superscription

n. DiplomaticsAn indication of the name of the author of a document or of its action that appears in the protocol.

Citations

Duranti 1998, p. 143 Today, the superscription tends to take the form of an entitling; sometimes, however, it coexists with the entitling. It still appears by itself in all contractual documents (the superscription includes the mention of the first party), in declarative documents (those beginning with the pronoun 'I,' followed by the name of the subscriber), and in holographic documents, such as will (e.g., 'This is the last will and testament (title) of John Smith of Vancouver' (superscription)).