The History of the Library in Western Civilization, Vol. 1: From Minos to Cleopatra

Staikos, Konstantinos; Timothy Cullen trans

ISBN 10: 1584561149 / ISBN 13: 9781584561149

Published by Oak Knoll Press, 2004

About this Item

349 pp. Sewn binding in gray cloth, gilt spine lettering. Ex-library with external labels removed; some light toning to the extremities, exceedingly clean and sharp otherwise with sound binding and no evidence of use. Shipped professionally in a box. 'The History of Libraries in the Western World chron-I icles the early development of libraries and explains how it was that small archival libraries evolved into the monumental libraries of the Hellenistic period. The book contains five substantial chapters. The first chapter describes the Bronze Age scripts of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations - the hieroglyphic script, Linear A, Linear B, the Cypriot syllabary and the script of the Phaistos Disc - and the methods of making and storing writing tablets. Chapter II chronicles the development of public libraries from the time of Polycrates and Pisistratus in the sixth century B.c. (in Samos and Athens re-spectively) and the formation of the first libraries in the Athenian philosophy schools: Plato's Academy, the Lyceum and the Stoa. Chapters III and IV give a full account of the circumstances that led to the foundation of great cultural centres with monumental libraries by the Ptolemies and the other dynasties that succeeded Alexander the Great in Asia Minor and the Near East. The fifth and last chapter describes the storage methods used in the first private libraries and the architecture, interior layout, furniture and fittings of archival libraries towards the end of the second century B.C.' (Publisher's Blurb).

Seller Inventory # 512761

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The History of the Library in Western Civilization, Vol. 1: From Minos to Cleopatra
• Publisher: Oak Knoll Press
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1584561149
• ISBN 13: 9781584561149
• Binding: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
• Condition: VERY GOOD
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 75 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature

About this title

Synopsis

The first grand volume of a projected five addressing the role libraries have played in building and preserving Western culture focuses on the early archive libraries from Crete to the famous library of the Ptolemies in Alexandria 1,800 years of the struggle to preserve knowledge through the written word. Staikos, a scholar of library history, is also the author of The Great Libraries . The volume is richly illustrated in color and b&w. Oversize: 9x11.75<">. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)