The Devil's Details: A History of the Footnote - Hardcover

Zerby, Chuck

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1931229058 ISBN 13: 9781931229050

Publisher: Invisible Cities Press,US, 2001

Synopsis

This surprising history of the footnote starts with the assumption that footnotes are not solely the province of academics and bibliophiles. On the contrary, this book argues that footnotes can enchant and inform readers through tributes to people, characters, heroes, and lovers. Scholars have employed them, of course, but so have poets, novelists, memorialists, and pornographers. Written with clarity and erudition, this book presents the history of the first genuine footnote--an annotation in a 17th-century poem by England's first female poet--and other fascinating footnote tales, such as the discovery of a multivolume book that uses one entire volume for a single footnote and the use of footnotes to footnotes. This history pays tribute to the joy of reading footnotes and makes a compelling case that they are too important, too interesting, and too entertaining to be left to scholars.

About this title

Review:

"[Zerby] offers an exhastive history of his subject, which includes such luminaries as Edward Gibbon, who devoted one-quarter of the space in "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" to footnotes. Zerby gladly follows his example, squeezing footnotes onto virtually every page of his book, including the cover. These annotations are, in fact, the best part of the book--hilarious, illuminating, opinionated and wide-ranging." --"BookPage"

A wonderful little treasure of learning, lightness and literary history . . . Invaluable to any and all who love the word, wit, and the world. "Kirkus Reviews," starred review, October 2001
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Zerby mounts a spirited defense of a little-loved and endangered species. "Boston Sunday Globe
""

[Zerby] offers an exhastive history of his subject, which includes such luminaries as Edward Gibbon, who devoted one-quarter of the space in "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" to footnotes. Zerby gladly follows his example, squeezing footnotes onto virtually every page of his book, including the cover. These annotations are, in fact, the best part of the book hilarious, illuminating, opinionated and wide-ranging. "BookPage""

"A wonderful little treasure of learning, lightness and literary history . . . Invaluable to any and all who love the word, wit, and the world." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review, October 2001
"Zerby mounts a spirited defense of a little-loved and endangered species." --Boston Sunday Globe

"[Zerby] offers an exhastive history of his subject, which includes such luminaries as Edward Gibbon, who devoted one-quarter of the space in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to footnotes. Zerby gladly follows his example, squeezing footnotes onto virtually every page of his book, including the cover. These annotations are, in fact, the best part of the book--hilarious, illuminating, opinionated and wide-ranging." --BookPage

About the Author:

Chuck Zerby has written for the New York Times, Woman's Day, the History of Education Quarterly, and the Amherst Record. He lives in Hadley, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Invisible Cities Press,US
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1931229058
• ISBN 13: 9781931229050
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192