The world in the margins of books

Sumit Paul

AT the world-renowned National Library in Kolkata, there used to be a witty instruction for readers: ‘Please don’t underline and write anything. Pens and pencils are arrows that prick the souls of books.’ I wonder why this beautiful line is no longer there. It is indeed a worldwide habit, rather a common trait, to mark and underline while reading a fascinating book. American writer Mark Twain said: ‘Those who underline are far better than those who steal (the books).’ While underlining or penning one’s thoughts may deface a book, it still remains intact. At least, the pages are not torn or lost.

Moreover, through these markings, readers can gain insights into the perspectives of mostly unknown readers and writers. At the University Library, Berlin, there’s a Vulgate Bible with notes by Martin Luther. He pencilled them on the margins in his almost inscrutable handwriting. At the Khuda Bakhsh Library, Patna, there is a copy of Allama Iqbal’s Persian masterpiece Baal-e-Jibreel (Gabriel’s Wing). This copy is full of scribbles; the annotations were made by none other than Raghupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri, when he was the Head of the Department of English at Patna University. The scribbles were compiled by the librarian of Khuda Bakhsh, poet Jameel Mazhari. Firaq’s notes are now available in a slim but sublime book, Taasuraat-e-Baal-e-Jibreel (Thoughts on Baal-e-Jibreel). When it comes to additional notes and apercus in a book, who can forget the famous (or perhaps infamous) feud between two literary giants — Sir VS Naipaul and Paul Theroux? Theroux once gifted his latest travelogue to his friend and mentor Naipaul. One day, at a shop of old books in Liverpool, England, Theroux stumbled upon the copy which was gifted to Naipaul! He picked it up and flipped through the pages. Much to his dismay, he found that Naipaul had pencilled in the end: ‘Not even readable trash!’ They didn’t talk to each other for 15 long years. Though they reconciled later, Theroux never forgot that insult.

Writing and pencilling in a book is not that bad a habit. One of the greatest Urdu poets of the 20th century, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, was in the habit of writing notes while reading a book. He seldom maintained a separate diary and wrote in the books instead. I stumbled upon a book of Urdu poetry by Ravish Siddiqi, an Aligarh poet. It had a number of similar couplets written by an unknown reader. It helped me analyse Ravish’s poetry with respect to that of his contemporaries. I’m still thankful to that reader, who didn’t mention his name. Great literature is full of insights and a book contains many of them, yet there is room for more.

When a book has notes scribbled by readers, the value of it increases manifold. Someone rightly said: ‘When a book is heavily underlined, it underlines its importance.’ You don’t underline anything in a Mills and Boon novel. It has to have something worthy of being highlighted and annotated.