Library by M Battles

Library by M Battles

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
Summary

Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved, but also controlled, inspired, shaped, hidden and obliterated knowledge. This title provides a colourful tour through the stacks from ancient times to the 21st century.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free US shipping over $15
  • Buying preloved emits 41% less CO2 than new
  • Millions of affordable books
  • Give your books a new home - sell them back to us!

Library by M Battles

Matthew Battles, a rare books librarian at Harvard and narrator, gives a colourful tour through the stacks from ancient times to the 21st century. Through the ages, libraries have not only accumulated and preserved, but also controlled, inspired, shaped, hidden and obliterated knowledge. Battle's spirited journey takes the reader 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 beginnings of the World Wide Web. Along the way, Battles explores not only how libraries are built but how they are destroyed, from the neglect and decay of Alexandria (and myth of its burning), to the burnings of scrolls in ancient China, to the destruction of Aztec books by the Spanish conquerors - and in our own time, the burning of libraries in Europe by the Nazis and by Bosnian Serbs in the Balkans.
Matthew Battles works at the Houghton Library, the rare books library at Harvard University, and is a contributor to Harper's. He ilves in Jamaica n, Massachusetts.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780434008872
ISBN 10 0434008877
Title Library
Author M Battles
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Cornerstone
Year published 2003-10-02
Number of pages 256
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.