Covers with books (9) – ‘Library: An Unquiet History’ – Matthew Battles
“The centralization and consolidation of libraries serves the convenience of scholars and princes alike. But great libraries are problematic in times of war, disaster or decay, for their fate becomes the fate of the literatures they contain. Much of what comes down to us from antiquity survived because it was held in small private libraries tucked away in obscure backwaters of the ancient world, where it was more likely to escape the notice of zealots as well as princes.”
Matthew Battles. Library: an Unquiet History. Norton, 2003.
‘Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles’
1st edition 6 Jun 2003 – Publisher: W.W.Norton (rechtsonder)
Synopsis
Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved, but also shaped, inspired and obliterated knowledge. Matthew Battles, a rare books librarian, takes us on a spirited foray from Boston to Baghdad, from classical scriptoria to medieval monastries, 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.
In de Harvard University Gazette van 21 augustus 2003 wordt deze publikatie, met een portret van de schrijver, Matthew Battles, vermeld.
Opvallend is dat alle covers van de verschenen versies verschillend zijn.
