal protection, copyright may be

registered with the US copyright office, or an equivalent agency in other countries. Abbreviated C, c, cr,

cprt. The symbol is ©.

 

copyright page. page, usually being the back of the [title page], giving the copyright date and details of

publication. Sometimes called the "ublication data page."

 

condensed / condensed edition. refers to a [reprint] containing a shortened or incomplete version of the

original text. Also called abridged, concise.

 

cordovan. horsehide leather used for bookbinding.

 

corduroy. a type of [ribbed cloth] with a deep pile and a furry feel, sometimes used for bookbinding.

 

corgorbled. a defect that, when found, usually affects only the corner of one or two [leaves] where the paper

was unintentionally folded during the printing and binding process and, as a result, the page edges near that

corner are not evenly trimmed. Not considered a serious defect unless there are accompanying chips or

tears, or there is any unreadable text, in which case this should be noted. The uneven part of the page is also

known as a [sharkfin] or [butterfly]; the fault is also called a snijoor (Dutch: cutting ear), or fausse coupe

(French: false cut).

 

corners. 1. corners of a book, in the usual sense, or corners of the [boards]. Also called tips. 2. printing

ornaments used to connect horizontal and vertical sections of a border.

 

covers. outside surfaces of the book, most particularly the front and back, and sometimes including the

[backstrip]. Can refer to a [hardcover] or [softcover].

 

covers bound in. 1. the original covers, often including the [backstrip], are preserved inside the book when a

new [binding] is made, usually [mounted] on blank pages at the end of the book. 2. the original covers of a

book are preserved, in their proper positions, beneath new covers, when the book is [rebound].

 

CP / cp. [copyright page].

 

CR / cr. [copyright].

 

cracked / crkd. extremely damaged and starting to come detached from the book. Usually refers to one or

both [hinges].

 

creased. folded, leaving a visible wrinkle along the fold.

 

crimped. having indentations caused by dampness.

 

crisp. very clean; appears to be almost untouched or unread.

 

crnr. [corner].

 

cropped. 1. edges or page margins are neatly trimmed. 2. closely cropped: refers to excessive trimming of

page margins in which the cuts are dangerously close to the text.

 

crossbound undulations. wrinkles or crinkles to the spine of a paperback book, [as issued]. Not creases.

Bookdealer David A. Anderson, originator of the term, says: "The printer has, either from economy or

ignorance, cut his printing stock with the paper's grain running across the page rather than parallel to the

binding edge. The effects of variations in humidity cause the bound text block to strain and ripple."

 

crosscrack. a crack running laterally across the [spine], rather than along the length. Usually refers to a small

crack across the spine of a [mass market paperback]. Usually minor but should always be noted.

 

crown. upper end of the [spine]. Sometimes called the head.

 

crushed levant. see [levant].

 

cup ring. circular stain caused by a damp drinking cup or glass placed on the item. Also called a wet glass

mark.

 

curiosa. a topic or category including any unusual subject, difficult to classify. In bookdealer catalogs of the

1800s, the term usually referred to [erotica].

 

cut / flush cut. edges of pages are smooth-trimmed after binding so all edges are even, or flush.

 

cut. [illustration] printed directly on a text page; the opposite of a [plate]. Cuts are more commonly called

"illustrations in text."

 

cutout / cut-out. another name for [remainder]. See [machine cut].

 

cutline. another name for [caption]. See [cut].

 

cvr. [cover].

 

CWO / cwo. Cash With Order. Payment must be received before the order will be completed.

 

cyanotype / blueprint / ferroprussiate print. a type of reproduction process, invented in 1841, similar to

photography but requiring no darkroom and no caustic chemicals. Cyanotype prints usually appeared to be

blue and were not subject to fading like [silver prints] were.

 


 

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