Colophon (publishing)
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In publishing, a colophon is a brief statement containing information about the publication of a book such as an "imprint".
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.
Book curse
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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
Colophon (publishing)
…words. The normal position for a colophon was after the explicit (the end of the text, often after any index or register). Colophons sometimes contained book curses, as this was the one place in a medieval manuscript where a scribe was free to write what he wished. Such curses tend to be unique to each book. After…
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"