diff --git a/manuscript/admin.py b/manuscript/admin.py
index 3da6c13..0bfd7ad 100644
--- a/manuscript/admin.py
+++ b/manuscript/admin.py
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ class FolioAdmin(ImportExportModelAdmin):
             },
         ),
         ("Toponyms", {"fields": ("toponym_list",)}),
-        ("Notes", {"fields": ("folio_includes_map", "folio_notes")}),
+        ("Notes", {"fields": ("folio_includes_map", "folio_notes", "public_note")}),
     )
 
     def get_fieldsets(self, request, obj=None):
@@ -664,7 +664,10 @@ def get_fieldsets(self, request, obj=None):
                     "Line Range",
                     {"fields": ("line_code_range_start", "line_code_range_end")},
                 ),
-                ("Notes", {"fields": ("folio_includes_map", "folio_notes")}),
+                (
+                    "Notes",
+                    {"fields": ("folio_includes_map", "folio_notes", "public_note")},
+                ),
             )
         return self.fieldsets
 
diff --git a/manuscript/migrations/0129_add_public_notes.py b/manuscript/migrations/0129_add_public_notes.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ae4501
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manuscript/migrations/0129_add_public_notes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.1.15 on 2026-11-03 17:46
+
+import prose.fields
+from django.db import migrations
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("manuscript", "0128_folio_iiif_canvas"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="folio",
+            name="public_note",
+            field=prose.fields.RichTextField(
+                blank=True,
+                help_text="Shown to readers where this folio begins in the text.",
+                null=True,
+            ),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="singlemanuscript",
+            name="public_note",
+            field=prose.fields.RichTextField(
+                blank=True,
+                help_text="Shown to readers at the start of the text.",
+                null=True,
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/manuscript/models.py b/manuscript/models.py
index b680332..ba478aa 100644
--- a/manuscript/models.py
+++ b/manuscript/models.py
@@ -620,6 +620,11 @@ class Folio(models.Model):
         validators=[validate_line_number_code],
     )
     folio_notes = RichTextField(blank=True, null=True)
+    public_note = RichTextField(
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        help_text="Shown to readers where this folio begins in the text.",
+    )
     manuscript = models.ForeignKey(
         "SingleManuscript", on_delete=models.CASCADE, blank=True, null=True
     )
@@ -715,6 +720,11 @@ class SingleManuscript(models.Model):
         help_text="The URL to the IIIF manifest for the manuscript. If there isn't one, leave blank.",
         verbose_name="IIIF URL",
     )
+    public_note = RichTextField(
+        blank=True,
+        null=True,
+        help_text="Shown to readers at the start of the text.",
+    )
     gazetteer_url = models.URLField(
         max_length=255,
         blank=True,
diff --git a/manuscript/templatetags/stanza_tags.py b/manuscript/templatetags/stanza_tags.py
index c110426..5ca07b2 100644
--- a/manuscript/templatetags/stanza_tags.py
+++ b/manuscript/templatetags/stanza_tags.py
@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@ def annotate_text(html_content, annotations):
     return mark_safe("".join(result))
 
 
+@register.filter
+def has_text(html):
+    """Whether rich text has any text, since an emptied editor can leave markup"""
+    return bool(html and BeautifulSoup(html, "html.parser").get_text(strip=True))
+
+
 @register.filter
 def format_ms(manuscript):
     """Format manuscripts for dropdowns as:
diff --git a/manuscript/tests.py b/manuscript/tests.py
index e080854..c3c6f83 100644
--- a/manuscript/tests.py
+++ b/manuscript/tests.py
@@ -789,6 +789,52 @@ def test_folio_holding_only_the_stanza_number(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.stanza_dividers(response), [("01.01.00", "1v")])
         self.assertEqual(self.line_breaks(response), [("01.01.01", "2r")])
 
