No need to be an expert in Book Anatomy to use the Paz Rare & Used Books store!
Editions, Printings and ISBNs
Editions: Sometimes, the publisher will clearly write which edition of the book you have on the bottom of the copyright page. Look for the phrase “First Edition” followed by the year. If you’re lucky, the copyright page will list the years each edition was released
First Edition: A “true” first edition of a book is the first time the text was published in the first printing run of the book. Paz Rare & Used Books always says if the First Edition is STATED or UNSTATED on the copyright page. If it unstated, Paz Books will describe the first edition “points” that are recognized by the publisher.
The value of a first edition book depends on lots of factors. A rare first edition of a classic work of literature might be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, for example, especially if it’s also a first printing, is in excellent condition, and has its original dust jacket. On the other hand, a more modern first edition, or an older first edition book that’s not in good shape or is not the first printing, might not sell for much.
First THUS: If the publisher of the book has changed since it was first released, the edition number is reset. This means there could technically be two or more first editions of the same book. First THUS is a term used used by Paz Books to refer to these “Later” First Edition books.
Book Club Edition: Book club editions are books produced specifically for book-of-the-month clubs or similar services. Inside the dust jacket, instead of a price, it will either read ‘’Book Club Edition’’ or have a 5-digit code for identification.
Special Editions: Other Editions are usually stated on the copyright page, on the dust jacket, or elsewhere. Collector’s Editions, Limited Editions, Slipcase Editions, and more!
ISBN: The ISBN, also known as the International Standard Book Number, is issued to every edition of a book and is meant to be its unique identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and variation (except reprintings) of a publication. For example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book will each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is ten digits long if assigned before 2007, and thirteen digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007.
Printings: The most important number on the copyright page may be the print number.
Number Line: The number line near the bottom of the page doesn’t necessarily determine the edition, but it tells you how many times the book has been printed. If there is a 1 still present in the number line, it is the first print of the book from the publisher. As more runs are printed, the lowest number in the line will determine what printing you have.
Interior
Appendix/Appendices: Though these do appear in fiction, the appendix is most common in nonfiction. It’s a place for supplemental information, including research notes, photos, a glossary of terms used throughout the book, and other material that enhances the reading experience or research. Think of appendices as the umbrella term for back matter, as it can include all of the additional information or references for a book, including the bibliography.
Copyright: Usually the copyright page is on the reverse side of the title page, but sometimes at the end of the book or elsewhere. A copyright page usually contains the publisher’s name, address, copyright year, and any printing history.
Dedication: Not every book includes a dedication, but an author may choose to honor a friend, family member, or other important person or thing in their life with one. The dedication usually comes on the first right-hand page after the copyright information and the back is typically blank.
Leaves: Two pages of a book (1 sheet) is referred to as a leaf, front (‘recto’) and back (‘verso’).
End Paper – Endpapers are the first and last pages of the book which which glued to the cover boards (front and back). Often these end papers will be of heavier weight and decoratively patterned often marbled with a cloth hinge for reinforcement. Other than providing improved aesthetics to the internals of the book, end papers or pastedowns also help to counteract the warp of the bookbinding board which happens during the drying stage of apply the cover material.
Pastedown: Often referred to as a pastedown or end sheets; paste-down is the page which has been glued to the board…
Free Endpaper: The other side of the pastedown is is known as the free endpaper. First free endpapers are frequently where owner’s place book plates or other signs of ownership. Paz Books always describes any evidence of such.
Epigraph: Many books utilize a quotation either at the beginning of the book or at the beginning of various chapters within the book that wasn’t written by the author of the text. Its technical name is an epigraph.
Foreword: Usually written by someone who isn’t the author of a book, the foreword highlights a book’s historical significance, updates to the text in subsequent editions, and/or the writer’s connection to the text to come.
Half-Title Page: A page that features simply the title of the book without the author name or publisher. These aren’t in every book, but you might discover a half-title page in hardcover books on the very first right-hand page of a book after the endpaper. In a paperback, a half-title might appear after the full title page. A half-title page is used when there are excess pages to fill in a book—since a page has four sides to it, the half-title is a means of utilizing potentially empty space at the beginning of a book.
