Understanding Condition Reports

In fields where multiple copies of the same title or the same image survive, condition frequently decides value. Two copies of one book, identical in edition and issue, can differ in price by an order of magnitude on condition alone. Reading a condition report properly is therefore among the more useful skills a collector can acquire.

What a report is

A condition report is a written statement, prepared by a specialist on request, describing the physical state of a lot as observed. It supplements the catalogue description, which itself notes anything the specialist considers material to value.

It is an honest professional opinion, given in good faith by a person who is not a qualified conservator. It is not a guarantee, and it is not a substitute for your own examination or that of your adviser. Lots are sold as they are, with all faults, and a report does not alter that.

What it should cover

For a book: the binding and whether it is original; the spine, joints and corners; the completeness of the collation, including plates, maps and advertisements; any supplied, repaired or facsimile leaves; the state of the paper, including foxing, damp-staining, browning and trimming; inscriptions and annotations; and any restoration.

For a manuscript or document: the support, whether paper or parchment; the legibility and stability of the ink; folds, splits and losses, particularly along fold lines; seals and their condition; damp-staining and mould; and any strengthening or backing.

For a photograph: the process; the state of the image, including fading, silvering, staining and abrasion; the condition of the mount; retouching; and whether the print has been trimmed.

For a work on paper: the sheet and its margins; whether the sheet has been trimmed or laid down; foxing, light-staining and mount-burn; tears, creases and losses; the state of any watermark; and evidence of washing or bleaching.

The vocabulary

A few terms recur and are worth knowing precisely.

Foxing — small brown spots caused by damp and impurities in the paper. Browning — general discolouration, often from acidic paper or an adjacent board. Damp-staining — a tidemark from historic water exposure. Offsetting — the transfer of ink or an image from a facing page. Mount-burn and light-staining — a discoloured band or halo where a mount or frame has protected part of a sheet and exposed the rest. Laid down — mounted onto a secondary support, which for most works on paper reduces value. Silvering — a metallic sheen in the dark areas of a photographic print. Made-up or sophisticated — a copy completed with leaves or plates from another copy. Cropped or trimmed — cut down from the original dimensions.

What a report cannot do

It cannot establish authenticity. It cannot detect every previous restoration; skilled paper repair is designed not to be seen, and some intervention is visible only under ultraviolet light or magnification, or to a conservator with the object in hand.

It cannot anticipate every concern you might have. If a specific point matters to you — the presence of a particular plate, a watermark, the condition of the verso — ask for it by name.

How to use one

Request the report early, while there is time to ask a follow-up question. Ask for additional photographs of anything the report describes, and for images under raking light where surface matters. Compare what you read against the estimate: a modest figure for a distinguished object usually reflects a condition issue that is disclosed somewhere in the text.

Above all, treat the absence of a remark as an absence of information rather than as a warranty. Ask.