+    def test_shows_a_folio_s_public_note_at_a_divider(self):
+        self.add_folios(("1r", "01.01.00", "01.02.08"), ("1v", "01.03.00", "01.04.08"))
+        Folio.objects.filter(folio_number="1v").update(
+            public_note="<div>Stanzas appear elsewhere</div>",
+            folio_notes="Working note",
+        )
+
+        response = self.get_page()
+
+        self.assertContains(response, "<div>Stanzas appear elsewhere</div>", count=1)
+        self.assertContains(response, 'class="public-note"', count=1)
+        self.assertNotContains(response, "Working note")
+
+    def test_shows_a_folio_s_public_note_at_a_mid_stanza_break(self):
+        self.add_folios(("1r", "01.01.00", "01.02.04"), ("1v", "01.02.05", "01.04.08"))
+        Folio.objects.filter(folio_number="1v").update(public_note="Mid-stanza note")
+
+        self.assertContains(self.get_page(), "Mid-stanza note", count=1)
+
+    def test_shows_the_manuscript_s_public_note_at_the_start_of_the_text(self):
+        self.manuscript.public_note = "Images may not match the text"
+        self.manuscript.save()
+        other = SingleManuscript.objects.create(item_id=2, siglum="Test2")
+
+        response = self.get_page()
+
+        self.assertContains(response, "Images may not match the text", count=1)
+        html = response.content.decode()
+        self.assertLess(
+            html.index("Images may not match the text"), html.index('id="libro-1"')
+        )
+        self.assertNotContains(
+            self.client.get(reverse("manuscript_stanzas", args=[other.siglum])),
+            "Images may not match the text",
+        )
+
+    def test_leaves_out_public_notes_without_text(self):
+        self.manuscript.public_note = "<ul><li><br></li></ul>"
+        self.manuscript.save()
+        self.add_folios(("1r", "01.01.00", "01.02.08"), ("1v", "01.03.00", "01.04.08"))
+        Folio.objects.filter(folio_number="1v").update(public_note="<div>&nbsp;</div>")
+
+        response = self.get_page()
+
+        self.assertNotContains(response, 'class="public-note')
+
 
 class RepairFolioToponymsTest(TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/templates/stanzas.html b/templates/stanzas.html
index 69825ba..8a60242 100644
--- a/templates/stanzas.html
+++ b/templates/stanzas.html
@@ -48,6 +48,13 @@
       display: none !important; /* Optional: Hide title if it's redundant */
     }
 
+    /* Public notes on a manuscript and on a folio */
+    .public-note {
+      margin-bottom: 1rem;
+      font-size: 0.875rem;
+      color: #4b5563;
+    }
+
     /* Hamburger menu styles */
     .hamburger-menu {
       display: inline-flex;
@@ -211,6 +218,9 @@ <h3 class="text-4xl font-bold" id="top">
         <!-- Text content -->
         <div class="w-2/3">
           <div class="space-y-4">
+            {% if default_manuscript.public_note|has_text %}
+              <div class="public-note">{{ default_manuscript.public_note|safe }}</div>
+            {% endif %}
             {% for book_number, stanza_pairs in paired_books.items %}
               <div>
                 <!-- Book headers -->
@@ -231,6 +241,9 @@ <h2 id="book-{{book_number}}" class="text-xl font-serif font-bold mb-4 scroll-mt
                       </div>
                       <div class="flex-grow border-t border-gray-300"></div>
                     </div>
+                    {% if stanza_pair.current_folio.public_note|has_text %}
+                      <div class="public-note">{{ stanza_pair.current_folio.public_note|safe }}</div>
+                    {% endif %}
                   {% endif %}
                   {% for segment in stanza_pair.segments %}
                     {% if segment.folio_break %}
@@ -241,6 +254,9 @@ <h2 id="book-{{book_number}}" class="text-xl font-serif font-bold mb-4 scroll-mt
                         </div>
                         <div class="flex-grow border-t border-dashed border-gray-300"></div>
                       </div>
+                      {% if segment.folio_break.public_note|has_text %}
+                        <div class="public-note">{{ segment.folio_break.public_note|safe }}</div>
+                      {% endif %}
                     {% endif %}
                     <div class="grid grid-cols-2 gap-8 {% if forloop.last %}mb-8{% else %}mb-2{% endif %}">
                       <!-- Original stanza -->