Colʹophon

The end of a book. Colʹophon was a city of Loʹnia, the inhabitants of which were such excellent horsemen that they would turn the scale of battle to the side on which they fought; hence, the Greek phrase, To add a colophoʹnian, means “to put a finishing stroke to any matter.” (Strabo.) In the early times of printing, the statement containing the date, place, printer, and edition was given at the end of the book, and was called the colophon.