colophon

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colophon

colophon [Gr.,=finishing stroke]. Before the use of printing in Western Europe a manuscript often ended with a statement about the author, the scribe, or the illuminator. The first printed book to have a comparable concluding statement was the Mainz Psalter, crediting the printer and giving the date printed (1457) in its last paragraph. After this, a printed book commonly ended with this statement, now called a colophon. The information came to be given on the title page after c.1520. The name colophon is applied also to a printer's mark or a publisher's device on a title page or elsewhere.

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colophon

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

colophon inscription containing title, date, etc., at the end of a book. XVIII. — late L. colophōn — Gr. kolophṓn summit, finishing touch.

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T. F. HOAD. "colophon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 5 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "colophon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (December 5, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-colophon.html

T. F. HOAD. "colophon." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved December 05, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-colophon.html

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