Widener Grinds Forth Massive Marginal Notes

As they turned the vellum pages of temes such as the Temptation of St. Anthony or the Holy Book, Medieval monks were accustomed to jot personal commentary in the margins. Nowadays Karl Marx is more likely to provoke similar notation from the pen of Widener students.

Called glossators by historians, the cowled brethren made extensive scribblings in ancient manuscripts. But their extensive "glossae" are negligible compared to the annual output today in public and college libraries.

Much valuable psychopthic material has been provided for Ph.D. theses on the reaction of the human mind and hand to the printed page. Some people, it has been discovered, read backwards. A few rare specimens are prompted to write backwards in the text they are perusing.

More frequently forward-looking and writing souls abound in Widener who are simply prompted to take issue with an author where he can't talk back-on the pages of his own argument. Certain classifications of writing consistently evoke more violent reaction than others.

A recent survey along the assigned reading shelves of Widener showed literary works preserving pristine white margins. But Economic writings from Adam Smith to Vladimir Ilich Ulianov (Lenin) are salted with such witticisms as "you're crazy," and "tell it to Uncle Joe."

One long statement in a study of syndicalism asks future readers to refrain from marginal notes because they prove distracting. The advice is written in indelible ink.

Such priceless evidence of contemporary scholarship is unfortunately very costly, according to Librarian Keyes D. Metcalf. Replacing course books rendered illegible by doodlers runs into hundreds of dollars per annum. A Library Council rule passed in 1937 assesses anyone who marks books for the full price of the volume, but it has proved difficult to enforce.

Meanwhile the self-perpetuating margin writing continues, with comments on the comments as the book passes from hand to hand.