Epigraph

The epigraph is the quotation placed at the head of a book, part or chapter: a few borrowed words — verse, sentence, proverb, sometimes an invented source — setting the tone or offering a reading key. It tells the reader: here is the patronage, the conversation, this text belongs to.

Its uses range from wink to framework: some novels build a second narrative through chapter epigraphs alone, real or fictional (the imaginary encyclopedia heading every chapter of Dune is the canonical example). Two practical cautions: verify the quotation's accuracy and attribution — and know that reproducing protected excerpts, however brief, falls under quotation right, whose conditions are assessed case by case.