Colophon

Traditional physical book forms have interesting and charming elements that add to the aesthetic pleasure of holding and reading a real book.  One such element that is not often seen anymore (as most of the information would now be given on the back of the title page, the copyright, or imprint, page) is the colophon.

A colophon is a note at the end of a book that gives information about the printing of the book.  In early books, before there were title pages the colophon was the only place to find this information.   In more modern times, colophons are found in books printed by the "private press movement" - presses devoted to printing books as works of art, rather than as a commercial venture.

This colophon is from a book printed in 1941.  The small image at the bottom is called a printer's device.  Here the colophon gives information about the printing processes used, the engravers, typesetter, and bookbinder.