History Main / OnceMoreWithEndnotes

Since language has a tendency to change over time and certain references lose their currency, reprints of classic works of literature sometimes have an endnotes or footnotes section, explaining some of the references. These usually explain:
* Customs, technological devices and societal statuses of the time period that are no longer recognized.
* [[HaveAGayOldTime Word uses which have since shifted,]] [[GetTheeToANunnery and wordplay about such.]]
* Connections with the author's life period, and random guesswork at what inspired passages
* Allusions or in-references that were commonly recognized, but are now more obscure.

Often parodied by having footnotes for footnotes.

Not to be confused with ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Once More]][[hottip:*:[[Literature/{{Discworld}} With Footnotes]]''.
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!!Examples:

* ''Literature/TheBible''. There are whole books dedicated to endnoting the thing.
* ''Literature/ThePickwickPapers''
* ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment''
* ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''
* ''TheBrothersKaramazov''
* ''WarAndPeace''
* ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables''. One amusing bit is the annotating author observing that somehow Anne obtained a copy of ''BenHur'' two years before it was published.
* Annotated editions of anything by Creator/{{Shakespeare}}, obviously.
* Many compilations of stories by Creator/HPLovecraft.
* ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' - as a lot of the poems and songs were [[WeirdAlEffect parodies of ones no longer known]].
* ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''
* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' - dozens of political and literary references entirely opaque to the modern reader (to the point that it's [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids often mistaken for a children's fairy tale]]).
* ''WarOfTheWorlds''
* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Sancho uses many proverbs and Spanish idioms that get lost in translation. There are also many allusions to chivalrous knights, courtly love and mythology that most people are not even aware of today. Snarky volumes point out the continuity errors.
* Anything by Creator/ThomasHardy - the man peppered his novels with classical allusions.
* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''. As it's a number of {{Take That}}s against then-current political enemies, it's sometimes impossible to figure out why someone is in a certain level of the afterlife without endnotes. Dante will sometimes explain it, but other times, he'll just assume that the reader knows the subtext. Many of the gestures, insults, and metaphors are also unknown to modern audiences.
* ''Literature/ParadiseLost''. It's probably possible without the notes, but boy, does it make life a lot easier.
* "Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner". The writer himself had to write Cliff Notes so that his friends could understand it.
* There are at least a few different Annotated SherlockHolmes collections in the world. The one This Troper has is almost surreal, as all annotations follow the LiteraryAgentHypothesis, and therefore explain not only Victorian references, but also point out mistakes Watson clearly made in writing the story, and [[HandWave explanations]] of continuity errors.
* ''Isaac Asimov's Annotated GilbertAndSullivan''.
* Creator/TSEliot provided some endnotes of his own for his poem "TheWasteLand"; the poem includes untranslated quotes from various sources. Unfortunately, the endnotes are sometimes almost as obscure as the poem itself.
* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. This troper's translation is loaded with endnotes explaining all sorts of aspects of ancient Chinese culture, from date conversions to the characters' frequent references to earlier historical characters, as well as notable places where the most commonly read version of the text was significantly changed from the original. There are over 100 pages of endnotes, but it is [[DoorStopper an over 2000 page long novel]].
* Sometimes, non-Western literature, especially translated versions of Japanese literature/light novels such as ''WelcomeToTheNHK'' have endnotes to explain even contemporary references which may seem obvious to a Japanese person if they are rooted in the context of the novel, but a Western person like an American or a different English speaking person might miss.
* All of Creator/JaneAusten's works.
* Pepys's ''[[Literature/TheDiaryOfSamuelPepys Diary]]'' has so many endnotes they take up an entire volume, with another volume of general reference.
* James Joyce's ''{{Ulysses}}'' has received this treatment with at least one annotated edition explaining the book's numerous references and allusions.
** Notable for the fact that the book of annotations is bigger than ''{{Ulysses}}'' itself.
* ''Literature/{{Lolita}}''--not because it was written particularly long ago, but because it's packed with allusions and sneaky wordplay.
* The ''{{Flashman}}'' series has this as well. Like the SherlockHolmes example above, the endnotes play with the LiteraryAgentHypothesis, and as well as explaining the various allusions and Victorian pop-culture references, point out [[HandWave occasions on which the eponymous character must have been mistaken, or exaggerated for effect]].
* Sun Tzu's ''Literature/TheArtOfWar'' is understandable (although much of it is obsolete), but most printings will have at least an essay providing historical context, if not extensive notes.
** In an unusual case, almost all editions of ''The Art of War'' have annotations from multiple ''classical-era'' authors, most notably Cao Cao. These make up 80% or so of the book and are normally considered an indispensible part of the text, providing far more information than the original work. Modern-era authors will then add a ''second'' set of notes.
* Not quite endnotes, but there is at least one reference book listing the allusions in The Cantos of Ezra Pound that is longer than the actual cantos.
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* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' - dozens of political and literary references entirely opaque to the modern reader.

* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Sancho uses many proverbs and Spanish idioms that get lost in translation. There are also many allusions to chivalrous knights, courtly love and mythology that most people are not even aware of today.

Not to be confused with ''[[{{Discworld}} Once More]][[hottip:*:[[{{Discworld}} With Footnotes]]''.

* ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables''. One amusing bit is the annotating author observing that somehow Anne obtained a copy of ''BenHur'' two years before it was published.

* Anything by ThomasHardy - the man peppered his novels with classical allusions.

* ''TheBible''. There are whole books dedicated to endnoting the thing.
* ''ThePickwickPapers''

* ''{{Frankenstein}}''

* Annotated editions of anything by {{Shakespeare}}, obviously.
* Many compilations of stories by HPLovecraft.

* ''GulliversTravels'' - dozens of political and literary references entirely opaque to the modern reader.

* Anything by Thomas Hardy - the man peppered his novels with classical allusions.
* The DivineComedy. As it's a number of {{Take That}}s against then-current political enemies, it's sometimes impossible to figure out why someone is in a certain level of the afterlife without endnotes. Dante will sometimes explain it, but other times, he'll just assume that the reader knows the subtext. Many of the gestures, insults, and metaphors are also unknown to modern audiences.
* ''ParadiseLost''. It's probably possible without the notes, but boy, does it make life a lot easier.
* ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner''. The writer himself had to write Cliff Notes so that his friends could understand it.

* T. S. Elliot provided some endnotes of his own for his poem "The Waste Land"; the poem includes untranslated quotes from various sources. Unfortunately, the endnotes are sometimes almost as obscure as the poem itself.
* RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms. This troper's translation is loaded with endnotes explaining all sorts of aspects of ancient Chinese culture, from date conversions to the characters' frequent references to earlier historical characters, as well as notable places where the most commonly read version of the text was significantly changed from the original. There are over 100 pages of endnotes, but it is [[DoorStopper an over 2000 page long novel]].

* All of JaneAusten's works.
* Pepys's ''Diary'' has so many endnotes they take up an entire volume, with another volume of general reference.

* ''{{Lolita}}''--not because it was written particularly long ago, but because it's packed with allusions and sneaky wordplay.

* Sun Tzu's TheArtOfWar is understandable (although much of it is obsolete), but most printings will have at least an essay providing historical context, if not extensive notes.
** In an unusual case, almost all editions of TheArtOfWar have annotations from multiple ''classical-era'' authors, most notably Cao Cao. These make up 80% or so of the book and are normally considered an indispensible part of the text, providing far more information than the original work. Modern-era authors will then add a ''second'' set of notes.

* ''AliceInWonderland'' - as a lot of the poems and songs were [[WeirdAlEffect parodies of ones no longer known]].

* ''[[GulliversTravels Gulliver's Travels]]'' - dozens of political and literary references entirely opaque to the modern reader.

Not to be confused with ''[[{{Discworld}} Once More]][[hottip:* :[[{{Discworld}} With Footnotes]]]]''.

** This troper had to have it explained to him that a main character had just been ''raped'' at one point...
** I think that's supposed to be a 'was she or wasn't she' aspect, and so deliberately hard to follow...
* The DivineComedy. As it's a number of {{Take That}}s against then-current political enemies, it's sometimes impossible to figure out why someone is in a certain level of the afterlife without endnotes. Dante will sometimes explain it, but other times, he'll just assume that the reader knows the subtext.
** Worse than that, sometimes he uses metaphors that mean nothing to most modern people. Early in the book a panther walks past him, the notes suggest this refers to being tempted by money.
*** Even people who study Dante for a living are rather unsure about what exactly is going on with that (I assume you're referring to where he's attacked by a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf).

* ''TheBible'', natch. There are whole books dedicated to endnoting the thing.

* ''DonQuixote'': Sancho uses many proverbs and Spanish idioms that get lost in translation. There are also many allusions to chivalrous knights, courtly love and mythology that most people are not even aware of today.

* ''{{Beowulf}}''

* ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner''. A poem conveying the deep and unnatural horror of the fact that ''the writer himself had to write Cliff Notes so that his friends could understand it''.

* [[Tropers/{{Noaqiyeum}} This Troper]]'s personal favorite example, ''Isaac Asimov's Annotated GilbertAndSullivan''.

thi[[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible The parts he wrote might as well be in a foreign language.]]
** [[BilingualBonus A lot of it was in a foreign language.]]

* T. S. Elliot provided some endnotes of his own for his poem "The Waste Land"; the poem includes untranslated quotes from various sources. [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible The parts he wrote might as well be in a foreign language.]]

* ''AnneOfGreenGables.'' One amusing bit is the annotating author observing that somehow Anne obtained a copy of ''BenHur'' two years before it was published.

* ''TheBible'', natch.

* ''AnneOfGreenGables.'' One amusing bit is the annotating author observing that somehow Anne obtained a copy of ''Ben Hur'' two years before it was published.

* Word uses which have since shifted, and wordplay about such.

* Customs, technological devices and societal statuses of the time period that are no longer recognised.

* Allusions or in-references that were commonly recognised, but are now more obscure.

Since language has a tendency to change over time and certain references lose their currency, reprints of classic works of literature sometimes have an endnotes section, explaining some of the references. These usually explain:

Examples:

* James Joyce's {{Ulysses}} has received this treatment with at least one annotated edition explaining the book's numerous references and allusions.
** Notable for the fact that the book of annotations is bigger than {{Ulysses}} itself.

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