A Printer's Colophon: Aelfric, A testimonie of antiqvitie (London: John Day, 1587)
Colophons identifying printers and their locations were among the first marketing devices invented to help customers locate the source of printed book so that they could buy more of them. Note the combination of type sizes, decorative devices, and other strategies for aesthetically improving the appearance of this "paratextual" page, a part of the printed book that has nothing to do with the text it contains other than to enhance its operation and/or appeal to the reader. The date of completion, usually found on later printed title pages with the printer's city of origin, occurs with the ideal text's bindery "signatures" on the facing page.
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