Book & libraries by Audra

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The Book & Libraries

(TuendeBede, 2017)

AUDRA LAPLANTE

Introduction “If you wanted to save a record of some information beyond the lifetime of the speaker...or send information or a command across long distances and be sure the exact wording was retained...then you need writing” (Valentine, p.6, 2012). Writing was and still is very important in documenting our history from ancient times through present day. “Prior to the twentieth century, information outside the brain was usually stored as symbols or signs on surfaces of stone, animal skin, and cellulose”(Valentine, p. 2, 2012). These pieces of writing needed a place to be stored and preserved, which led to the creation of libraries. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a library is “a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (such as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale” (Merriam-Webster, 2017).

(Gellinger, 2016)

A NCIENT B OOKS AND L IBRARIES

Egypt The Great Library of Alexandria

(Kerttu, 2016)

was devel-

oped during the third century in Egypt and “was the greatest library the world had ever known- by one estimate, it contained at least 400,000 books in the main collection” (Kallendorf, p. 45, 2013). This library was started with the intention of housing all the world’s knowledge. Any ship that came into port had to hand over their books so the Egyptians could copy them. The owner would receive the copy of the book, while the original was kept inside The Great Library of Alexandria. “The poet Callimachus was employed there, and created the first ever alphabetically arranged library catalogue” (Lyons, p. 26, 2011). “The other major Hellenistic library was founded by the Attalids... the Pergamum Library being large enough that Mark Antony supposedly gave 200,000 books from it to Cleopatra” (Kallendorf, p. 45, 2013). Most libraries in cities contained information based on the city’s particular strengths and were funded by donations. The Great Library of Alexandria was suited for scholars, so a public library, known as the Serapeum was founded. It is believed The Great Library of Alexandria was destroyed by a Roman emperor, Aurelianus, in 273 CE (Lyons, 2011).

A NCIENT B OOKS AND L IBRARIES

Rome Libraries in Rome began when books were confiscated during war. “It quickly became fashionable to have a library in the noble villas” (Kallendorf, p. 48, 2013), though many of the books were never read and just used for decoration and status. The Romans would rather hire a lector or keep a slave to read scrolls aloud for their pleasure. “Libraries were incorporated into the public baths...and built in the provinces as well” (Kallendorf, p. 48, 2013). Greek libraries contained books in only Greek language, whereas Roman libraries contained books in two languages, Greek and Latin because Romans were bilingual. Greek libraries had their books in small rooms, whereas Roman libraries divided their books into sections according to the language the books were written in. Patrons were able to go the library during morning hours and the borrowing of books was sometimes allowed. (Kallendorf, 2013). The great Roman libraries were nonexistent by the third century, due to the fall of the Roman empire (Lyons, 2011).

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A NCIENT B OOKS AND L IBRARIES

Monastic Libraries

“The Rule of St Benedict prescribed three hours of reading per day and the reading of an entire book during Lent”(Lyons, p.38, 2011). Previously, monasteries did not have a room designated as a library, but from the sixth century on, libraries and reading rooms became a part of the monasteries. Some books were lent out, but the more valuable ones were chained to the shelves. Scholars would visit other monastic libraries in order to read different books. Some monks traveled in order to purchase or make copies of books for their own libraries (Lyons, 2011). “All of the church and school libraries grew by copying and through donations rather than any large-scale book trade” (Valentine, p. 21, 2012). Pope Nicholas V had the Vatican library built during the fifteenth century and “still holds one of the greatest collections of manuscripts in the world” (Howard, p. 21, 2009).

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“With the rise of Christendom in the second century, the church became the primary source of book production” (Howard, p. 21, 2009). During the sixth century, monastic libraries were used to house Christian literature, which was to be read by monks. (Youleks, 2015)

A NCIENT B OOKS AND L IBRARIES

Islam The Islamic empire expanded during the eighth century. “Muslim scholars and libraries collected and translated Western classical texts, and made great advances in philosophy, law mathematics and the sciences” (Lyons, p.49, 2011). During a battle between the Chinese and Islamic people, Chinese paper technology was attained and developed many Islamic libraries. The House of Wisdom was built in the capital, Baghdad, and “included a library, astronomical observatory and a collection of scrolls from ancient Greece that Muslim scholars had retrieved for the purpose of copying and studying” (Howard, p.6, 2009).

(Joduma, 2016)

Storing scrolls in the early libraries was a challenge. First, the scroll needed to have tags applied to their edge in order to identify one scroll from another. Second, scrolls were round, so there was no way of stacking them on shelves like a typical library. Instead, these early libraries had to group scrolls together by topic and place them inside a stone or a wooden jar (Howard, 2009). Using the new paper technology, books were now easier to store inside libraries and more affordable for middle-class citizens to buy. The Islamic people had 100,000 Muslims copying books for the libraries and therefore didn’t adopt printing with moveable type until the nineteenth century (Lyons, 2011).