What it means
An epigraph is a quotation — a line of verse, a sentence from a novel, a proverb — set at the opening of a book or of an individual chapter. It frames what follows without explaining it; the best epigraphs read differently once the chapter is finished.
Typographically an epigraph is set smaller than the text or in italics, indented or pushed toward the right, with the source on its own line below, usually preceded by an em dash. A book-level epigraph occupies its own recto in the front matter; a chapter epigraph sits between the chapter heading and the first paragraph.
The legal side matters. Anything in the public domain is free to use. Short prose quotations from living authors are often treated as fair use, but song lyrics are enforced aggressively and even a single line typically needs a paid licence — a common reason for last-minute epigraph changes.
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