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Glossary of Rare Book Terms Available

Special Collections staff has prepared an illustrated glossary of rare books terms. If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between engraving and etching, or what exactly a nonce volume is, then this is your chance to find out!

The glossary contains 130 definitions and 112 images of examples drawn from Special Collections’ holdings. The glossary was written by John Henry Adams and photographs were taken by John Henry Adams, Courtney Gillie, and Kelli Hansen.

John Henry Adams

John Henry Adams is a librarian in the Special Collections and Rare Books department. He provides instruction and reference for the history of the book in general, but especially for medieval manuscripts, early European printing, the history of cartography, and English and German literature.