Book curse
Videos
A book curse was a widely employed method to discourage the theft of manuscripts during the medieval period in Europe. The use of book curses dates back much further, to pre-Christian times, when the
A bookplate of Malcolm Ferguson (1920–2011), example of a modern book curse
Anathema or curse in 12th–13th century manuscript of the Ter Doest Abbey that warns "whoever takes it away or alienates or tears out a sheet, be damned"
Colophon (publishing)
Videos
In publishing, a colophon is a brief statement containing information about the publication of a book such as an "imprint".
Book curse
…creative and dramatic, usually invoking threat of excommunication, or anathema. Generally located on the first or last page of a volume as part of the colophon, these curses were often considered the only defense in protection of highly coveted books and manuscripts. This was notably a time in which people…
A colophon printed in 1471
Against War by Erasmus, printed by the Merrymount Press, Boston, Massachusetts, 1907
Colophon of the Dutch translation of Africa Is Not a Country printed in 2022
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.