|
Paperback
Book Glossary of Grading Terms
Blunted - no
longer a sharp edge
Bowed - book that does not lie flat, arches
Browning - pages that have turned brown but not brittle.
Bumped - indentation that shows white paper stock under
cover.
Chipped - missing tiny piece
Chunk - large piece missing
Cocked - uneven covers when lying flat
Color Flake - speck of cover loss
Corners - the right angled edges of the book
Cover Not Square - when book is lying flat spine area is not
at a right angle
Cracked - cardboard sleeve under paper cover is broken
Crease - heavy fold that you can feel
Cut - even tear
Dampstained - usually causes colors to bleed slightly into
one another
Date Stamp - inked date applied by a hand-held stamper
Deckled Edges - manufacturer never evenly trimmed excessive
edges of pages
Dent - indentation worse than a bump that usually cracks the
paper or cover
Dimple - finger fold in cover caused from holding book to
read
Ding - indentation that injures the gloss or outer finish
Dirty - also known as soiled, paper or cover not showing
bright livid colors
Dog-eared - page corners that are folded over, sometimes
purposely done by the reader to mark a stop page
Dust Shadow - section of book subject to prolonged dust
particles that creates a dark shadow
Edge Wear - paper is not as sharp, dulled, and somewhat soft
Embossed - a non-flat raised section. could be a
manufactured cover or an owners tool-stamped inscription on
the inside pages
Erratum Sheet - manufacturer sheet added after the print run
to correct a mistake
Ex Library - shows signs of public library ownership
Eye Appeal - something that looks fine at first glance
Fading of cover colors (slight is noticed when two copies
are placed side by side, heavy is easily noticed without any
comparison)
Fine - see grading chart
Fingerprint
Flyleaf - unprinted pages
Fold - not as pronounced as a crease and if you run your
finger over it you can not feel it
Foxing - brownish red spots caused by mold
Gloss - makes the cover shiny
Good - see Grading Chart
Gutter - inner spine between pages
Heavy Crease - easily noticeable and you can definitely feel
it
Impression -
Ink Skip - manufacturers defect where the printing press did
not make contact with the paper
Inscription - usually an owners name hand-written on the
first inner page
Invisible Impressions - created by someone writing on a
piece of paper placed on top of the book cover, visible in
high light
Laminate - manufacturers plastic clear coating to protect
the surface
Light Crease - you can feel it but might not readily see it
Mildew - brown/black marks that usually create an odor
Mint - another term for Fine in the Grading Chart
Miswrapped Cover - manufacturers defect where the cover was
not put on squarely to match the spine labeling
Moisture Ring - caused by someone placing a wet glass or cup
on the books cover
Odor - a smell that never came from the manufacturer
Off Center - manufacturer defect where the cover or pages
were placed together crooked or look slanted
Offset Covers- when two books are stacked together with a
slight amount of moisture between them, the colors or gloss
transfer to the opposite covers
Offset Pages - manufacturers defect where the printing ink
did not dry quick enough and transfered to the opposite page
Open Tear - a tear that usually has some material missing
Out of Print (OOP) - book that is no longer in production,
only available used.
Paper Wrinkling - usually a manufacturing defect where the
paper was not smoothed out completely
Pin Holes - very tiny pin pricked holes in the cover or
pages
Price Clipped - cover price that has been cut off
Progressive Spine Roll - one edge of the spine is more
curved than the other, usually caused by the reader holding
the bottom tighter
Ragged - pages that are uneven in length
Reading Crease - a vertical book-length crease to either the
spine or cover
Remainder Mark - unsold books were sent back to publisher
and they marked them to be discounted and resold. could be
permanent marker on the page edges, paint, symbols stamped
on edges, covers or pages, etc.
Rip - uneven tear
Rolled Spine - spine that shows repeated readings and is
curving rather than straight
Rubbed - edge that is slid against another surface such as a
shelf
Scuffing - caused when two books are placed next to or on
top of one another, then are slid off or separated
Smudges - usually caused by oil on finger tips that slightly
removes color or gloss from the cover
Spine Stress - horizontal or vertical creases that are not
book length
Stains - caused by a liquid that is spilt on the cover or
pages
Sticker Damage - seen when a price sticker is hastily
removed from a cover
Sticker Ghost - when a price sticker remains on a cover for
a prolonged time, then removed, the glue is seen to fade the
underlining colors
Sticker Residue - glue left behind after the price sticker
is removed
Sticky Cover - gloss can sometimes melt due to moisture or
heat and create a sticky cover environment where your finger
stick to the cover
Sun Shadow - A defect that appears as a dark stripe along an
edge of the cover. It is caused by prolonged exposure to the
light.
Tanning - pages that have turned off-white, then yellowed,
and now are more tan in color
Tipped In - glued in photos, illustrations, maps, erratum,
etc.
Triangle - when a corner of the cover or page gets folded
over, it creates this
Very Good - see Grading Chart
Waterstained - heavy moisture that usually penetrates the
cover and pages, causing discoloring
Worn Cover - repeated handling causing the cover to become
more soft and flexible
Warp - usually caused by prolonged exposure to light or
moisture
Wrinkle - caused when something heavy is placed on top of a
slightly open cover or page
Yellowing - paper color that is fading from white to
off-white to yellowing
Paperback Book Grading Guide
| Fine |
Like new with no real
noticeable flaws or imperfections. Some may call
this As New or Mint. |
| Near
Fine |
Most likely not read but
has very minor imperfections. Still clean and looks
relatively fresh. Pages may be yellowing, but not
brown. |
| Very
Good+ |
Upon closer inspection
what appeared to be a Near Fine book has some very
minor imperfections. These may be a corner
ding, cover scuffs, slightly off-white colors, nice
date stamp or inscription, tannish pages, color
flakes, spine wrinkle. After all is added up,
item is better than Very Good but not quite Near
Fine. |
| Very
Good |
Probably carefully read once
with minor imperfections but still an excellent
addition to ones collection. Slight edge wear common
but not to the point of eye distracting. No tape,
may have slight browning of the pages, may have
pleasant looking minor marks or writing, spine
should be relatively square (not bent or curved) and no insect
or rodent damage. May have slight loss of cover
gloss and/or plastic laminate. |
|
Very Good- |
Not quite "Very
Good" but better than "Good". Read
more than once. Browning pages allowed but
definitely not brittle. Minor spine roll, more
noticeable corner wear, minor water stains possible,
cover scuffing or fading acceptable if not
overbearing. Plastic lamination may be noticeably
peeling away. Edges may have rubbing, creases, tiny tears
and other wear but when added up does not warrant
downgrade to "Good" condition. |
|
Good+ |
A book in this grade
usually is a Very Good book with a major flaw that
drops it down a category. Examples would be a
carefully read book with a heavy crease on the front
cover, torn page, Ex-Library, book does not
lie flat, writing/notes inside, etc.. |
|
Good |
A well read copy but
still nice to hold and look at. Spine still
relatively tight with no loose pages or loose
covers. Markings more common but not to the point of
excessive. This is a reading copy only, otherwise it
would probably be put in the trash. |
|
Good- |
This book would have to
be pretty scarce to want to keep. In such
condition that maybe the cover is in nice condition
but the pages are wasted or vice/versa. Pages
or cover is starting to come loose or chunks of the
non-text pages are missing or heavily torn.
Definitely not a pretty book but has some value to
keep it from going in the garbage. |
100,
80, 60, 35, 20
|
