colophon [Gr.,=finishing stroke]. Before the use of printing in Western Europe a manuscript often ended with a statement about the author, the scribe, or the illuminator. The first printed book to have a comparable concluding statement was the Mainz Psalter, crediting the printer and giving the date printed (1457) in its last paragraph. After this, a printed book commonly ended with this statement, now called a colophon. The information came to be given on the title page after c.1520. The name colophon is applied also to a printer's mark or a publisher's device on a title page or elsewhere.

(born circa 560, Colophon, Ionia—died circa 478 BC) Greek poet, religious thinker, and reputed precursor of philosophy of the Eleatics. Though some critics consider Parmenides the founder of the Eleatic school, Xenophanes' philosophy, which found expression primarily in the poetry he recited on his travels, probably anticipated Parmenides' views. Fragments of his epics reflect his contempt for anthropomorphism and for popular acceptance of Homeric mythology.

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