Adler, M.J. (1940) How to mark a book
I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love
There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it.
This reminds me of the kid who loved a drawing by Maurice Sendak so much he ate it. And Sendak could think of no higher compliment.
There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers—unread, u n t o u c h e d . (This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books.)
The third has a few books or many—every one of them dogeared and dilapidated, s h a k e n and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.)