London Rare Books School (LRBS) offers intensive courses on the history of the book, printing, binding, typography, illustration, bookselling, maps, and a variety of other  book-related topics. These courses are offered each summer at the University of London, England. Annually, IOBA and others offer scholarships to those wishing to improve their knowledge and skills.

https://ies.sas.ac.uk/london-rare-books-school

Written by hand. May refer to an item written by hand or to a handwritten draft by an author prepared for publication. Abbreviated MS.

The illustrated item is the first page of an old document written in French by hand.

A process of decorating paper or fabric with the result resembling the veins of stone marble. Colors are floated on water, or another medium, and transferred to an absorbent surface by contact. Used in the West since the early seventeenth century, marbling is often performed by hand, but machine-marbled paper is common. 

The first and third example images show books that have marbled paper on boards and marbled page edges. The second example shows a sheet of Cockerell paper.

When the parts of a book or set are supplied from different copies to form a whole. An example would be where a dust jacket from one copy is “married” with a copy of the same book without a jacket. Another example is where Volume One is “married” to Volume Two, purchased separately, to form a complete set.

A smaller paperbound book produced in large quantities at lower cost and widely distributed for sale. Such books are usually produced with attention-getting covers and sold alongside magazines.

Pictured are three Laurie King titles. The top one is an MMPB; the others are two different sizes of trade paperbacks.

Midwest Antiquarian Booksellers Association (MWABA), founded in 1977, is a non-profit, professional trade organization of booksellers dealing in antiquarian, rare, collectible, and used books and other material. The organization's goal is the promotion and appreciation of books, maps, and ephemera among the general public. MWABA sponsors annual book and paper fairs and donates a percentage of proceeds to libraries and literacy-related causes.

https://mwaba.com/

The nonprofit Midwest Independent Booksellers Association supports and celebrates  independent booksellers in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. MIBA produces bookselling-related programming and events designed to educate, build careers, and connect sellers to publishers, wholesalers, distributors, and others in the industry.

https://www.midwestbooksellers.org/

A mimeograph, abbreviated mimeo, is a paper copy created by a duplicating machine that forces ink through a stencil and onto the sheet. The stencils could be typed on a typewriter or hand cut. Generally used for printing in small quantity, the process is mimeography and the resulting copies do not have archival properties.

The first example image is from a 1941 school handbook mimeographed by students. The second example is from a 1955 "zine," with stencils made by the author.

While there are varying opinions on this subject, most collectors of miniature books define them as not exceeding 3” (or 76 millimeters) in either height or width. Early manuscripts, traveling libraries and some early European texts are deviations from this rule. Microminiatures measure less than an inch and are sometimes referred to as dollhouse books.

The example images show microminiature and miniature books. The first shows the scale of a book, the second shows a book with a metal clasp, the third shows a book with leather covers and a belly band to hold it closed, and the fourth shows both miniature and microminiature sizes.

The Society is an international organization actively supporting those who create, collect, or appreciate miniature books and the related book arts. In service of those aims, member and public events are hosted, book exhibitions are staged, and an annual competition is hosted to encourage the production of high-quality miniature books. A Young Bibliophile Book Collection Essay Contest fosters interest in the collecting of any type of book by 7- to 18-year-olds.

https://mbs.org/

Open-weave cloth used to reinforce the hinges. It is pasted directly to the text block and boards of a book and then covered by the endpapers. Also called super or crash by bookbinders. 

The first image shows a piece of unused mull at top and the front hinge of a book where the mull and tapes can be seen beneath the endpaper. The second example shows a book that became wet and has come apart. You can see the front board at left and the mull attached to the text block at right.

A book's adhesives, inks, and paper may be made of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can decompose over time. A humid or damp environment can accelerate this process and rusted binding staples are often an indicator of such an environment. During decomposition, the VOCs are released into the air and create the distinctive odor we identify as musty.  This odor is a complex composition and may reflect the ways the book was used or stored. A slight mustiness may be acceptable, but excessively musty books are usually unfit for commerce.

A group of separately published works assembled and bound together by a publisher. The volume is created for distribution by the publisher, typically has a title page and/or table of contents, and is not unique. See Sammelband.

The example image shows five separate works across two volumes, all bound as one book.

A book or item that is wider than it is long.

The front or main surface of anything.

Online Computer Library Center. A non-profit cooperative organization of libraries that serves to share data and make cataloging easier. OCLC includes over 43,000 libraries in 86 countries, and provides quick information to booksellers and collectors about which libraries have a copy of a particular title. Access to OCLC is by fee-based subscription service, most commonly available at libraries, but also offers public access at www.worldcat.org. Searches within Worldcat provide an indication of the scarcity of an item.

Paper that has been soaked in oil to make the paper water resistant and translucent. The paper is heavier due to the weight of the oil and also smells like oil.

The pictured booklet dates from 1938 and is still translucent, though it has dried out quite a bit over time. It was stored several years in plastic sleeves and the oil has permeated the plastic. Care should be taken to separate material in oilpaper from other items.

A tear that may have some material missing. See Closed Tear.

A book no longer available from the publisher. It is no longer being printed and no new copies remain available for sale. Also OP or OOP.

Words written in a book by a previous or original owner of book. Also known as previous owner’s inscription.