Colophon

A colophon (from the Greek 'summit, finishing touch') is a concluding note at the end of a manuscript or early printed book that contains information about its making: the name of the copyist or printer, the place and time of writing (printing), and sometimes the circumstances of the work, the commissioner, prayer formulas, or a request to forgive errors. The colophon is the predecessor of the modern title page and imprint; it is a most important source for dating and attributing a monument. Thus the colophon of the Ostromir Gospel gives the name of the copyist, the deacon Hryhorii, and the years of work (1056–1057), and the colophon of the Lviv 'Apostol' the name of the first printer Ivan Fedorovych (Fedorov) and the date 1574. The colophon-afterwords of early Ukrainian prints, notably the Lavra and Ostroh editions, are a valuable source for the history of printing. Colophons are studied by paleography, codicology, and bibliology.