Sizes & Abbreviations in Rare Books

Series Summary

A first edition of “Gravity’s Rainbow,” a signed copy of “Naked Lunch,” a early version of Wilde’s “Salome” with the Aubrey Beardsley cover intact…these are some of the holy grails of the rare book world and each worth a great deal. Indeed, the exciting world of book collecting has its share of fortunes to be made, but not all of these are through honest means. Illicit copies abound, so buyers must know exactly what to look for before investing in a rare book. And sellers must know exactly how to describe their books to potential customers wary of a scam or simply an inaccurate listing by someone unfamiliar with the stringent standards of this exclusive world.

In this series of internet commerce videos, our bookselling professional gives you expert advice on how to sell your old books. She tells you how to determine their value using the esoteric language of the rare book world. Our expert shows examples of different book flaws and tells you how to describe them to potential buyers. You will also learn how to target potential internet buyers with just the right keywords. Watch these free videos before you begin selling your books, and you will learn how to avoid the wrath of the jilted collector.

Video Transcript

"Hi. I'm Molly Mackey, and I'm with Expert Village. Now, we're going to talk about book sizes and types and their abbreviations. These will be common things that you will be using to list your books. First off is the ever popular mass market paperback. Sometimes they're referred to as pocket paperbacks when you're searching. So, you want to list it as a mass market PB. PB would be the abbreviation most used. Next, we have the most common for modern books. This is called the over-sized paperback or also commonly known as the trade paperback. And, that's the way you'd want to list it in your listing. Sometimes you'll come across these with a plastic spiral binding and they, kind of, don't fit into any category. So, it's best to list them as a plastic spiral bound workbook style book. Next, we have a typical sized hardback usually abbreviated as HB for hardback instead of spelling it all the way out in your description. Also, you would want to mention that it has a DJ. That's short for dust jacket. Next, we have the over-sized. This is called, I like to describe it as the coffee table sized book. But, many book dealers will describe it as the 4TO. And, that's the terminology for the size of the over-sized hardback such as this, 4-T-O. Next, we have cloth and buckram. A cloth book is a nice fiber. You can tell the difference. Buckram is cloth, but it's a very slick, kind of, cheaper kind of feel. So, when you have a nice feel to it, you're going to describe it as a cloth hardback. This would be a buckram hardback. And last, you're going to have leather bound which you do run across. That would be anything, obviously, that was bound in leather."