Book-Collectors' Terms
IN a volume of Talks on Book-Collecting published by Messrs. Cassell a couple of months ago, Mr. Simon Nowell-Smith lamented the non-existence of a dictionary of the terms, abbreviations and obscure technicalities bandied to and fro where book-collectors are gathered together, or sprinkled in erratic profusion over the pages of auctioneers' and booksellers' catalogues. And behold, on the dot and with the eloquent precision characteristic of him, here comes Mr. John Carter with the desired work all ready for our use.
The authorship of blurbs on book jackets (for a definition of this ugly word I turn to page 38 of Carter's book and do not turn in vain) is never disclosed. It is generally assumed that publishers grind out blurbs for themselves, and much blithe mockery at their expense is enjoyed by reviewers who have never tried to write one. Authors and publishers have been known to retort that, when a blurb is not scarified, it is because it has been used by the reviewer to save himself the trouble of reading the book. As a reviewer who, being also a publisher, has written in a longish life-time as many blurbs as the next man, I rise above these petty disputes and, without asking per- mission of Mr. Hart-Davis or of Mr. Carter or of the Third Man, if any, who did the job, shamelessly quote from the excellent specimen
printed on the front wing of the-jacket of this A B C, which provides exactly the summary required of the work's purpose and achievement.
" Foxed, not in S.T.C., rare in boards, Q6 is a cancel as usual, secondary binding, Harleian style, made-up--do you know the meaning of these and hundreds of similar terms constantly used in the catalogues of antiquarian booksellers and auctioneers ? If not, John Carter's manual is the book you have been waiting for. " The actual language of book-collecting is full of jargon and special terminology. Here, under about 450 alphabetical entries, ranging in length from a single line to several pages, may be found definition and analysis of the technical terms of book-collecting and bibliography."
Let me now continue under my own steam. This book is more than just the latest specimen of Carterism. Indeed, I incline to
regard it as the best Carter hitherto, because it most fully displays his varied qualities as an educator and as a writer on bibliographical themes. Taking these qualities in order of appearance, we lead off with " Typographical Ingenuity." Study the end-papers, the prelims generally, page 67 for the dropped letter (presumably, though unlabelled, the broken type on page 43 is equally intentional), page 164 for shoulder and side-notes, and you will relish the inventive agility of this most agile and ingenious intelligence. I only regret the absence from the copy before me of a review-copy stamp (embossed, or even in smudgy violet ink) in illustration of the entry on page 155. Next comes the scope of the lexicographer's knowledge. Read, for example, the entries : " Auctions," " Binding myths," " Col- lation," " Errata," " Pallet " and " Rarity," each of which requires familiarity with an aspect of the subject totally distinct from the rest. Thirdly, I recommend " Association copy," " Exces- sively," " Issue-mongers," " Pbint-maniacs " and " Press-books " as examples of the tart admonitions with which at intervals Carter embellishes the severity of his condensed and functional glossary.
Any criticisms ? Candidly very few indeed. I miss " a(II) e(dges) g(ilt) and " tired " from the index of entries. War-conditions (it is perhaps worth noting) vastly increased the number of publica-
tions with " Own Ends " (page 73). A further shameless example of fake cloth-binding was Bliss by Katherine Mansfield, 1921 (page 83). Finally, without wishing to impugn Carter's careful impar- tiality as between buyer and seller, I think the castigation of "suckers"
might be accompanied by a side-kick at the chichi preciosity of a few pretentious booksellers, who not only indulge in the compara- tively harmless absurdity of " homespun " write-ups, but also deliberately spread a net of points, attributions of rarity and grandi- loquent half-truths to enmesh the feet of innocence. Never was a fool without a bawd exploiting folly. MICHAEL SADLEIR.
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