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March 22, 2023 12:28
Sample novel Simenon which I will introduce. This is a paperback from 1956, so the pages have been opened with a knife or letter opener. Many of the books from the 1920s to the 1950s ?? were sold "closed". I've been looking for a word for it, like gold on edge, does anyone know?



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Morits
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March 22, 2023 12:33
Harry56
A book too-bogged-out-to-cut. :-)).
To be honest, I can't imagine why books were sold that way, it doesn't really make the reader happy. Can't it just be a mistake?

Edit:

On the Internet, it is spoken of not cut open ...
It is not clear how long ago that was done.


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March 22, 2023 12:41
Morits

no, I've had several, maybe I'll come across 1 more. My father had a special letter opener that he used to carefully open pages.
Maybe someone at LD can tell you more about it, otherwise I can ask the KB.
And if we can't find a solution, we will add ETBOLTSB as a species to the catalogue
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Morits
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March 22, 2023 12:45
Harry56
More information can be found at ensie.nl
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March 22, 2023 12:50
Morits

Well , the answer is " you too are now a qualified detective ...

not cut open
MEANING & DEFINITION

uncut - Said of a book whose folded front edges of the pages have not been cut with a plow or guillotine before sale. To be distinguished from 'unopened', in reference to a sold book whose folded front sections of the quires have not yet been cut ; the buyer must then cut it off himself with a paper knife.

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March 22, 2023 13:12
In the last 45 years I have never heard printers, binders and booksellers use any term other than "uncut".

In the olden days that was the only way books were sold. People bought (often by subscription) a book block (or separate quires) and had it set by a manual bookbinder in a binding of their own preference (whereby the book block, with pasted endpapers, was cut to size by the binder). This way you could build up a nice uniform library.
From the end of the 18th century (with increasing circulations and partial mechanization of bookbinderies) the publisher's binding was introduced. In addition to the hard cover, a cheaper version in paper cover (usually only the thin dust cover of the bound version) was also available for sale.

Of course, for modern paperbacks, an uncut book block is an outdated concept. I can't think of any Dutch editions that have that. In France it was more common, perhaps to suggest an old-fashioned kind of quality. For a long time you also saw literary series there with only a boring uniform text on the cover.

PS “cut with a plow or guillotine”? What nonsense is that?
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March 22, 2023 14:48
Boekenmagazijn

This explanation is wonderful, it fits in with what I have come across in terms of books in recent decades, often they are cheap-looking editions with a softcover cover.
PS I suspect that the original text was not Dutch and so another curious translation, guillotine is originally French right?
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March 22, 2023 15:28
Guillotine is (in this case) another word for cutting machine


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March 22, 2023 15:55
Of course I understand what is meant ;-) but this kind of automatic translation does not argue for the reliability of a site like Ensie.
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March 22, 2023 20:05
In France it was more common, perhaps to suggest an old-fashioned kind of quality.

Boekenmagazijn
I thought that having a book (re)bound yourself is more common in France than in the Netherlands. Maybe that has something to do with it too.

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  • February 04, 2024 19:33
February 04, 2024 19:33
I have an antique booklet from 1909: Hekeldichten van Vondel which is still COMPLETELY uncut! I hope this has added value? I have no idea where I can offer it for sale, but I would like to know whether being uncut (from the 1st flyleaf to the last) justifies a higher price?
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February 04, 2024 20:09
WJ Thieme's edition, I suspect?
It may be of slightly more value to a specialist who is looking for cool specimens.
But don't count on it being rich, it won't be more than a few euros difference.
Your edition is about two centuries too young to be really interesting.
It would of course be appreciated if you entered it in the catalogue.
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February 04, 2024 20:21
thanks for the info, I won't get rich (yet)!
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February 04, 2024 21:09
It may be worth a little more to a specialist looking for cool specimens.

An enthusiast will also prefer to cut open a copy themselves. You often see specimens that look less beautiful because they have not been cut open carefully enough.
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