This work examines and critiques the history, use, and abuse of various literary documentation systems. Throughout history, such systems have been employed in different ways and through various applications in order to comment, translate, reference, or otherwise remark tangentially on a primary text. The work studies all forms of documentation used in the Western world - from ancient Biblical commentaries, to the medieval gloss, to the current systems used by researchers in the humanities and sciences. The topics include the historical development of documentation; the specific advantages and disadvantages of Chicago, APA, MLA, and other current styles; and the common misuses or intentional deceptions within modern documentation practices.