Cambridge University Press eBooks· 2013
Ancient Libraries
- 182citations
- 2013year
Short summary
Ancient libraries were central to Greco-Roman intellectual life, serving as key hubs for book circulation despite books being expensive and rare.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Books were expensive and rare, making libraries crucial for intellectual life.
- New research challenges traditional views on library size and function.
- Libraries were not primarily research centers and fires did not cause most text loss.
- The central role of libraries in Greco-Roman culture is re-emphasized.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
The circulation of books was the motor of classical civilization. However, books were both expensive and rare, and so libraries - private and public, royal and civic - played key roles in articulating intellectual life. This collection, written by an international team of scholars, presents a fundamental reassessment of how ancient libraries came into being, how they were organized and how they were used. Drawing on papyrology and archaeology, and on accounts written by those who read and wrote in them, it presents new research on reading cultures, on book collecting and on the origins of monumental library buildings. Many of the traditional stories told about ancient libraries are challenged. Few were really enormous, none were designed as research centres, and occasional conflagrations do not explain the loss of most ancient texts. But the central place of libraries in Greco-Roman culture emerges more clearly than ever.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: Library and Information Sciences
Library and Information SciencesSocial Sciences