An Essay on Colophons (Classic Reprint): With Specimens and Translations

Excerpt from An Essay on Colophons

The idea especially implied in the Greek proverbial phrase to put on the colophon is that of putting the finishing stroke to anything, as when a building is com pleted by the addition of the coping-stone, or a discourse is summed up by a recapitulation of its general gist. Is the word simply used in the sense of a crowning peak? Or has it a special connection with the city of Colophon? Ancient writers assert the latter, and assign two reasons.