Annotation and Its Texts

A spirited study of a neglected topic, these essays explore the character and uses of annotation from Biblical times to the present. A group of distinguished scholars investigates such subjects as the bullying footnote, the play of note against text, the self-annotation of the Bible, the parasitical commentator, the note as imperial seal, the agonies of modern scholarly publication, the hidden marginalium, and the ways in which supplements to the text tend to push aside the text. Casting light on a matter which readers usually ignore, this witty, readable, and revisionist book offers a provocative invitation for further discussion.