Library : an unquiet history

Title:

Author:

Summary:

"From the clay-tablet collections of ancient Mesopotamia to the storied Alexandria libraries in Egypt, from the burned scrolls of China's Qing Dynasty to the book pyres of the Hitler Youth, from the great medieval library in Baghdad to the priceless volumes destroyed in the multi-cultural Bosnian National Library in Sarajevo, the library has been a battleground of competing notions of what books mean to us. Battles explores how, throughout its many changes, the library has served two contradictory impulses: on the one hand, the urge to exalt canons of literature, to secure and worship the best and most beautiful words; on the other, the desire to contain and control all forms of human knowledge."-- Jacket.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

Reading the library -- Burning Alexandria -- The house of wisdom -- The battle of the books -- Books for all -- Knowledge on fire -- Lost in the stacks.

Physical Description:

x, 253 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Subject Term:

Libraries -- History.

Libraries and society -- History.

Books -- History.

Publisher:

W.W. Norton & Company,

Publication Date:

2015

2003

ISBN:

9780393020298

9780393325645

9780393351453

Publication Information:

New York ; London : W.W. Norton & Company, 2015, 2003.

Call Number:

027 BATTLES

Holds: Copies:

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Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003204321	Professional Collection	027 BATTLES	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

On the survival and destruction of knowledge, from Alexandria to the Internet. Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved but also shaped, inspired, and obliterated knowledge.Matthew Battles, a rare books librarian and a gifted narrator, takes us on a spirited foray from Boston to Baghdad, from classical scriptoria to medieval monasteries, from the Vatican to the british Library, from socialist reading rooms and rural home libraries to the Information Age. He explores how libraries are built and how they are destroyed, from the decay of the great Alexandrian library to scroll burnings in ancient China to the destruction of Aztec books by the Spanish--and in our own time, the burning of libraries in Europe and Bosnia. Encyclopedic in its breadth and novelistic in its telling, this volume will occupy a treasured place on the bookshelf next to Baker's Double Fold, Bashanes's A Gentle Madness, Manguel's A History of Reading, and Winchester's The Professor and the Madman.

Author Notes

Matthew Battles works at the Houghton Library, the rare books library at Harvard University, and is a contributor to Harper's. He lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Battles, rare books librarian at Houghton Library, Harvard University, has written a somewhat unusual history of libraries, one that focuses not only on the building of libraries but on the burning of books and the subsequent destruction of knowledge that that entails. Many people know about the burning of the library at Alexandria, and maybe one or two other great losses, such as Athens and Nineveh. Bookmaking, book printing, the evolution of the card catalog, the changing job description for librarians, and cataloging classification systems are all touched upon here in a concise, informative manner. From the making of papyrus scrolls to handbound books to the Internet and the present information age, this is a fascinating romp through library stacks. One of the most dramatic instances recounted is the burning of the Bosnian National and University Library at Sarajevo, which was its own example of ethnic cleansing. Grover Gardner provides the perfect British inflection for this type of audiobook and moves the listener through centuries with ease and fluidity. Every library should own this title; highly recommended.--Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Battles, rare books librarian at Houghton Library, Harvard University, has written a somewhat unusual history of libraries, one that focuses not only on the building of libraries but on the burning of books and the subsequent destruction of knowledge that that entails. Many people know about the burning of the library at Alexandria, and maybe one or two other great losses, such as Athens and Nineveh. Bookmaking, book printing, the evolution of the card catalog, the changing job description for librarians, and cataloging classification systems are all touched upon here in a concise, informative manner. From the making of papyrus scrolls to handbound books to the Internet and the present information age, this is a fascinating romp through library stacks. One of the most dramatic instances recounted is the burning of the Bosnian National and University Library at Sarajevo, which was its own example of ethnic cleansing. Grover Gardner provides the perfect British inflection for this type of audiobook and moves the listener through centuries with ease and fluidity. Every library should own this title; highly recommended. Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Acknowledgments	p. IX
1. Reading the Library	p. 3
2. Burning Alexandria	p. 22
3. The House of Wisdom	p. 56
4. The Battle of the Books	p. 82
5. Books for All	p. 117
6. Knowledge on Fire	p. 156
7. Lost in the Stacks	p. 192
Notes on Sources	p. 215
Index	p. 229

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

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