Common Abbreviations

4to
A book that is up to 12" tall. See Quarto.

8vo
A book that is up to 9 ¾" tall. See Octavo.

12mo
A book that is up to 7 ¾" tall. See Duodecimo.

16mo
A book that is up to 6 ¾" tall. See Sextodecimo.

24mo
A book that is up to 5 ¾" tall.

32mo
A book that is up to 5" tall.

48mo
A book that is up to 4" tall.

64mo
A book that is up to 3" tall.

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AEG
All Edges Gilt

AEM
All Edges Marbled

AL
Autographed Letter

ALS
Autographed Letter, Signed

AMS
Autographed Manuscript, Signed

ARC
Advanced Reading Copy

BC or BCE
Book Club Edition

bd
Bound

bdg
Binding

bds
Boards

b/w
Black-and-White

cl
Cloth

dec, decor
Decorated. Often refers to a binding, as in "dec. cl."

DJ
Dust Jacket

DW
Dust Wrapper. See Dust Jacket

ed
Edited, Edition

ep
Endpapers

ex
Example

Ex-Lib
Ex-Library

F
Condition: Fine

F, FF, fol
Folio

FFEP
Free-Front Endpaper

HTVB
Hors Texte, Versos Blank

I
Index

Ill, Ills, Illus
Illustrated

insc
Inscribed

l, ll
Leaf

lp
Large-Paper Edition

ltd
Limited Edition

LS
Letter Signed

ms, mss
Manuscript

ND
No Date

NF
Near Fine [condition]

No, Nos, #
Number

NP
No Place [of publication]

OOP, OP
Out of Print

orig
Original, as in original binding

pb, ppr
Paperback

PC
Price-Clipped

pl, pls
Plates

Prefs
Preface

pub
Publisher or Published

rem
Remainder

RFEP
Rear Free Endpapers

RM
Remainder Marks

ser
Series

TEG
Top Edge Gilt or Gilt Edges

TLS
Typed Letter Signed

TP
Title Page

TPI
Title Page Index

unpag
Unpaginated

vol
Volume

VG
Very Good [condition]

WAF
With All Faults

wr, wrs
Wrappers