As close to new as possible. No defects that are visible to the naked eye. No signs of aging, rips, tears, bending, stamps or previous owner signatures, stains, marks on any of the pages, separation of pages from binding or from other pages. Books in this condition appear as a new book ready for sale from the publisher's press.

A book in this condition may have very slight defects, but only the very slightest. The book must be sound/tight with no separation of pages/binding or covers. Slight scuffing of edges, spine and corners is acceptable. No scratches should mar the surface. A previous owner signature or stamp is okay as long as it doesn't detract from the book, but needs to be mentioned in a description as this is dependant on buyer preference. Bending, tears, writing or coloring (except sig/stamp) are not acceptable with books in this condition. Minor signs of aging are fine.

A book in this condition shows minor to moderate wear on corners, edges and spine. Should show not more than 1/4" of tears in any given spot. Pages should not be ripped, binding/covers and individual pages should not show separation. As long as binding and covers are tight and book is in above condition or better, paper (front inside cover and back inside cover) may show separation, but webbing or binding material must be tight with no chance of separation. Very minor bending of a few pages is acceptable. Bookstore stamps and signatures are fine. Signs of aging are fine.

A book in this condition may show moderate wear on binding, edges and corners. Should not have rips or tears that are more than 1". Slight separation of covers, spine, and/or pages is okay. Can show moderate signs of aging. Webbing and/or binding should not be separated, but may show signs of separation. Pages and spine may show moderate tears (no more than 1"). Minor pencil and/or highlighter marks are acceptable. Signature of previous owner or bookstore stamps are perfectly acceptable. Bending of pages is acceptable. Minor scratches on the surface are okay.

A book in this condition can show separation of binding/webbing as long as the separation is not complete. Book should be separated no more than one-third from both back & front covers and spine. Marks on surface are fine as are moderate tears on some of the pages as long as they do not detract from the readability of the book. Highlighter and pencil marks are fine as long as they don't detract from readability of book.

A book in this condition should not be separated more than halfway from back & front covers and spine. May show major scuffing marks on surface of book as well as moderate scratches. Dust jacket may be torn, scuffed or have marks where stickers were torn off. May have areas that are "fixed" with tape such as half of the spine, dust jacket or a page in the book. May be torn or may have missing pages that do not affect the readability of the book. May show major bending such as a few pages bent in the middle or lengthwise.

A book in this condition may have most of binding separated from book, but should not be separated more than 3/4 from back & front covers and spine. May have large tears on cover or spine. May have large tears and/or bends on pages as long as readability is not affected. May have large scratches (gouges) on covers as long as readability of book is not affected. May be fixed extensively with tape, glue, etc. Pages can not stick together though--and there can be no defects that affects the readability of the book.

Book is separated from covers, no covers, only a spine or missing one cover. Half of cover is missing, half of binding is missing, etc. Pages are missing, but readability is not affected. For example--title pages, chapter pages, end papers may be missing. Pages are covered in highlighter, or pencil marks, but are still readable. Book is beyond fixing, but is still readable (perhaps barely).

Any book worse than VERY POOR should not be advertised for sale or purchased.