Book descriptions
Many booksellers give inadequate descriptions for their books - I would rather give too much description than too little, as when buying on the internet you have no chance to inspect the book before you buy.
If a book does not fit its description, please return it at once and I will refund the price of the book and the postage.
General points :
All books are hardback unless otherwise stated.
Where a paperback book is sewn in signatures (also called gatherings), like the great majority of hardbacks, it will be described as a sewn paperback. Since the pages are sewn, not just glued as in a so-called "perfect-bound" paperback, the book should prove more durable.
Many modern hardback books are covered in a type of thick paper, sometimes called Linson, textured to look like cloth. This kind of book I describe as being in "boards", as that is more accurate. If I describe a book as bound in cloth, it is bound in actual woven cloth, and not in textured paper.
Where I give a picture of the book, it is normally a picture of the actual book I have in stock, and not a "library" picture from the internet. If this is not so (usually because the book is too big to fit my scanner!), I will mention this in my description of the book. I try hard to produce good pictures of the books - a picture is worth a thousand words - so please be patient if they take a little while to appear!
The dimensions are of the book's pages, in centimetres. There are roughly 2.5 centimetres to the inch. The height of the pages is given first, and the width second. Simply calling a book an "octavo", as many booksellers do, tells you nothing except how many times the original sheet of paper (which could have been any size) has been folded to make the gatherings.
The weight of the book, should you need it, is given in grams. There are roughly 450 grams to the imperial pound.
If the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is given, it is always the 10-digit number, unless the book is very recent, in which case only a 13-digit number will have been allocated. Books published before 1970 are unlikely to have been given ISBNs.
"B&w" means black-and-white. "D/w" means dustwrapper or dustjacket.
If you are still in doubt about a book description, feel free to ring or e-mail!