Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could publish our novels with such lovely marginalia? There is something so unexpectedly tender about these two snails meeting and kissing in the margin. Marginalia art has a vital life of its own — existing side by side with text but not necessarily commenting on the reader. It's the mind reading and wandering a little bit, hearing the whispered words in the head, but delighting in the visual art that sidetracks and then returns one to the text, refreshed. And all in a matter of moments.
Art: Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, Ms 6881, detail of f. 72. Book of Hours, use of Chalon. 15th century.
Why can’t you publish a novel with marginalia?
Yes! Absolutely …. except I would say the publishers would be unhappy about the cost. But a small press to do a limited edition of a novel with lovely marginalia rather than full page illustrations would be so awesome.
Here’s a stunning kickstarter project from an artist illuminating (I love this medieval distinct — to illuminate rather than illustrate) every page of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of the Species”