Fun Article on Marginalia

What do Mark Twain, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Charles Darwin and Nelson Mandela have in common? Marginelia i.e. writing comments beside passages. Scribbles by readers on books are stories in themselves. Not only do these notes enhance the reading experience but they also become part of our literary heritage. The Caxton Club, a literary group, is sponsoring a symposium in March titled Other People's Books: Association Copies and the Stories They Tell in which they will present books that were once owned or annotated by authors. A lot of us have been taught that recording our thoughts and reflections in books is defacing them. Read a refreshing take on marginalia in this article in The New York Times here!