Stupid question from a non-collector: What is a "laid in signature?" (1 Viewer)

[LickTheStar]

I'm peeking at a couple signed Fante novels, as well as some Bukowski signed pieces on a couple of rare book sites and I came across the term "laid in signature" and have... well absolutely no idea what this means.

Any light you could shed on this would be great. I'm not quite ready to drop 5 grand on something, but I want to know what it means for... well, whenever I actually HAVE that kind of money. Thanks in advance!

 

[chronic]

Laid-in means that there's a separate loose sheet in the book.

 

[roni]

in contrast to "tipped-in" which means it isn't loose.

 

[jordan]

in contrast to "pissed-in", which is kind of like an "author's holograph" but with one important difference.

 

[roni]

Andy Warhol did these in the 70s.

 

[Rekrab]

Tipped in is a separate piece of paper, signed, and glued into the book. Laid is in a similar piece, just stuck loose in the book. The prefered situation is where the author has actually signed the book itself, not something else that was added after the book was published (although some books are published with laid in or tipped in sheets). And then there's the infamous signed bookplate that's laid in or glued in, which I find obnoxious for some reason.

 

[mjp]

As much as I hate the book trade's tweaked meaning of perfectly acceptable English language words such as "good," "tipped-in" is actually a bookbinding term for gluing in a single page near the margin with a thin strip of glue. Not that the average person would know that, but at least it is a legitimate term.

I'm not sure where "laid in" came from, but to someone who wasn't familiar with the terms, it may make a bit of sense (or maybe not, since the question is the point of the thread). But I suppose it sounds better than "loose," or "separate," which would be the accurate way to describe it.

Overall, terms specific to a certain trade or sect are mostly meant to confound outsiders. That's the conclusion I've come to, and I'm sticking to it.