Part I

Ancient Annotations in Context

Ancient testimonies, mostly literary in nature, provide evidence that a range of people extensively used notes that could assist them in their literary endeavors. Ancient notes, like modern ones, are ambiguous in nature, poised between writing and orality. They could be simple, brief records kept for later use, a collection of Quellen, or they might be sketches of thoughts, bridges conducive to formal writing. They could be added to a manuscript destined for wide circulation, or they could indicate a private interest, exclusively serving a personal need.¹ They might be collected to form a complete text, then eventually discarded when they became obsolete.

1. Zetzel 1980.