Page Numbers of the Standard Edition on the Margins of the Translation

Question

Suppose we translated a classical work (Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, for example, or Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason) and we want to give the page numbers corresponding to the original text’s standard edition (for Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, that would be the Bekker numbers, and for Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, that would be the page numbers of the A and B editions of the Critique of Pure Reason) on the margins of our translation. How can we achieve this?

Answer 1

Given renewed interest in this question some days ago, here's an explicit answer that elaborates on comments by David Carlisle and Maïeul Rouquette.

A very simple way to write page numbers in the margin would be with \marginpar.

ΗΘΙΚΩΝ ΝΙΚΟΜΑΧΕΙΩΝ A.%
\marginpar{1094a}

πᾶσα τέχνη καὶ πᾶσα μέθοδος, ὁμοίως δὲ πρᾶξίς τε καὶ προαίρεσις,
ἀγαθοῦ τινὸς ἐφίεσθαι δοκεῖ:

Two problems with marginpar:

(1) it doesn't work with reledmac – the best tool for critical editions with LaTeX;

(2) marginpar being a float, you cannot append page numbers to footnotes and other elements – and (as any dedicated reader can clearly see) Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is full of page breaks in long footnotes.

reledmac:

As noted by Maïeul, reledmac provides its own, quite flexible, tool for sidenotes: \ledsidenote (§ 12 of the manual).

An added bonus: several sidenotes pertaining to the same line are listed in sequence, with a customizable separator put in automatically. This is precious when having more than one numbering, as with the two standard editions of Kant's Critique (A and B).

This solves (1), but unfortunately, (2) persists: just as line numbering, ledsidenotes is disabled for all footnotes (critical or otherwise).

marginnote

Pkg marginnote does not treat marginal text as a float and thus provides a workaround for footnotes (2). Gone, however, is the elegant automatic arrangement of ledsidenotes; marginnotes need more micro-management.

Note: The margin note will be placed at the current vertical line. This means, if you are using two \marginnote commands at the same line, they will be put on the same place. This is not a bug but a feature! (from the documentation)

For these reasons, I recommend keeping \ledsidenote for general use, to bring in \marginnote only where the former fails (in footnotes). This is a setup that works for a hypothetical edition of Kant's Critique:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{relsize}    % for context-appropriate font scaling (\smaller etc.)

\usepackage{reledmac}
\lineation{page}    
\linenummargin{inner}
\sidenotemargin{outer}      % to avoid a clash with line numbers
\setsidenotesep{ }          % the default is ", "

\newcommand{\KrVpageA}[1]{\textbrokenbar\ledsidenote{\textsmaller[1]{A\,#1}}}
\newcommand{\KrVpageB}[1]{\textbar\ledsidenote{\textsmaller[1]{B\,#1}}}

\usepackage{marginnote}

\newcommand{\KrVpageAnote}[1]{\textbrokenbar\marginnote{\textsmaller[1]{A\,#1}}}
\newcommand{\KrVpageBnote}[1]{\textbar\marginnote{\textsmaller[1]{B\,#1}}}

\begin{document}
\beginnumbering
\pstart
daß wir nämlich von den Dingen nur das a priori erkennen, was wir selbst in sie legen.%
\footnoteA{Diese dem Naturforscher nachgeahmte Methode ... 
als Gegenstände der \KrVpageBnote{XIX} Sinne und des Verstandes für die Erfahrung}
... den \KrVpageB{XIX} sicheren Gang einer Wissenschaft.
\pend
\bigskip

\pstart
so bedeutet die Vorstellung vom Rau\KrVpageA{27}me gar nichts. 
\KrVpageB{43} Dieses Prädikat wird den Dingen nur insofern beigelegt,
\pend
\bigskip

\pstart
so gilt diese Regel allgemein und ohne Einschränkung. Un\KrVpageB{44}sere 
Erörterungen lehren demnach \KrVpageA{28} die \textit{Realität} 
(d.\,i. die objektive Gültigkeit) des Raumes
\pend
\endnumbering
\end{document}