This is a list of used book conditions.
Booksellers
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
use standard terms to describe the condition of the
used books that they sell.
List of used book conditions
The set of terms below were proposed in 1949 by ''
AB Bookman's Weekly''. They were adopted by the bookselling community and are still in use today.
*
As new means that the book is in the state that it should have been in when it left the publisher. This is the equivalent of
mint condition
Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...
in
numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inc ...
.
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Fine (F or FN) is "as new" but allowing for the normal effects of time on an unused book that has been protected. A fine book shows no damage.
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Very good (VG) describes a book that is worn but untorn. For many collectors this is the minimum acceptable condition for all but the rarest items. Any defects must be noted.
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Good (G) describes the condition of an average used worn book that is complete. Any defects must be noted.
*
Fair shows wear and tear but all the text pages and illustrations or maps are present. It may lack endpapers, half-title, and even the title page. All defects must be noted.
*
Poor describes a book that has the complete text but is so damaged that it is only of interest to a buyer who seeks a reading copy. If the damage renders the text illegible then the book is not even ''poor''.
*
Ex-library copies must always be designated as such ''no matter what the condition of the book''.
*
Book club copies must always be designated as such ''no matter what the condition of the book''.
*
Binding copy describes a book in which the pages or leaves are perfect, but the binding is very bad, loose, off, or non-existent.
Dust Jackets
*Partially chipped (PC) describes small scuffs that remove the original colour of the dust jacket in discrete small flecks.
In all cases, the lack of a
dust jacket
The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back boo ...
is noted if the book was issued with one. The same applies to other possible accessories, such as inlays (like
errata
An erratum or corrigendum (plurals: errata, corrigenda) (comes from la, errata corrige) is a correction of a published text. As a general rule, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing pro ...
lists, cards, photo prints,
PCBs), foldouts (like maps), media (like
diskette
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined wi ...
s,
CDs,
DVDs) etc. There is no standard term for books in a condition below poor. Their normal fate is to be discarded or to be broken into individual pages if these have any value.
After the Internet
With the advent of the Internet, ''AB Bookman's Weekly'' magazine declined and its place was taken by Internet listing services starting with
Interloc in 1994. These services, for their own purposes, have made modifications to this list.
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
adds the terms "acceptable", for example.
See also
*
Foxing
Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on old paper documents such as books, postage stamps, old paper money and certificates. The name may derive from the fox-like reddish-brown color of the stains, or ...
*
List of booksellers' abbreviations
This is a list of abbreviations commonly used by booksellers.
*ABA: Antiquarian Booksellers' Association
*ABAA: Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
*A.e.g.: All edges gilt.
*A.e.s.: All edges stained.
*A.L.s.: Autograph letter, sig ...
References
Bibliography
* Chernofsky, Jacob L., editor. ''Bookman's Yearbook 1990–1991''. Clifton, NJ: Bookman's Weekly, 1991.
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External links
ABEBooks list of book conditionsIOBA grading system
{{DEFAULTSORT:Used book conditions, List of
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Book terminology