Diderot:
I have in mind two sorts of cross reference -- one concerned with words and the other with things. Cross references to things clarify the subject; they indicate its close connections with other subjects that touch it directly as well as its more remote connections with still other matters that might otherwise be thought irrelevant; and they suggest common elements and analogous principles. They also put added stress on elements of internal consistency within groups of facts, they elaborate upon the connections that each special branch of knowledge has with its parent tree, and they give to the whole Encyclopedia that unity so favorable to the establishment of truth and to its propagation. Moreover, whenever the occasion demands, they will also lend themselves to a contrasting purpose -- they will confront one theory with a contrary one, they will show how some principles conflict with others, they will attack, undermine and secretly overthrow certain ridiculous opinions which no one would dare to oppose openly. When the author is impartial, they will always have the double function of confirming and of confuting, of disturbing and of reconciling. . . . If these cross references, which now confirm and now refute, are carried out artistically according to a plan carefully conceived in advance, they will give the Encyclopedia what every good dictionary ought to have -- the power to change men's common way of thinking. Finally there is a kind of cross reference -- it can refer either to words or to things -- which I would like to call satirical or epigrammatic. . . . I should not like altogether to do without this kind of reference; it is often very useful. . . . It frequently affords a delicate and amusing way to pay back an insult without even seeming to put oneself on the defensive, and it offers an excellent means of snatching off the masks from the faces of certain grave personages.

Walter Benjamin:
The Latin word textum means “web.” 

A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 

Portions of A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) were first published by Voyager, Inc., as part of The Complete Peter Leroy (so far).

The illustration at the top of the page is an adaptation of an illustration by Stewart Rouse that first appeared on the cover of the August 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. The boy at the controls of the aerocycle doesn’t particularly resemble Peter Leroy—except, perhaps, for the smile.