1. General terms
Most booksellers describe the general condition of books on a scale, like this:
FINE = As good as can reasonably be expected for a second-hand book.
NEAR-FINE = Pretty good; definitely in collectable condition.
VERY GOOD = OK, but showing signs of wear. Basically collectable, depending on how rare and how old the book in question is (many modern firsts, for example, aren't really worth collecting unless they are fine or near-fine).
GOOD = Definite signs of wear and tear. Probably not collectable, unless the book is very rare.
FAIR/READING COPY = Definitely not collectable.
POOR = Poor!
If the book was issued with a dust jacket that will generally get a rating too. Thus F/F, or Fine/Fine, means "A fine book in a fine dust jacket". Some sellers use terms like "mint" or "vry fine", but the orthodox view is "fine is fine is fine", and that's as good as it gets.
Another important term is "ex libris", which sometimes means that it comes from a private collection, as in "ex libris E. Wolf II", and is a plus, but more usually means that it comes from a lending library and has things likeshelf numbers, date stamps, cardholders and whatnot all over it. This is a big minus, reducing the value of the book considerably from a collector's point of view.
And then there's "BCE" (Book Club Edition). Again, Book Club copies are not genuine firsts, and their value is significantly lower than that of a first edition, or even, often, than a later edition that is not BCE).
If you are regarding your book collection as an investment then you should be aiming to buy books which are in optimum condition and (unless you are specifically going for fancy bindings) in their original cover. For example, a Charles Dickens first edition which is in fair condition may be worth less than 10% of one which is fine, and one which has been rebound in leather will generally be worth only a fraction of one which is in its original cloth cover.
To describe themselves, many of the better booksellers will give their affiliation - usually ABA[A] (Antiquarian Booksellers Association [of America]) or ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). As a rule, one can feel somewhat more confident buying from such traders, but I'm sorry to say that, while there are many who list the condition of their books with total scrupulousness, there are - even among affiliated booksellers - others whose descriptions are misleading and inadequate. Unless you really know the trader, I would be inclined to push for very specific details, particularly for more expensive items.
2. Specific terms and points to ask about
Whatever description a bookseller gives of a book, I would always ask a wide range of very specific questions about it. Let's start with the dust jacket. Is it torn, or crumpled, or price-clipped (a price-clipped dust-jacket reduces the value of a book quite considerably)? Then the cover. Are there signs of rubbbing? Are the corners bumped? Is the spine darkened with age? Have the letters of the title, or other imprinted material faded? What about the spine? Is it faded or chipped?
Now let's open the book! Are the hinges cracked, or showing other signs of wear? Are the endpapers undamaged? Is the binding loose? Are there any previous owners' inscriptions or other manuscript additions to the text? Is the title page in good condition (this is another point which can make a big difference to the value of a book)? Is there any foxing (the light brown marks which often stain old books, especially on pages with, or next to, engravings) or damp staining? Dustmarks, signs of wear, anything which might detract from the value of the book?
You shouldn't have to ask a professional bookseller whether their book is ex-library or Book Club, but you should certainly check those points along with everything else when you see a "first edition" being offered by a regular joe on an internet auction.
These are the main questions that need to be answered before you fork out money for an item you haven't actually been able to hold in your hand and look at properly before buying it. As well as these, there are questions which are specific to the particular book you are buying. For example, a lot of publishing houses these days use a system of numbering the first printing of a book 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, or 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, and removing a number for each subsequent printing (so the second printing begins with 2, not 1). But it depends on the publisher. One or two show the first printing with a zero! Others use a different system altogether. You need to find out what are the defining
points applicable to the book you are interested in. For example, the first edition of John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, is hard to come by and a fine copy is worth about $100. But there are a lot more people who think they have a first edition of this book than there are copies in existence! In this particular case, unless it has orange boards and states specifically that it's a first...it isn't. You can find out this kind of information by posting a message to the book collectors' discussion group, buying an appropriate bibliographical work on the subject, asking an appraisal service, or making an enquiry to a trader who has a similar item.
Finally, if you are really going for the best (and I would say always go for the best that you can afford), I think it is worth stressing that fact to the dealer. After several disappointments, I will specifically tell the seller, "I am only interested in a copy which is in genuinely fine condition. If you have any doubts at all about the condition of this book please do not send it to me, as I will only have to return it" - or words to that effect.
