A method of binding booklets, magazines, or pamphlets by folding wraps and leaves into a single gathering and stapling through the fold of the gather. The wire staples pass through all leaves and are clinched in the gutter of the central leaf. 

Staples that have slightly oxidized and are no longer bright as new, are said to have acquired a patina. Saddle stapling can be impermanent, as repeated handling can pull the staples through the wraps and unplated staples can rust. See Staples, Rusted.

The first image shows two staples through the spine of a small booklet. The second image shows the staples clinched in the gutter of the central leaf.

A one-off collection of separately published works bound together into a single volume. Often bound for a specific collector or patron, the volume is unique and not duplicated for distribution by a publisher. See Nonce Collection / Nonce Volume.

The first and second images show a Sammelband bound for Ahasverus Fritsch and comprised of 10 tracts on sins, Nuremberg 1684-1685. The third and fourth images show a Sammelband bound for João Pinheiro Chagas, the first democratic Prime Minister of Portugal, and comprised primarily of political and, oddly, astronomical pamphlets. The fifth, sixth, and seventh images show a Sammelband bound for Martin J. Buerger and containing 14 of his own offprints on the topic of X-Ray Crystallography.

A booklet or pamphlet is said to have self-wrappers, or self-wraps, if the first and last leaves of its signatures are used as the wrappers and no additional, outer wrapper is used.

The first example image shows two copies of the same keepsake printed by Clifford Burke at Cranium Press, San Francisco. The left-hand copy consists of the text block in self-wrappers. In the right-hand copy, the same text block has been bound with a flyleaf and card covers. The second example image shows a publisher's keepsake by Christopher Morley, the left-hand copy bound in stiff wrappers and the right-hand copy being the same text block in self-wrappers.

The publishing of a work of fiction in parts, periodically, the sum of which is a complete book. Some authors issued their books in parts, either as separate publications or as pieces within periodicals or magazines. The serial publication of the work usually represents its first publication. Serialized fiction is often collected as the first edition of a work and the collector is challenged by acquiring ephemeral, fragile periodicals individually.

The text block is loose in its binding; no longer tight, but not detached.

As seen in the illustration, the looseness of the signatures can be detected from examining the top or bottom of the book.

The pages that have been printed but not yet folded, sewn or gathered together for binding.

Accumulated wear or rubbing to a book's covers from contact with a shelf or being shelved too tightly with adjacent books.

The spine of a book.

A printed sheet of paper, folded to size and ready for sewing (i.e.: large paper folded in half, fourths, eighths, sixteenths, or thirty-seconds). Relevant to books that are sewn together as distinct from many modern books where pages are glued together at the spine.

Signed with a name only, and no other text included. See Inscribed.

In the image, Margaret Thatcher has signed the title page of her autobiography.

An open-sided box built to house and protect a book, leaving the spine exposed.

The example shows a slipcase constructed of paper over boards, with a paper-covered interior, and a decorative paper label pasted to the front.

A book bound with paper or other thin covers, as distinct from inflexible boards.

Accumulated dirt on originally clean, pristine dust jackets, bindings, or leaves. Soiled does not refer to staining from liquids, as staining is a different condition.

Books that have had repairs that involve making additions to the original (e.g.: chips filled in and tinted to match the missing portion, replaced page corners, etc.). In the trade, an “honest” book description should disclose all “sophistications.” In other words, if a bookseller has commissioned repairs of a book, all such repairs should be disclosed to prospective buyers in the description. It is possible for “sophistications” to have been executed on a book long before a given bookseller has bought a particular copy. Whether or not the bookseller was responsible for any such sophistication, not disclosing such repairs in a description are valid grounds for a buyer to return the copy to the seller.

The backbone, or back, of the book where the title (if present) is displayed when it is standing upright on a shelf.

The top and bottom edges of the spine. Often referenced when both areas are worn.

A printed label attached to the spine of a book's binding, most often used for the title. The title may be a shortened version of the book's title as-printed on the title page. Spine labels are typically leather or paper and glued to the spine.

The image shows three cloth bindings with paper spine labels. The first is lacking part of the label. The second is toned. The third wraps around to include the front cover and remains well-preserved.

A low-cost, low-quality printing process utilizing a 2-ply master sheet that transfers its color to paper via indentations in the master. The master sheet is typed or drawn upon, then affixed to the roller of a duplication machine. An alcohol-based solvent is applied to the master, then blank sheets are rolled through the machine, transferring color from master to sheet. Masters were available in various colors, purple being most common for its slower degradation from light. Spirit duplicated sheets are ephemeral, as the color fades in ultraviolet light and the typically-used, acidic, pulp paper yellows and degrades. Spirit Duplication was used by schools and organizations for expedient publications, was effectively obsolete when the photocopier came into wide use, but experienced a revival with the printing of early Zines and other types of Do-It-Yourself independent publishing.

Splay is a concave warp or curvature of a book's covers, curving away from the ends of the text block. Splayed covers occur more often than bowed covers. There are many causes of splay:

• Stresses in the boards' directional grain can warp them.

• A change in the boards' moisture content can cause their directional grain to warp in one direction. 

• Leather, vellum, cloth, or paper covering the boards can shrink more or less than the boards and warp them.

• Pastedowns can shrink more or less than the boards and warp them. 

The image shows two leather-bound press proofs from the Windmill Press, each copy being splayed.

STAPLES, RUSTED

In a stapled binding, unplated steel staples can rust in a humid or damp environment.  The resulting iron oxide can cause brown staining of the wraps and inner leaves. In this damp environment, the paper may also acquire a musty odor. In the worst cases, the staples may rust to the point of disintegration. See Staples, Rusted.

The first image shows books with light-to-moderately rusted staples. The examples to the right have wraps that have been stained by the rust. The second image shows rusted staples that have stained the book's leaves in the gutter of the gather.