An essay on colophons : with specimens and translation . THE COLOPHONS REASON FOR EXISTENCE. HE interest of individual colophonsin early printed books has oftenbeen noted. The task which, un-der the kind auspices of the Cax-ton Club, is here to be assayed isthe more ambitious, if less enter-taining, one of making a specialstudy of this feature in fifteenth-century books, with the object of ascertaining whatlight it throws on the history of printing and on thehabits of the early printers and publishers. If, insteadof studying each colophon singly for the sake of the in-formation it may give us
An essay on colophons : with specimens and translation . THE COLOPHONS REASON FOR EXISTENCE. HE interest of individual colophonsin early printed books has oftenbeen noted. The task which, un-der the kind auspices of the Cax-ton Club, is here to be assayed isthe more ambitious, if less enter-taining, one of making a specialstudy of this feature in fifteenth-century books, with the object of ascertaining whatlight it throws on the history of printing and on thehabits of the early printers and publishers. If, insteadof studying each colophon singly for the sake of the in-formation it may give us as to the book which it com-pletes, or for its own human interest,—if it chance tohave any,—we compare the same printers colophons insuccessive books, and the colophons of different printersin successive editions; if we group those which have sim-ilar characteristics, and glance also at the books whichhave no colophons at all, or quite featureless ones, then 3 4 AN ESSAY ON COLOPHONS if there is anything to be learnt from colophons, weought to be by way of learning it; and if there i
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Keywords: ., bookauthorpollardalfredwalfredw, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900
