Take a look a these great books about libraries ancient and modern.
Are looking for a gift for your favorite bibliophile? Looking to expand your own knowledge about libraries around the world. The books presented here are excellent in their subject, and sure to please.
Library: An Unquiet History
This book by Matthew Battles, Harvard librarian, offers a glimpse into the history of libraries. He spins the story of how building and burning libraries have a long history. The Vatican Library built by Pope Nicholas V set the standard during the Renaissance. While in Vilna Ghetto the Jews built a library inspite of the Nazi occupation. Did you think the book burnings of the Third Reich were unique, discover how the mythic third-century B.C. book burnings by Chinese emperor Shi Huangdi were an effort to erase history.
Libraries in the Ancient World
Lionel Casson takes the reader on a journey, from a time when books were clay tablets, to the ever changing methods to classify and organize the world around us. Both public and private libraries are explored. Monastic libraries are explored. Did you know the ancient Greeks founded the first public libraries? You will discover this and many other wonderful pieces of information about libraries of the ancient world.
The Vanished Library
This additional to a series on Hellenistic culture by Luciano Canfora (translated by Martin Ryle) features the great grail quest for librarians....Alexandria. The Library of Alexandria, one of the wonders of the Ancient World, has haunted Western culture for over 2,000 years. Did it truly exist? What did it contain? The Ptolemaic kings of Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great, had a monumental goal: to house all of the books ever written under one roof. Using historical and literary sources Canfora weaves a spellbinding tale.
