A dedication is a short personal inscription offering the book to someone. An epigraph is a quotation, usually from another writer, chosen to set the tone. Acknowledgements are thanks to people who helped make the book. They are three separate things, they sit in different places, and only one of them can create a legal problem.
The Defining Characteristic of Each
Dedication. The distinguishing feature is that it belongs to the author rather than the publisher. New Hart's Rules describes it as "a highly personal expression on the part of the author", and notes that the publisher "usually accepts its wording and content unchanged, and its design is usually subject to the author's approval when that of the rest of the book is not". It is normally a single line. It goes on a recto, usually page v.
Epigraph. The distinguishing feature is that it is quoted material, set apart typographically. New Hart's Rules defines it as "a relevant quotation placed at the beginning of a volume, part, or chapter", and requires that it be "distinguished typographically from other displayed quotations". Sources are ranged right beneath the quotation. Author and title are enough, because, as New Hart's puts it, "readers are not expected to want to verify the quotation". Quotation marks are not used.
Acknowledgements. Thanks and credits. The important structural point, which most guides miss, is that two different things share the name. New Hart's Rules separates them: the author's personal thanks, headed simply Acknowledgements, and Copyright acknowledgements, which list the rights holders of quoted material. It recommends keeping the two apart, and notes the copyright list can sit in the prelims or the end matter.
Where Each One Goes
This is where it stops being simple, because the authorities disagree and one of them recently changed its mind.
Dedication: immediately after the copyright page, on a recto. No disagreement.
Epigraph: genuinely contested. Chicago places it directly after the dedication, before the contents page. New Hart's Rules puts it last in the prelims, "preferably a recto, immediately before the text". Princeton University Press puts it on a verso facing the contents. MIT Press treats "dedication or epigraph" as a single slot. All four are defensible. Pick one and be consistent, which New Hart's requires explicitly: "The use of epigraphs and their positioning must be consistent throughout the work."
Acknowledgements: the back, now. The Chicago Manual of Style changed this in its 18th edition and records it in its own list of what changed: "Acknowledgments now preferred in back matter rather than front matter for most books." Most articles online still give the older advice. Trade fiction had already settled on the back. Short thanks can instead be folded into the preface.
Only the Epigraph Carries Legal Risk
A dedication is your own words. Acknowledgements are your own words. An epigraph is somebody else's, and that changes things.
The University of Texas Press is direct about it: "epigraphs don't always meet fair-use criteria and frequently require permission", and "front matter epigraphs require permission". The reason is structural rather than about length. Fair use weighs transformative purpose heavily, and an epigraph is decorative by definition. You are not analysing the quotation, you are borrowing its mood, which is the weakest possible position. Text you actually discuss in your chapter stands a far better chance.
For verse and lyrics the exposure is worse, because the quoted portion is large relative to the whole work. UT Press gives two to four lines as a rough ceiling and never more than 10 percent of the work. Faber and Faber's stated position, quoted by Chicago's own blog, is that epigraphs "are not fair use under any circumstances".
If you do license one, the credit goes in copyright acknowledgements or on the copyright page.
Doing This in Deckle
Deckle has Dedication and Epigraph page types under Front Matter in the Binder's + menu, and Acknowledgments under Back Matter. That split matches Chicago's current recommendation rather than the older convention.
Each has its own styling controls in the Styler, including vertical position for the dedication and quote width and an optional rule above the attribution for the epigraph. Because Binder order is book order, moving a dedication above or below the epigraph is a drag in the Binder.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming epigraphs are safe because they are short. Length is not the test. Decorative use weighs against fair use, and epigraphs are decorative by definition.
- Putting acknowledgements in the front matter by default. Chicago now prefers the back for most books.
- Using quotation marks around an epigraph. They are unnecessary unless they appear in the original.
- Giving a full citation under an epigraph. Author and title are enough.
- Mixing epigraph placement. If chapter epigraphs sit under the chapter title, every one of them should.
- Combining personal thanks and copyright credits under one heading. They are different lists and can live in different parts of the book.
FAQ
Q: Can I dedicate a book to someone without asking them? A: Yes. A dedication is your own text, naming someone in a non-commercial, non-defamatory way.
Q: Do I need permission for an epigraph from a very old book? A: Not if the work is in the public domain. The risk is with material still in copyright.
Q: Can the acknowledgements go in the preface instead? A: Yes. Both New Hart's Rules and Chicago allow short thanks to be folded into the preface, with a separate section used when they run long.
Q: Is there a word limit for any of these? A: No authority gives one. The real rule is about placement rather than length: short thanks fold into the preface, long ones become their own section.
Q: Where does a chapter epigraph go? A: Either on the verso facing the chapter opening, or beneath the chapter heading. Choose one and apply it throughout.