Book Grading.

This is how we grade our books:

Beside giving a separate grading to each book and Dust Jacket, we also try to give a sufficiently full description of the items to make the condition as clear as possible.

The grades which we use are:

Fine: The highest grade which we use. Looks and feels in every way like a new book. We very rarely ever use this designation, in fact, since even brand new unused books will always exhibit some tiny flaw if you look close enough.

Near Fine: Our highest common grading. Looks like a new book, but a good look tells you that it isn't quite virginal enough to be new.

Very Good: A very broad grade, unfortunately, and more or less useless because of this. At the top of this band we have books which are entirely unworn, but the page edges have started to yellow a little, so the book can't be called near fine. At the bottom limit of this grade we have books which are clearly used and lightly worn, but still clean, tight, competent copies.

Good: Good means 'not too hot'. A 'good' book may be well worn, dusty, rather tired, but still in one piece and perfectly useable. 'Good' DJs will be in one piece but may have a number of closed tears, small chips, rubbing, etc.

Reading Copy: This is our lowest grade, and signifies a book which is suitable for reading the text but no more. It may have loose covers, missing endpapers, excessive inscriptions or other marks, but at heart the text block is intact and useable. We only list reading copies when better condition examples of this book are expensive or scarce.

Ex-library copies: Since we sell mainly non-fiction, many buyers are perfectly happy with ex-library books, so we grade the book as above, always clearly stating that the book is ex-library. Many of our ex-library books have been little or never used, and would otherwise often grade in the upper levels of 'very good' or 'near fine'.