| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-11-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 246 pages | | Height: | 9.3 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 18.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Five thousand years ago the Sumerians created writing, and subsequently established libraries to preserve the hymns, prayers, and documents necessary for progress in both religion and commerce. Ever since, libraries have reflected and shaped the society that created them. They have preserved the thoughts and deeds of their ancestral cultures, and have transmitted them to our own generation and descendents. Without libraries every era would be adrift in time.
This book describes the important role libraries played in the life of ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval Europe. With the invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy, libraries served the common reader, as well as the priestly and princely elites against which Catholic and Protestant reformers were rebelling. In modern times libraries played an important part in supporting democratic institutions-and an equally important role as tools of Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism.
Five thousand years ago, the Sumerians created writing, and established libraries to preserve the hymns, prayers, and documents necessary for progress in both religion and commerce. Ever since, libraries have reflected and shaped the society that created them, preserving the thoughts and deeds of their ancestral cultures, and transmitting them to our own generation and descendants. This book -- the first of its kind in many years -- describes the crucial role libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Classical world (the great library of Alexandria, which was actually lost to us in stages over many years), the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library systems.
Industry Reviews
This is a popular history of libraries and librarianship from ancient times to the present. The author, a librarian who has previously written about science fiction, also includes some cautionary reflections on the future of libraries and digital technology. While similar to Michael H. Harris's History of Libraries in the Western World (Professional Reading, LJ 8/95), his book is not limited to the West. The fourth chapter surveys the history of writing, printing, and libraries in China, India, Korea, and Japan until the 18th or 19th century. In order to broaden his scope and keep the book relatively brief, however, Lerner provides less detail on such topics as the development of university libraries in Europe and North America. Both books have extensive bibliographies, but Harris incorporates more on the new history of the book. Less like a textbook, Lerner's work may appeal more to the general reader. Thomas F. O'Connor, Manhattan Coll. Libs., New York
Fox
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