In this article, the author analyzes 2000 literary epigraphs over a certain period of their existence in terms of their transformation due to the development of social thought and technological progress. The development of printed, information and computer technologies, as well as the changes that have taken place over the centuries in public consciousness, have led to the appearance of new epigraphic types of texts, as well as epigraphic discourses. If the epigraph itself is a technology for directing the reader’s attention, it functions differently when it employs quotations from published texts, audio-visual sources, or invented quotes. The survey of technical possibilities demonstrates the staying power of the literary epigraph.