How many times have you read or looked at a book and not taken any notice of a publisher’s emblem either on the
title page or on the cover of the book? The picture may have been observed but aroused no curiosity or interest as why it was so placed.
That little picture is known as a Colophon. Its origin comes from Latin to Greek meaning summit or finishing touch. Its usage began in 1835.
Colophon, the Greek town, dates back to the first millennium BC. Its ruins are to be found in the Izmir Province of today’s Turkey. Colophonia resina – resin from pine trees – is the rosin used by ballet dancers and musicians playing stringed musical instruments.
