Colophon (publishing)

[4] The term colophon derives from the Late Latin colophōn, from the Greek κολοφών (meaning "summit" or "finishing touch").

He cites the colophon from Poggio's manuscript, a humanist from the 15th century:[7] Statili(us) / maximus rursum em(en)daui ad tyrone(m) et laecanianu(m) et dom̅ & alios ueteres.

(‘I, Statilius Maximus, have for the second time revised the text according to Tiro, Laecanianus, Domitius and three others.’)A common colophon at the end of hand copied manuscripts was simply "Finished, thank God.

[11] Colophons are also found in the Pentateuch, where an understanding of this ancient literary convention illuminates passages that are otherwise unclear or incoherent.

In some parts of the world, colophons helped fledgling printers and printing companies gain social recognition.

For example, in early modern Armenia printers used colophons as a way to gain "prestige power" by getting their name out into the social sphere.

Some commercial publishers took up the use of colophons and began to include similar details in their books, either at the end of the text (the traditional position) or on the verso of the title leaf.

[citation needed] Some web pages also have colophons, which frequently contain (X)HTML, CSS, or usability standards compliance information and links to website validation tests.

A colophon printed in 1471
Clay tablet: dictionary with colophon indicating storage emplacement in a library. From Warka, ancient Uruk , mid 1st century BC. On display at the Louvre , Paris.
Cairo Geniza colophon, 12th or 13th c
The colophon at the end of the Diamond Sutra , the world's oldest surviving printed book, states the date of printing (868 AD), the donor's name, the printing house, and that it was printed for free distribution.
The colophon of John Fortescue 's A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of Englande (1567), [ 13 ] which appears at the end of the book