Editorial Note
A signed comment by an editor, distinct from the author's own text or notes.
An editorial note is any remark supplied by an editor rather than the author: a correction, a gloss, a context statement, or an explanation of what was cut. Convention marks it explicitly — with "—Ed.", square brackets, or a labelled note — precisely so the reader can tell whose voice is speaking.
The signature is the whole point. An unsigned editorial insertion silently converts editorial opinion into authorial statement, which for quoted material is a form of misquotation.
In reprinted correspondence and interviews, editorial notes carry much of the value: identifying an unnamed person, dating an undated letter, or noting that a paragraph was omitted at the source's request.
Common mistake: burying substantive changes in an unsigned note at the back. Changes that alter meaning belong at the point of change, visible in the same eye-span as the affected text.
“He returned from the conference [in Zurich —Ed.] convinced the plan would fail.”
Keep reading the glossary
An editor's word or phrase inserted inside a quotation, marked with square brackets.
Square brackets mark editorial changes inside a quotation — clarifications, edits, or [sic].
A parenthetical note telling the reader that italics or bolding in a quotation come from the quoter, not the original author.
An editorial mark meaning 'let it stand' — undo a proposed change and keep the original.