Dedication (publishing)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Book dedication to a group of people

A dedication or book dedication is the expression of friendly connection or thanks by the author towards another person. The dedication has its own place on the dedication page and is part of the front matter.

History

The dedication of Orfeo by Monteverdi, 1609

Evidence of dedications is provided back into

patron-client relationship, in which the author-client paid tribute, in the dedication, to his or her patron. A typical writer dedicated "their book to a high standing personality – to Fürsts or bishops – or to a city and tried to gain some money through this practice".[1]

In many cases the petitioner was lucky and received a gift from the patron. In some cases, the writer groveled before the patron and a formal dedication "contained often a very elaborate and submissive affection".[1] In some cases not only the authors tried to get some money, but also the printers tried through dedications to cover a part of their costs.[citation needed]

Themes

A book dedication can provide a fascinating glimpse into the life and times of the author.

Don Juan in which he savagely pilloried Southey as a dull, reactionary "warbler" who had abandoned his political principles for favor and financial reward.[3]

Book dedications can reflect the tastes and mores of society. Whereas many

Elizabethan dedications were erudite and witty, some modern authors have abandoned literary pretense, sometimes using profanity to shock or amuse their audiences.[4]

Book dedications have also been used to make political statements, such as the condemnation of war and inequality. Author Toni Morrison dedicated Beloved, her 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a fugitive slave who killed her own daughter, to "Sixty Million and more."[5]

Today

In newer books, the dedication is located on a "dedication page" on its own, usually on the

front matter. It can occupy one or multiple lines depending on its importance. It can also be "in a longer version as a dedication letter or dedication preface at the book's beginning".[6]

Today, book dedications tend to be short, often thanking partners, family, friends or muses, in the form of a personal note.[7] They are basically a means to express gratitude. Sometimes a book is dedicated to the memory of a loved one, or to a cause.[8]

Handwritten dedication

The dedication is not to be confounded with the handwritten dedication of a single copy: the presentation copy.[citation needed]

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 3-465-032209
    , p. 82.
  2. ISBN 978-0989870832
    .
  3. ^ Barnes (2015). Tender, Tawdry & Timeless Book Dedications. pp. 281–288.
  4. ^ Barnes (2015). Tender, Tawdry & Timeless Book Dedications. p. 13.
  5. ^ Barnes (2015). Tender, Tawdry & Timeless Book Dedications. p. 173.
  6. ^ Ursula Rautenberger (ed.): Reclams Sachlexikon des Buches, p. 148.
  7. ^ "Book Dedications". Pantera Press. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. ^ Noblit, Clayton (2 June 2021). "How (and Why) to Write a Book Dedication". Written Word Media. Retrieved 31 March 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dedication pages.
  • The dictionary definition of dedication at Wiktionary
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dedication_(publishing)&oldid=1177843243"