Antiquarian & Collectible Book Terms Dictionary - I

A glossary of words with definitions starting with the letter I related to collectible, rare and antiquarian books.

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ILAB - International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the bookseller organizations of at least twenty-one nations are members of the league.

Ill or illus - Illustrated, illustration

Illum - Referring to polychrome illustrations. It usually means an illuminated manuscript.

Illuminated - A manuscript or book embellished with decorative elements that are typically hand-painted in rich colors and are sometimes gilded. The elements may include initial letters, designs, and/or pictorial scenes.

Illumination - Decoration applied by hand in gold, silver or coloured paint.

Illustrated - Decorated with pictures or other graphical material to portray or clarify the text.

Illustrated wraps - Describes a book with a picture on the cover. Also known as a pictorial paper cover.

Illustration - A design, picture, plate, plan, diagram, chart, or map printed within the text.

Imitation leather - A coated fabric, rubber, or plastic composition, or absorbent paper, manufactured to resemble genuine leather. Also known as artificial leather.

Imp. - Imperial

Impft - Imperfect

Impression - A set of copies of a work, printed at one time, from one setting of type. There may be several impressions of one edition. Also known as printing, press run, or print run.

Imprint - A term that can refer either to the place of publication or to the publisher. The imprint information is located either at the base of a title page or in a colophon at the back of a book. The term can also refer to a printed piece from a certain location or period of time; i.e., the university has a collection of 18th century British imprints.

Incunable - Anything printed during the 15th century, the first century of printing with "moveable type"; from the Latin, meaning "from the cradle"; can also be used in a relative sense to refer to other early printings, i.e. incunables from the Pacific islands.

Index- An alphabetical listing of names or topics mentioned in the book, with their page numbers. For serials and journals, the index is usually published after the volume is completed and is usually found in the last issue.

India Paper - An extremely thin, yet relatively opaque paper, used to help reduce the bulk of what would otherwise be a book of unwieldy size.

Ins - Inside

Inscr - Inscribed

Inscribed - Usually indicates a book signed by the author, either with an inscription to a specific person or bearing some brief notation along with his signature.

Inscribed copy - A book in which a written inscription has been made by the author, to a specified person.

Inscribed - A book, or other printed piece, with a handwritten and signed statement usually written for a specific named person(s) and often located on the end paper or title page; when "inscribed" is used to describe a book, unless otherwise stated, it is implied that the author has written the inscription. When used to designate the recipients of a book as a gift from the author (or publisher), it is called a "presentation inscription".

Inscription by previous owner - A written name, note, phrase, or comment made in a book. Unless indicated otherwise, the inscription is not written by the author.

Inscriptions - Writing in the book, particularly on the end papers, or front flyleaf, which is totally unconnected with the author or any other famous person. It usually is the name or a note written by the book's previous owner, and may be considered a detriment when describing a book's condition.

Insect damage - Refers to the condition of a book; the book's binding or boards show visible hurt from insects. Examples could include paths where worms have burrowed and spotting caused by silverfish.

Integral - A leaf or page is said to be integral when it is one that was sewn and bound into a book during its manufacture.

Interleaved - When blank leaves alternate with the printed leaves a book is said to be interleaved.

International Edition - Usually refers to textbooks. These books are lower-priced editions of the original, and have a statement on the cover that they are only for sale in certain countries. The content of the international edition of a textbook is typically identical to that of the U.S. edition, but they sometimes have less expensive covers or binding, are printed on less expensive paper and/or in black and white instead of in color.

Intro. - Introduction

Introduction - A brief section at the begining of a book or story that gives the reader background on the story, author or both.

Issue - A portion of an edition printed or published deliberately by the printer or publisher in a distinct form differing from the rest of the printing relative to paper, binding, format, etc. The distinction between "issue" and "state" is that the former relates to changes done on purpose by the publisher and intentionally treated as a separate unit, i.e. a large paper issue. Similar to first edition, state, variant.

Ital. - Italic letter

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