Volume 45, Number 4 · March 5, 1998
A Garland of Ibids
By John Gross
The Footnote: A Curious History
by Anthony Grafton
Harvard University Press, 241 pp., $22.95
Footnotes perform many different roles. They can enlarge on a statement, modify a judgment, broaden a context; they can provide solemn reassurance ('You'll find it in the archives') or light relief. Some footnotes are guides to further reading; some offer a home for the inessential detail which is too good to throw away; a few (Gibbon being the most obvious master in this respect) are miniature works of art.
Review, 3276 words
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