ABSTRACT
In 1995 the author began work as the general editor of The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, a 2,600-page anthology published in 2001, which contains selections from 148 figures, starting with Gorgias and Plato and ending with bell hooks, Judith Butler, and Stuart Moulthrop. Her very first task as general editor was to draft a project description and set of guidelines to be used in recruiting editors. The centerpiece of that early ten-page project description turned out to be a one-page list titled ‘Protocols for Headnotes’, which contains a short preamble and fourteen numbered items. Here she looks back on those protocols as a way to examine some unexpected intricacies of the venerable headnote form. According to the protocols for The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, which mostly codify long-standing composition practices, a headnote proper is to be an essay between 750 and 2,000 words, starting with the author's name, dates, and, where possible, a catchy quotation.
