Book as <i>Bibliotheca</i>: The Emergence of the Commented Edition

Since the pioneering research of Louis Holtz and Margaret Gibson, questions have remained about the evolution and significance of a new design in early medieval manuscripts, variously referred to as the “commented edition” or “integrated glossed page.” In this paper I argue that the arrangement of commentary on a central text in columnar format was a codicological innovation crystallizing in Carolingian centers. For the evolution of the design, I chart longstanding experiments in the integration of text and commentary, demonstrating that Carolingian sponsorship was crucial. I set the new design firmly in the contexts of literacy, libraries, and book and biblical culture.