In the physical description of a book, what are facsims.?

I have tried to search for the definition of this book part, similar to illus., ports., etc., but search engines keep thinking that I want information on the political system 'fascism'. What exactly are facsims.?

Canadian Girl Scout

• cataloging

Comments

Answer by anarchivist

"facsims." refers to "facsimiles"; a facsimile is a "reproduction that has as its chief purpose to simulate the physical appearance of the original work as well as to provide an exact replica of the text" (AACR2 Glossary).

Comments

• Canadian Girl Scout: Thank you. I rarely see this description item used. Could you add to your answer how to distinguish a facsimile from other illustrations or, say, pages of plates that contain photos? Do some cataloguers simply list them in general as "illustrations"?
• Canadian Girl Scout: Or, could you include an image in your answer as an example? Would this only be used for artwork or would sculptures be included?
• anarchivist: A good example - arguably the one I see the most - is something like a manuscript letter.