# question about book anatomy

*The Urth list — 3 messages, 2 voices, 17 Nov 2007*

<https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4931>

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### Transentient
*17 Nov 2007, 14:04*

With Pirate Freedom, Wolfe has again placed a favorite quote of his  
right at the beginning. After the acknowledgements, before the page  
with the title on it.

Can anybody tell me what this component of a book is called? Its not a  
preface, its not a forward...is it an epigram? It's "a quote at the  
beginning of a book..." and I know there is a more specific definition.

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### Gwern Branwen
*17 Nov 2007, 16:23 · in reply to Transentient*

On 2007.11.17 09:04:50 -0500, Transentient <transentient at gmail.com> scribbled 0 lines:

> With Pirate Freedom, Wolfe has again placed a favorite quote of his
> right at the beginning. After the acknowledgements, before the page
> with the title on it.
> 
> Can anybody tell me what this component of a book is called? Its not a
> preface, its not a forward...is it an epigram? It's "a quote at the
> beginning of a book..." and I know there is a more specific definition.

How about "epigraph"? <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Epigraph_%28literature%29>

```
gwern
Walther NRO DUVDEVAN South MD4 Koancho Doom RX- E. Compsec
```

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### Transentient
*17 Nov 2007, 18:29 · in reply to Gwern Branwen*

> On Nov 17, 2007, at 11:23 AM, Gwern Branwen wrote:
> On 2007.11.17 09:04:50 -0500, Transentient <transentient at gmail.com>  
> scribbled 0 lines:

>> With Pirate Freedom, Wolfe has again placed a favorite quote of his
>> right at the beginning. After the acknowledgements, before the page
>> with the title on it.
>> 
>> Can anybody tell me what this component of a book is called? Its  
>> not a
>> preface, its not a forward...is it an epigram? It's "a quote at the
>> beginning of a book..." and I know there is a more specific  
>> definition.

> How about "epigraph"? <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Epigraph_%28literature%29 

Sounds like it! That's funny, I thought this at first, but my brain  
scrambled the word to "epigram" which is not the same thing, so I  
looked that up and was like, darn, must be something different.

Anyway - very cute epigraph in Pirate Freedom. 

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