Marginalia, also known as apostils, are notes or marks written in the margins of books or documents. These can include scribbles, comments, annotations, critiques, doodles, drolleries, or illuminations.

Biblical manuscripts

Biblical manuscripts often include notes written in the margins, which were used for religious services. These margins contain information about how texts are divided, such as κεφάλαια, Ammonian Sections, and Eusebian Canons. Later, people added other notes, corrections, and comments by hand in the margins. These marginal notes may be important because some ancient or medieval writers who added them might have had access to other texts that are now lost due to events like wars, destruction, or suppression. These notes could provide insights into an earlier, more widely known version of the text than what is currently known. Because of this, scholars who study ancient texts often try to find as many surviving manuscripts as possible, since the notes in the margins might offer extra clues about how to understand these texts.

History

One of the earliest ways people added notes to texts was through scholia, which are written comments in the margins of a book. These notes were usually added by the scribe who copied the text by hand. In ancient Greece, three scholars—Zenodotus of Ephesus, Aristophanes of Byzantium, and Aristarchus of Samothrace—worked at the Library of Alexandria. They created a system of symbols to mark up Homer’s poetry in the margins. This system, called obelism, used symbols that later became known as the dagger (†), named after the obelus. One of these symbols, the ancora, shaped like an anchor (⸔ or ⸕), was used to highlight important parts of the text.

Before the printing press was invented, books were written by hand on materials like vellum, a type of animal skin, and later on paper. Paper and vellum were expensive, and a single book could cost as much as a house. Because of this, books were often kept for many years and passed down through families. Readers often wrote notes in the margins to help future readers understand the text better. Out of the 52 surviving copies of Lucretius’s "De rerum natura" that scholars study today, 49 have notes written in the margins.

After the printing press was invented, the practice of writing in the margins of books became less common. Printed books were much cheaper, so people no longer saw them as valuable items to improve for future generations. The first Gutenberg Bible was printed in the 1450s. Handwritten notes in books were still common until the end of the 1500s, but by the 1800s, writing in margins became rare.

One famous example of a marginal note is Fermat’s claim, written around 1637, that he had a proof for his last theorem but there was not enough space in the margin to write it. In the 1700s, Voltaire wrote many notes in the books in his library, and these notes were later published. The word "marginalia" was first used in 1819 in Blackwood’s Magazine. Between 1845 and 1849, Edgar Allan Poe called some of his writings "Marginalia." Five books of Samuel T. Coleridge’s notes in the margins of texts have been published. In the 1990s, efforts began to create e-book devices that allow limited forms of writing notes in the margins.

Some notes written in the margins were serious works or drafts of writings. Voltaire wrote in the margins of books while in prison, and Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a personal statement in the margins of a book just before he was executed.

Recent studies

Marginalia can increase or decrease the value of a book that belonged to someone important, depending on who wrote the notes and which book they are in.

Catherine C. Marshall, who studies the future of user interface design, has looked into how people add notes to books. She found that in some university departments, students search through stacks of used textbooks at bookstores for copies that have consistent notes written in the margins. These students value the knowledge that previous readers have shared. In recent years, the notes left by students in library books have also interested sociologists who want to learn more about the experience of being a university student.

John Lloyd, who once worked as a reporter for The Financial Times in Moscow, said he saw Stalin’s copy of The Prince by Machiavelli, which had notes written in the margins.

American poet Billy Collins has written about the practice of adding notes to books in his poem called "Marginalia."

Over the past thirty years, many studies have tried to understand the meaning of notes found in illuminated manuscripts. However, there are many different ideas about what these notes were used for. One study looked at medieval and Renaissance manuscripts that showed snails in the margins and found that these drawings were meant to be funny because snails’ shells look similar to knights’ armor. Other studies suggest that some notes were used to explain or support the main text. Some types of notes may have been a way for scribes to show their artistic skills, while others were exaggerated drawings meant to amuse readers. Some notes may have also acted as warnings, showing examples of bad behavior to avoid. Some scholars believe that medieval artists added notes to avoid leaving blank spaces on pages or to create decorative elements that had no specific meaning. Examples of notes in medieval manuscripts include drawings of centaurs, warrior women, battles between cats and mice, stories from the Bible, personified animals like foxes, rabbits, and monkeys, and hidden words or messages in border designs.