unlettered
A book which has not been blocked or otherwise
marked with identifying information on the spine
or cover. Before about 1600, books that were
lettered at all generally had the title inked or
painted on the fore edge, as books were shelved
fore edge outward, and binders did not bother to
letter the spines of books. Nor did they bother to
letter them long after the practice of shelving
fore edge outward was discontinued. Possibly it
was a matter of economy and perhaps the PRESS MARK (2)
sufficed. Labels on spines were unusual in England
before about 1660, so that few books were lettered
before the middle of the 17th century. Many owners
wrote the titles on paper labels or directly on
the covering material of the books. Gilt lettering
on labels for those particular books was usually
stuck on at a later date. (69 )
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