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Encyclopedia of the Book

Donald Farren (introduction)
New Castle, Del.; London: Oak Knoll Press;British Library, 2nd ed. (1996), xxiii, 551 pp.

Contains bibliogr. pp. 547-551

Other editions: 1st ed.: Glossary of the book. Allen & Unwin, 1960 (in the US: An encyclopedia of the book); 2nd ed., completely rev. and reset under the title 'Glaister's glossary of the book' (1979).

Signature commbox: 20-Books-E 1996

"Containing nearly 4,000 entries of defined terms, Glaister's encyclopedia remains the definitive source on the book as an object and on bookmaking as a trade. There are entries for people (bookseller Thomas Gosden); businesses (Pelican Press); places (Little Britain); slang terms (the French livres cochons for illustrated erotica), pieces of equipment (joiner's press); the parts of a book (foot); printing processes (ink grinding); book-related organizations (the Poetry Book Society); and even individual reference titles (Books in Print). Entries vary in length from a few to more than 3,000 words, with the average being about 80 words. There are four appendixes: a sample of different specimens of typeface, a listing of Latin place-names used in early imprints, British proof-correction symbols, and a bibliography of further readings for the true bibliophile. For this printing of Glaister's standard work, retired librarian Donald Farren has changed the alphabetizing to a letter-by-letter arrangement, from the previous word-by-word system. Also, about a third of the book has been rewritten-1,144 of this edition's entries are new." (American Reference Books Annual 1997 Nr. 554)