Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books (Yale Nota Bene) [Paperback]

"Annotation," known by your grade school teacher as "ruining your books," has a long and colorful history. Erasmus recommended to his students that they write in their texts. In England, Coleridge was revered in his day as now for his prolific commentaries and, according to Jackson, "his name associated with the publication and popularization of the genre." At one point English children were taught how, specifically, to best annotate their books. Importantly, annotation was finally seen in a positive light, as a way to read actively: "a discipline that fosters attentive reading, intellectual self-awareness, and incisive writing."

Dr. Jackson's tour of marginalia's most ardent and consistent practitioners reads like a "Who's Who" of English-speaking literary history: Sir James Frazer, Boswell, Johnson, Hester Lynch Piozzi, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexander Pope, Virginia Woolf, John Ruskin, William Blake, Ellen Terry, T.H. White, Gertrude Stein, Northrup Frye, Vladimir Nabokov - and many more. In addition, much good annotation was done by readers whose names have been lost. There are hilarious anecdotes and quotes as well as perceptive character sketches. Jackson loves her subject and her cast of characters - and includes many interesting and amusing stories about the lives of the annotators. (In one anecdote Maurice Sendak, at a book signing, is warned by a panicked child not to wreck his new book - by autographing it. Sendak complies with the child's wishes.)

In addition Dr Jackson discusses North American and British museum and library collections of annotated books. There are novels, nonfiction, family bibles, college textbooks, cookbooks, and children's books in addition to classic and obscure texts.

Dr. Jackson is passionate about her subject. She's been at it for years. Addressing the arguments against its practice. She includes a thoughtful essay "Book Use or Book Abuse." There are hundreds of endnotes, a Bibliography of Annotated Books Cited, a Bibliography of Secondary Works Cited, and a good index.

This thrilling and careful study is by turns English literary history, the history of books and reading, trenchant psychological exploration, and biography. In addition, there is mystery, gossip, and fun. This is a wonderful book on a subject I'd never given much thought to, not realizing that writing in the margins has a glorious past - and having felt vaguely guilty for years for penciling so many of my books.

Definitely worth reading.

But then something wonderful happened. I read a book that changed my life and I couldn't stop writing in it. I underlined. I took notes in the margins. I wrote sideways when I ran out of room, and jotted my own ideas on the bottoms of the pages, finally resorting to filling up the blank endpages. That experience changed my whole philosophy. Since then I not only write in (my own) books when the spirit moves me, but I look for others' notes when I buy used books as well. One of the most interesting books I have is by Eric Hoffer, the 'Longshoreman Philosopher', with notes written in it by at least three people besides myself. I love that.

Dr. Jackson addresses this heretofore neglected topic in terms of the physical (where it is placed), the historical (how attitudes about, and the function of, marginalia have changed), and the motivational (why people have left these traces). The author uses six lengthy case studies to illustrate her ideas, particularly drawing on the influence of Samuel Coleridge and Boswell's Life of Johnson. There are extensive notes, bibliographies of primary and secondary sources, and an index.

The writing is a bit dry, but the work is informative and interesting. The author really shines when she relates anecdotes, and I wish there would have been more of them as well as more illustrations --with only nine examples shown, I was really anxious to see more. I learned a lot about an interesting subject and am grateful to the author.

As a librarian, I don't advocate the marking of books that are for public use, but I am a firm believer in making one's books one's own -- and you can bet I marked this one up a bit.

I just wish Jackson's book had been more coherent. I have no arguement with many of the points Jackson is trying to make. I find myself, as someone who "creates" marginalia in some of my books, reflected in many things she says. I, too, generally on write in books of non-fiction on subjects in which I feel I have some knowledge. I, too, as a book collector, came to writing marginalia late and still make it a point to keep many of my books in pristine condition because of that. Jackson obviously has a well-researched view of her subject.

On the other hand, I was somewhat disappointed in her skills as a writer. There is an incoherence to some of the things that she does in this book. She has nice coverage of different types of marginalia and speculates on some of the reasons that people write marginalia which are nicely done, but she includes discussions and digressions on book alterations that she even admits are technically not marginalia.

Also, she spends a lot of time in her last chapter considering whether writing marginalia in books is "right" or "wrong" when it clearly is not either. It is simply a matter of personal choice. I write marginalia in my books because I want to, the books are mine and I have no intention of getting rid of my books. On the other hand, I almost never buy books that already have marginalia in them. I want a pristine page for my own comments. Am I damaging my books or reducing their value? That depends on some future buyer and is not something I consider. I am increasing their value to myself. Perhaps my marginalia will have an interest to some future scholar. Perhaps my books will end up in the trash bin. But I won't be around to see it and I certainly don't feel there is any right or wrong to it.

What makes more sense is Jackson's arguement that books with marginalia should be better catalogued and more valued in scholarship. I do believe there are things to learn from marginalia for history in general and the history of reading, a subject which is becoming more popular these days.

This is a good book to read for anyone interested in books or the history of reading. If there were a number of books out there on this subject I would probably have rated this book lower because I don't find it particularly well-written. I would also suggest that people read Boswell's Life of Johnson before they read this because she spends a lot of time talking about this book. However, I have given this book some extra-credit for being a good first attempt that will hopefully generate more interest and better scholarship in the subject.