《大學古本旁釋》是王陽明詮釋《大學》的代表性成果之一。目前傳世者有學山本、函海本兩種版本，而函海本被眾多學者視為定本。事實上，函海本用全無「良知」思想的初刻舊序，且舊序乃其本有之序，並非調換誤入者，故函海本應為正德十五年揭「致良知」教前之作。學山本則用包含「良知」思想的改定新序，而陽明晚年教門人者乃學山本，乃至其下世後，其弟子錢德洪亦用學山本編纂《王陽明年譜》，其應為定本。《旁釋》定本的釐清，有助於準確把握陽明《大學》詮釋思想的發展歷程。

Marginal notes of the old text of the Great Learning is one of Wang Yangming's representative works of annotation for the Great Learning. At present, two handed-down versions are recorded by Bailingxueshan and Hanhai respectively, while the version recorded by Hanhai is considered as the definitive edition by numerous scholars . In fact, the version in Hanhai used the primary version and old preface without “conscience” thoughts and the old preface is its own preface rather than mistaken replacement. Therefore, the version in Hanhai should have been finished before the 15th year of Zhengde when Wang Yangming started his teaching of “questing conscience”. The version in Bailingxueshan adopted a new preface that contained “conscience” thoughts and was imparted by Wang Yangming in his later years, and even Wang Yangming’s disciple Qian Dehong also used the version in Bailingxueshan to compile Chronicle of Wang Yangming’s life after Wang passed away. Therefore the version in Bailingxueshan should be confirmed as the definitive edition. The clarification of the definitive edition of Marginal notes of the old text of the Great Learning helps to accurately grasp the development of Yangming's explanation thoughts.