Condition Grading
Six grades, one rule: the written report matters more than the abbreviation.
| Grade | What it means in the hand |
|---|---|
| Exceptional | As it left the newsstand: bright cover, square spine, supple paper. Genuinely uncommon before 1960. |
| Fine | Light, honest wear — minor edge rubbing or faint spine stress. Nothing structural, nothing missing. |
| Very Good | A cared-for copy showing its age: visible handling, small creases, perhaps an owner's mark. Complete and solid. |
| Good | Clearly worn — rolled spine, creasing, small tears or chips — but complete and entirely usable. |
| Reference Copy | Significant damage, retained or sold for its documentary value: checklist evidence, scan source, reading copy. |
| Incomplete | Missing pages or elements, with exactly what's absent recorded. Scarce issues can matter even incomplete. |
Every grade travels with evidence
A grade summarizes; a report demonstrates. Each cataloged or listed copy carries a written condition report naming its specific defects, plus photographs of the actual copy. Two “Very Good” copies can differ meaningfully — the report is where the difference lives.
Disclosure
Conservation and repair work is disclosed in the report, per our restoration ethics. An undisclosed repair is not restoration; it is misrepresentation.
For the fuller essay on why magazine grading resists tidy abbreviation, see How We Grade Condition in the Reading Room.