Descriptions of old books use binding terms, and knowing them helps you judge a copy's value.
Quarter leather: only the spine is covered in leather; the boards are paper or cloth.
Half leather: leather on the spine and the corners, protecting them from wear.
Three-quarter leather: a wider area of leather across the boards.
Full leather: the whole cover in leather, the finest of all. The more leather and the better the craft, the higher the value. We note notable bindings in our item descriptions.
By Sara