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This delightful book tells the story of ancient libraries from their very beginnings, when "books" were clay tablets and writing was a new phenomenon. Renowned classicist Lionel Casson takes us on a lively tour, from the royal libraries of the most ancient Near East, through the private and public libraries of Greece and Rome, down to the first Christian monastic libraries. To the founders of the first public libraries of the Greek world goes the credit for creating the prototype of today's library buildings and the science of organizing books in them.Casson recounts the development of ancient library buildings, systems, holdings, and patrons, addressing questions on a wide variety of topics, such as: ?� What was the connection between the rise in education and literacy and the growth of libraries? ?� Who contributed to the early development of public libraries, especially the great library at Alexandria? ?� What did ancient libraries include in their holdings? ?� How did ancient libraries acquire books? ?� What was the nature of publishing in the Greek and Roman world? ?� How did different types of users (royalty, scholars, religious figures) and different kinds of "books" (tablets, scrolls, codices) affect library arrangements? ?� How did Christianity transform the nature of library holdings?Just as a library yields unexpected treasures to a meandering browser, this entertaining book offers to its perusers the surprising history of the rise and development of ancient libraries-a fascinating story never told before.… (more)
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A good many interesting facts are brought out. For
The book has a number of pictures and diagrams. I thought the diagrams could have used a key to the various features shown but i suppose this is a minor quibble. The diagrams are fairly self-explanatory. There is a scholarly index of notes at the end of the book. This may, I think, be skipped by most readers unless you are writing a thesis.
As I stated first, this is a small book and easily read. I think it is worth the short time expended. If you have an interest in the history of books and libraries then this is one to read.
Casson's account of where, when, how and why libraries began is eminently readable, as well as informative. It's amazing how much we can determine from sparse literary references coupled with the archaeological record. We
Illustrated with photographs and diagrams.
For the most part, the text is interesting and readable. While the content is useful to subject specialists, it's written at a level that non-specialists can understand and appreciate. The black and white illustrations nicely complement the text. However, I struggled through the descriptions of the dimensions of the buildings based on the archaeological remains. I'm spatially challenged anyway, and it didn't help that the measurements were given in meters rather than yards. Comparisons to familiar buildings of approximately the same size would have been a help to me.
This seems to be the definitive work on ancient libraries, and it should be the starting point for readers with an interest in this topic.
I found this book highly readable, containing enough