Wisdom from a 21st Century Book Junkie

If - nay, when! - I go back to the past, impart my wisdom, and pollute timelines, what advice will I give people regarding books, knowledge, and information?

(Disclaimer: This post was written on caffine deprivation at the end of the school year. I am tired. Please don't take any of the rest of this post seriously. Better yet, don't even grade this post. This is my narcissistic, Divine Manifesto wherein I fancy myself a god.)

Given my knowledge of the "future", I imagine imparting this wisdom in the form of stone tablets with a lot of thou shalls and thou shall nots. I think, if given the option, I would go leapfrog-ing through time, in Europe, and impart this knowledge upon those working with texts:

1) Thou shall write and annotate in the margins of your works. Writing in the margins will help the future generations of scholars to deconstruct many aspects and nuances of daily life. We, the future, like it when you annotate.

2) Thou shall not strip books of lineage markings so as to reclaim the book as your own.  (This was fairly common with the dissolution of royal libraries in Britain between the 14th-16th centuries, especially. In the 15th century, when Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester died, his library was dissolved by John Somerseth. Somerseth allegedly stripped off the Dukes crest from the inside of the book, stamped it with his own crest, and donated it to the University of Cambridge as though it was from his own collection. Cheeky.) I would impart to these royal families and aristocrats the future importance of provenance and lineage, in attempting to reconstruct the past.

3) Thou shall allow illustrators and scribes to sign their work, allowing for further comparative study of books and where they come from. Indeed, I would impart onto them the colophon.

4) Thou shall endeavor to make more Rosetta Stones in every language possible.  The amount of languages we've lost is staggering. The wealth of knowledge we've lost with the inaccessibility to translate is incomprehensible.  For example, I would demand that Linear A - the name we give to the undeciphered language of the Minoans (Greeks), be written along side other languages, preferably Egyptian or Aramaic.

5) Thou shall allow and encourage women to write and publish! This one is obvious for a number of reasons.  But I think this will solve a lot questions about 'anonymous' authors who's work survives today. I'm sure it's all brilliant women behind these seminal works. In keeping with that, Rule 5.1 will be: thou shall not destroy woman's work! I would like to read the Book of Eve, for instance, which was likely destroyed in the 4th century AD by the church official, Epiphanius. (Though I suspect the current Pope has a copy of it under lock and key.)

6) Thou shall declare war against bookworms (silver fish and firebrats). They destroy everything we hold dear. Although they occasion provide information on where the book has been. But that won't be needed since everyone will be operating with a standardized colophon.

7) Thou shall not invade other territories and burn down their libraries. Alexandria is not to be touched, under pain of being incinerated by my futuristic ray gun!

8) Thou shall follow the Archaeological Institute of America's guidelines and policies for preserving materials in stable climates. This means no sheds, attics, or basements. I will bring with me acid free boxes from the future. Not to worry.

9) Thou shall not lose works that I've decided are seminal. I know, some cultures have oral traditions and don't like to write things down - I'm looking at you, Greeks. But I must have the lost Homeric epics. Find a list of other works that are lost to us that really shouldn't be here.

10) Thou shall not censor literature or ideas under any circumstance. Proliferation of books and ideas are encouraged.  Book-burning and other destructive actions against books are also banned. Need I remind you of my futuristic ray gun?