Preface
A preface (/ˈprɛfəs/) or proem (/ˈproʊɛm/) is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a foreword[contradictory] and precedes an author's preface. The preface often closes with acknowledgments of those who assisted in the literary work.
It often recounts how the book was created or how the idea developed; this may be followed by acknowledgments and thanks to those who assisted the author during the writing process.
A preface is often signed (and the date and place of writing often follow the typeset signature); a foreword by another person is always signed. Information essential to the main text is generally placed in a set of explanatory notes, or perhaps in an "Introduction" that may be paginated with Arabic numerals, rather than in the preface. The term preface can also mean any preliminary or introductory statement. It is sometimes abbreviated pref.
The term "preface" originates from Latin, which means either "spoken before" (prae and fatia) or "made before" (prae + factum). While the first interpretation could equate a preface with a prologue, the latter strongly suggests an introduction written prior to the main text of the book. With this understanding of stated intention, British publishing, at least until the mid-twentieth century, differentiated between a preface and an introduction.
See also
- Abstract (legal)
- Abstract (summary)
- Introduction
- Preamble
- Preface
- Foreword
- Prologue
- Afterword
- Conclusion
- Epigraph
- Epilogue
- Postface
- Postscript
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Preface ]
Further reading
- A history of the preface in several languages is contained in: Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven. The Social Dimensions of Fiction: On the Rhetoric and Function of Prefacing Novels in the Nineteenth-Century Canadas. Braunschweig-Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher (Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn), 1993. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture.
- The difference between a preface, foreword, and introduction, patmcnees.com
- Seán M. Williams: Pretexts for Writing: German Romantic Prefaces, Literature, and Philosophy. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2019. New Studies in the Age of Goethe, ISBN 9781684480524
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