Hints and Tips

Purpose to give insight in the working of our website and collecting antique books through the internet

About the working of the website

 Each book, map or print  has several  photo´s. Click on the main photo and you will see  ">"

  • click on the ">" button to scan through the photos.
  • The number 2/15 indicates that there are 15 photos for this partiucalr book and that you are on photo 2 of this serie.
  • Click on the "<" to go to the previous photo
  •  Click "x" to end viewing the photos

Our website contains not more than 200 books, prints, maps and drawings. Therefore you can easily scroll through all the books and prints in our shop We will not exceed this number of books but will over time further improve the price quality.

What is the importance of buying and selling of antique books and prints via the Internet?

Potential buyers of antique books via the internet can increasingly:

  •  Get a good overview of available antique books and prices by surfing the internet (e.g. Googling). Also specific antique  book websites such as ZVAB, Choosebook  or search engines as Bookfinder (for English books) must be used.
  • Find information and knowledge about individual antique books and their authors (just type in a title, author and publishing year with Google)
  • Use databases such as NCC and Library of Congress (but there are many more) to get an idea about numbers of copies that exist of specific antique books and their content.
  • Explore prices fetched at book auctions. You will find that frequently prices at auctions are HIGHER than in our online webshop. This is partly because the auction proices include a charg eof approx 23 % for the seller and on top of that a further charge of 23 % for the buyer. In other words half the purchase proice goes to the auction house and the other half goes to the seller....

The above increased price quality transparency  will over time result in:

  • Collectors being able to determine how rare or common particular books or prints are, as national libraries are providing exellent databases documeting the contents of their collections. See e.g. Picarta, Library of congres, databases with rare bookbindings etc.
  • Reduced price differences (physical condition of the item being the main differentiator)
  • Allow collectors to sell books at fair prices  (traditionally a collector could only recover his buying price after keeping a book 15 years or more).Collectors will now have much better investment proposition!  He will also be more inclined to sell a book as his taste changes. (more frequently buying and selling).
  • There will be more people who get to know about antique books and prints (more collectors)
  • Collectors will know better what they want to collect  (be more specific) as they understand what is available. Also a great many rare books are becoming online available e.g. through Google.
  • The increased transparency will dramatically reduce the distrust of potential collectors and very much improves the investment proposition for antique books (collecting books also a good investment).
  • The above will result in more buying and selling and increasing average prices of antique book and prints. (collectors and internet sellers happy)

Some information with regards to the descriptions of the contents of books:

  • A leaf is a single page in a book.
  • A signature is a large sheet printed with several pages, intended to form four or more leaves in the finished book. The pages are arranged on the sheet so that all of the pages orient the same way and are in proper sequence after the sheet is folded. 
  • Signature also refers to a sequence number or code printed on the sheet so that the several signatures that make a complete book may be properly sequenced; this signature is often trimmed off after binding. The signature may be folded in several ways, depending on the number of leaves it will form; it is then stitched together down the last fold:
    • A folio is a single sheet folded in half to make two leaves
    • A sheet folded in quarto (also 4to or 4º) is folded in half twice at right angles to make four leaves. Also called: 4-page signature.
    • A sheet folded in octavo (also 8vo or 8º) is folded in half 3 times to make 8 leaves. Also called: 8-page signature.
    • A sheet folded in sextodecimo (also 16mo or 16º) is folded in half 4 times to make 16 leaves. Also called: 16-page signature.
    • Duodecimo or 12mo, 24mo, 32mo, and even 64mo are other foldings of a signature. Modern paper mills can produce very large sheets, so a modern printer will often print 64 or 128 pages on a single sheet.
  • Folio, quarto, and so on may also refer to the size of the finished book, based on the size of sheet that an early paper maker could conveniently turn out with a manual press. Paper sizes could vary considerably, and the finished size was also affected by how the pages were trimmed, so the sizes given are rough values only.
    • A folio volume is typically 15" (38 cm) or more in height, the largest sort of regular book.
    • A quarto volume is typically about 9" (23 cm) by 12" (30 cm), roughly the size of most modern magazines.
    • An octavo volume is typically about 5 to 6" (13-15 cm) by 8-to-9" (20-23 cm), the size of most modern digest magazines or trade paperbacks.
    • A sextodecimo volume is about 4 1/2" (11.5 cm) by 6 3/4" (17 cm), the size of most mass market paperbacks.
  • A quire is a set of leaves which are stitched together. The quires for a single book are arranged in order and then stitched together as a set.
  • Trimming allows the leaves of the bound book to be turned. A sheet folded in quarto will have folds at the spine and also across the top, so the top folds must be trimmed away before the leaves can be turned. A signature folded in octavo or greater may also require that the other two sides be trimmed. Deckle Edge, or Uncut books are untrimmed or incompletely trimmed.
  • Gauffered:  Very rarely the side of the pages has been carved to create a geometric or foliage design
  • Gilded: Gold is applied to to side of the pages.
  • Front edge painting: A painting has been painted on the sides of the pages