It’s one of the more divisive habits among bibliophiles: to write in the margins of a book, or not? Is the act more subversive for being done in pen rather than pencil, or in the pages of a freshly printed hardback, rather than a secondhand paperback? Marginalia, the grand-sounding name for what is often a juvenile activity, can both delight and enrage, depending on who has created it and where. As long as books have had margins, there has been marginalia. The scholars behind medieval textbooks littered the edges of their curlicued text with drawings of everything from disgruntled unicorns to monkeys playing the bagpipes. Noteworthy examples of more recent jottings: Vladimir Nabokov neatly going through 55 Short Stories from The New Yorker, 1940-1950 in pencil and grading each story. (He gave his own, “Colette, ” an A+.) Nelson Mandela, while imprisoned in 1977, writing his own name next This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Eight Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 51 Emily Gernild The Danish painter breathing new life into an old medium. Arts & Culture Food Issue 51 Imogen Kwok The artist takes food styling quite literally, creating accessories out of fruits and vegetables. Arts & Culture Design Issue 51 How to Make a Chair And do it on a tiny budget. Arts & Culture Issue 51 Odd Jobs The comedian with strong opinions about your home décor. Arts & Culture Issue 51 Tall Order The hidden depths of height. Arts & Culture Films Issue 51 Vicky Krieps An interview with the actor.
Arts & Culture Food Issue 51 Imogen Kwok The artist takes food styling quite literally, creating accessories out of fruits and vegetables.
