Having a Conversation With a Book

One of the many joys of owning your own paper-bound books is being able to write any stray thoughts in the margins of the pages.  These doodles, comments, and criticisms are officially called marginalia, and they can be found around the edges of books of all kinds. Although these notes are often overlooked or dismissed, they are actually a lively story about the reader’s interaction with the text. Whether found in medieval manuscripts or modern paperbacks, marginalia offer a glimpse into the minds of readers across time.

The term “marginalia” was popularized by Edgar Allan Poe in the 19th century, though the practice itself dates back centuries earlier. Even in illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages, monks and scribes sometimes filled the margins with commentary and fanciful illustrations—grotesque faces and fantastical beasts were perhaps included to make the copying more interesting. These flourishes were not always merely decorative, however; they often had to do with theological debates, personal reflections, or satirical criticisms. Marginalia served as a dialog between the sacred text and the scribe’s inner world, and since a lot of people couldn’t read, they were often private to themselves.

In the Renaissance and Enlightenment, marginalia became more scholarly. Readers annotated texts to challenge ideas, cross-reference sources, or record insights. People like Isaac Newton and Samuel Taylor Coleridge left behind books covered with notes, revealing their own ideas about the material. Marginalia in this context functioned as a form of intellectual autobiography—a record of the thoughts of the reader, and they are very valuable to historians today.

Marginalia are not confined to the realm of scholars, however. These notes can be deeply democratic, accessible to anyone with a pen and a book. A teenager might underline lyrics in a poetry collection. A student might question an author’s argument in the margins of a textbook. A reader might jot down a memory sparked by a passage in a novel. These annotations are deeply personal, often intimate, and sometimes confessional. They transform the book into a place where the printed word meets life as it is lived.

In the digital age, this practice takes on a new form. Some online platforms allow readers to highlight, comment, and share annotations. E-books offer virtual margins where thoughts can be stored and retrieved. While this is useful, it just doesn’t seem to have the tactile intimacy of handwritten notes.  But that is a personal matter.  We just hope that paper books and the marginalia they encourage will not be lost forever.  In any case, the spirit of engagement persists, and readers continue to talk with books—and with each other—through the margins.