Hing: The Hinge of a book is the section between the cover boards and the spine. It’s the part that bends when the book is opened.
Introduction: Unlike a foreword, the introduction to a book is written by the author and can contain insight into the purpose of the book or interesting anecdotes related to the writing but not vital to the text itself. Many times in reissues of books, an author’s introduction can be a reflection of the story or text in its historical and modern context.
Prologue: Typically limited to fiction or narrative nonfiction, the prologue sets the stage for the book, opening the reader to the setting or background necessary to begin. It’s usually told through the perspective of the book’s narrator or a character in the story.
Exterior
Board: The front and back covers of books are often referred to as book boards as they are often made of bookbinding board and cover the book.
Edges: The edges of the boards and covers are vulnerable to wear and damage. Paz Books always describes any evidence of such.
Corners: The corners of the boards and covers are vulnerable to wear and damage. Paz Books always describes any evidence of such.
Gatherings: Gatherings are stacks of two or more pieces of paper which are folded and grouped together ready for sewing. Each of the gatherings are bound together individually and later bound together as a whole forming the textblock. Also known as Signatures.
Gilt: This decorative technique applies a very thin layer of gold to the page and/or cover edges of a book. Special editions and collector’s editions of books may have gilt edges, and some books even see gilding on an intricately designed front cover. In the earlier days of publishing, the gilding wasn’t just about decoration, though: it served as page protection from moisture and dust.
Joint: The Joint of a book is the small groove which runs vertically down the book itself between the book boards (book cover) and the spine. It bends when the book is opened and is only seen on hardcover books. Also called a French joint or French groove, groove, gully, channel, and outer joint.
Octavo: Octavo originally referred to the size of leaves that came from folding of a full sheet of paper with multiple pages of sheets. The octavo had 8 leaves or 16 full pages. In other words, the sheet with text was folded three times to produce 16 pages. Today, though, octavo is less about the printing format and instead about the size of a book: about 8–10 inches tall, or your standard hardcover and trade paperback book. It may or may not be made from octavo style folding.
Page Block or Text block: The block of internal pages that make up the entire book interior. The edges of the blocks are known as the Head , the Tail and the Fore-Edge (or side page block.) On more expensive books, the fore edge may have been painted with a hidden painting (known as foredge painting or art) or has gilt edges (smoothed and painted, normally with gold leaf or gold paint).
Raised Bands: Raised Bands were originally the result of cords (or thongs) used during the sewing process which were affixed to the signatures and used to hold the book covers on. Later on in the binding process the spine or backbone would be covered and the bands would be raised above the rest of the spine. This method of binding is less common today, as a result faux bands are used purely for decorative purposes (see video below).
Spine: This is the outside case of the binding – the place where all of the pages are bound together and the part of the book which sticks out on a shelf. Sometimes the spine is flush with the paper and other times it’s not. In many hardcover books, you might see a threads at the top or bottom of the pages inside a spine. Called the headband or tailband, these help protect the space between the block of bound pages and the spine. Also known as the back, and backbone.
Binding: How the pages of a book are sewn together. Binding can be done by machine—the most common—but it can also be done by artisans who do it by hand with a variety of techniques. It’s most common for binding to be done with thread or adhesive, but there are other methods used as well (you might be familiar with binder rings or spiral coils like in a notebook).
Dust Jacket
Dust Jacket or Dust Wrapper – First used during the 19th century, the original purpose of the dust jacket was to protect the cover of books from scratches and dust which could have been made from fine leather, linen cloth, silk or other expensive materials.
It wasn’t until after World War I when booksellers and publishers realised the correlation between well designed book cover jackets and book sales, during this time an explosion of book cover designs hit the market; it was around the same time that The British Library Started its Dust Jacket Collection (early 1920’s) which now contains over 11,000 items.
In today’s modern world, dust jackets serve the same purpose but are generally used to host eye-catching artwork designed to lure the reader in and increase sales.