An annotated edition is a
literary work Literary work is a generic term for works of literature, i.e. texts such as fiction and non-fiction books, essays, screenplays''.''
In the philosophy of art and the field of aesthetics there is some debate about what that means, precisely.
What a ...
where marginal comments have been added to explain, interpret, or illuminate words, phrases, themes, or other elements of the text. The annotated edition is often something pursued by historical or literary scholars, as a secular parallel to
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
annotations of the
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
.
Notably, certain publishers provide annotated editions that are well received, such as
Norton Critical Editions or the
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...
editions.
Some annotations are brief, requiring only one or a few sentences. Others are lengthy, continuing for one or more pages. Normally, the text occupies the center of the page, and the annotations, which are keyed numerically to the words and phrases with which they are associated, run down the left side of the left page and down the right side of the right page. However, sometimes the annotations appear at the bottom of both pages, as in ''The New Schofield Reference Bible'' and ''The Riverside Shakespeare''.
Novel forms
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