it has come our attention that some of our newer followers are struggling to understand the words we use to describe our rare books, and you are in for a treat with this simple guide to "Words That Don't Mean Anything What It Seems Like They Mean"
[thread 1/?]

FINE: the book was crapped out by an angel
VERY GOOD: no-one can prove anything
GOOD: lets just be grateful it has covers, shall we
FAIR: the book is on fire, guarded by a hydra
POOR: no book, only despair
so its not really very helpful. 5 tweets in and we have learned nothing. you are welcome.
I am going to cover some of the things you'll see most often, and you are going to hate me for it

12mo, 8vo, 4to
This used to have a precise meaning to do with page folding, but booksellers got lazy and now it means 'we eyeballed the size of the book'
smaller number usually means a larger book
because of course
we'll say faded, or 'lightly browned' or 'a little tired' when what we mean is 'this book has grazed the abyss'
'sophisticated' literally means 'the book is a fake'
'extra-illustrated' means 'someone cut up and pasted a bunch of images inside the book like the love child of picasso and edward scissorhands'
personally i rather like the fun inscriptions, like the 18th century kid who drew rude pictures all over the inside his latin primer, but 🤷♀️
https://t.co/cGcFh4ZRgm
More from Culture
For my book, I interviewed Texan Republicans, Democrats, oil guys + clean energy pioneers. Texas was once leading in wind energy, with GOP support. Now we get lies, from the Gov on down on renewables. What happened?
Lessons from Short Circuiting Policy https://t.co/KtxaBci5oC 🧵
Texas' challenges are not from "learning too many renewable energy lessons from California.” - Rep. Crenshaw
Texas passed its first renewable energy target in 1999, 3 years before California. The law was signed by, Gov. George W. Bush — you may recall he’s a Republican.
Gov. Bush was so proud of Texas’ leadership on wind energy, that he campaigned on it when running for President in 2000.
The "bill he signed in 1999 will make Texas the country’s largest market for renewable energy by 2009."
https://t.co/T4dKZ5qGnA
In 2005, Texas passed another big wind energy law, which included $7 billion for transmission.
It was sponsored by Republican state Senator Troy Fraser and signed by Republican Gov. Rick
With Gov. Abbott going on TV this week and lying, blaming the boogeyman “Green New Deal” and wind turbines for Texas’ current crisis, GOP leadership on renewables feels like ancient history.
What happened over the past 15
Lessons from Short Circuiting Policy https://t.co/KtxaBci5oC 🧵

Texas' challenges are not from "learning too many renewable energy lessons from California.” - Rep. Crenshaw
Texas passed its first renewable energy target in 1999, 3 years before California. The law was signed by, Gov. George W. Bush — you may recall he’s a Republican.
Gov. Bush was so proud of Texas’ leadership on wind energy, that he campaigned on it when running for President in 2000.
The "bill he signed in 1999 will make Texas the country’s largest market for renewable energy by 2009."
https://t.co/T4dKZ5qGnA

In 2005, Texas passed another big wind energy law, which included $7 billion for transmission.
It was sponsored by Republican state Senator Troy Fraser and signed by Republican Gov. Rick
With Gov. Abbott going on TV this week and lying, blaming the boogeyman “Green New Deal” and wind turbines for Texas’ current crisis, GOP leadership on renewables feels like ancient history.
What happened over the past 15