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A whole book about footnotes? Yes—and fascinating it is. Moreover,
The Footnote, the bright idea of Anthony Grafton, naturally has footnotes of its
own, classic ones, authenticating his remarks or sources, as any scientific
paper’s do. But Grafton would like to interest us in the footnote’s
extraordinary history and the use that authors such as Edward Gibbon have made
of it. A weapon, an avenger, an enlightener, a shaft of wit, a display of
tedious pedantry: a footnote can be all of these and much more. One of the
author’s own footnotes tells the story of the man who demanded, in a library,
all the books written by Ibid. Published by Harvard University Press,
$22.95, ISBN 0674902157.