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The Library: Eksplorasi Menarik tentang Sejarah Perpustakaan dari Dunia Kuno hingga Era Digital
Sempurna bagi para pencinta buku. Mencerminkan betapa rentannya perpustakaan—terhantam oleh perang, kebakaran, serangan ideologis, hingga degradasi alam seperti jamur atau rayap, buku ini merupakan eksplorasi menarik tentang sejarah perpustakaan, dan orang-orang yang membangunnya, dari dunia kuno hingga era digital.
Terkenal di seluruh dunia, dijaga ketat oleh para kolektor, dibangun selama berabad-abad, dihancurkan dalam satu hari, dihiasi dengan daun emas dan lukisan dinding, atau dipenuhi dengan bean bag dan gambar-gambar anak—sejarah perpustakaan adalah kisah yang kaya, beragam, dan sarat peristiwa. Dalam buku ini, sejarawan Andrew Pettegree dan Arthur der Weduwen memperkenalkan kita kepada para pencinta barang antik dan filantropis yang membentuk koleksi-koleksi besar dunia, menelusuri pasang surut selera sastra, dan mengungkap pelanggaran berat yang dilakukan dalam upaya mendapatkan manuskrip langka.
Penulis mengungkapkan bahwa meskipun koleksi buku sangat rapuh dan mudah hancur, sering kali runtuh dalam beberapa dekade, namun gagasan tentang perpustakaan tetap luar biasa tangguh, tetap bertahan, serta terus dihidupkan ulang oleh setiap generasi dan membangun kembali lembaga tersebut. Ditulis dengan indah menggunakan bahasa yang luwes dan dengan riset mendalam, buku ini adalah bacaan wajib bagi para pencinta buku, kolektor, dan siapa saja yang pernah terhanyut dalam tumpukan buku.
Terkenal di seluruh dunia, dijaga ketat oleh para kolektor, dibangun selama berabad-abad, dihancurkan dalam satu hari, dihiasi dengan daun emas dan lukisan dinding, atau dipenuhi dengan bean bag dan gambar-gambar anak—sejarah perpustakaan adalah kisah yang kaya, beragam, dan sarat peristiwa. Dalam buku ini, sejarawan Andrew Pettegree dan Arthur der Weduwen memperkenalkan kita kepada para pencinta barang antik dan filantropis yang membentuk koleksi-koleksi besar dunia, menelusuri pasang surut selera sastra, dan mengungkap pelanggaran berat yang dilakukan dalam upaya mendapatkan manuskrip langka.
Penulis mengungkapkan bahwa meskipun koleksi buku sangat rapuh dan mudah hancur, sering kali runtuh dalam beberapa dekade, namun gagasan tentang perpustakaan tetap luar biasa tangguh, tetap bertahan, serta terus dihidupkan ulang oleh setiap generasi dan membangun kembali lembaga tersebut. Ditulis dengan indah menggunakan bahasa yang luwes dan dengan riset mendalam, buku ini adalah bacaan wajib bagi para pencinta buku, kolektor, dan siapa saja yang pernah terhanyut dalam tumpukan buku.
600 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2021
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September 4, 2023
I remember my first school library — basically just an oversized classroom where, after quickly working my way through a box of kiddo books I was eventually admitted into the inner sanctum where I could browse the shelves while my less bookish classmates had to come up and ask the librarian to fetch another required school book. (Nerd pride!) It was matter of time until I was allowed to wander the town on my own and stumbled upon our children’s library which I promptly joined. Since then I’m of course a proud library card holder wherever I happen to live. Libraries are the best.
(I’ll happily quote Jo Walton’s ode to the libraries from Among Others:
“Libraries really are wonderful. They’re better than bookshops, even. I mean bookshops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts.” )
But of course libraries have only been this wonderful thing for a very short period of time. The idea of all the riffraff of my kind being allowed all that access to books — well, that idea would be very alien to the “connoisseurs” throughout history. Libraries weren’t for the idle pleasure or even the sharing of common knowledge; they were meant for the privileged few. In this book the authors trace the library history and the evolution of library from scholastic monastery collections to university collections and private hoards of book wealth to subscription libraries to wonderful public libraries as we know them.
Many things happened along the way to change books and the way they are viewed. From papyrus and parchment to paper, from scrolls to books as we know them, from manuscripts to printing press, from storage in chests to lecterns to bookshelves, from items of wealth and status to mass produced items, from instruments of education to means of entertainment, from Latin to local languages, from serving select few to being available to the “unwashed” masses. What has never changed is the understanding of the power and danger of books — no wonder book burning (or its close cousin — book banning) are used to try to control add shape minds and attitudes.
This book takes its role as a narrative of library history very seriously, like a true library lover would, of course. It’s detailed and serious, paying attention to details and minutiae. It requires patience and attention and tolerance for academic narration style. The vast majority of it is dedicated to the pre-20th century history of libraries and book trade, so if your goal is to learn more about the library as we know the concept now, you may be a bit impatiently frustrated for a while. But if you care about how libraries used to be before they became what they are — well, then it’s a treat.
An interesting although not leisurely read, but ultimately worth the effort. 4 stars.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
(I’ll happily quote Jo Walton’s ode to the libraries from Among Others:
“Libraries really are wonderful. They’re better than bookshops, even. I mean bookshops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts.” )
But of course libraries have only been this wonderful thing for a very short period of time. The idea of all the riffraff of my kind being allowed all that access to books — well, that idea would be very alien to the “connoisseurs” throughout history. Libraries weren’t for the idle pleasure or even the sharing of common knowledge; they were meant for the privileged few. In this book the authors trace the library history and the evolution of library from scholastic monastery collections to university collections and private hoards of book wealth to subscription libraries to wonderful public libraries as we know them.
“The educated and affluent part of our community takes it for granted that public funding of the arts and the facilitation of recreational reading is part of the core functions of government. But the public library – in the sense of a funded collection available free to anyone who wants to use it – has only existed since the mid nineteenth century, a mere fraction of the history of the library as a whole. If there is one lesson from the centuries-long story of the library, it is that libraries only last as long as people find them useful.”
Many things happened along the way to change books and the way they are viewed. From papyrus and parchment to paper, from scrolls to books as we know them, from manuscripts to printing press, from storage in chests to lecterns to bookshelves, from items of wealth and status to mass produced items, from instruments of education to means of entertainment, from Latin to local languages, from serving select few to being available to the “unwashed” masses. What has never changed is the understanding of the power and danger of books — no wonder book burning (or its close cousin — book banning) are used to try to control add shape minds and attitudes.
This book takes its role as a narrative of library history very seriously, like a true library lover would, of course. It’s detailed and serious, paying attention to details and minutiae. It requires patience and attention and tolerance for academic narration style. The vast majority of it is dedicated to the pre-20th century history of libraries and book trade, so if your goal is to learn more about the library as we know the concept now, you may be a bit impatiently frustrated for a while. But if you care about how libraries used to be before they became what they are — well, then it’s a treat.
“[…] The uncomfortable truth of libraries throughout the ages: no society has ever been satisfied with the collections inherited from previous generations. What we will frequently see in this book is not so much the apparently wanton destruction of beautiful artefacts so lamented by previous studies of library history, but neglect and redundancy, as books and collections that represented the values and interests of one generation fail to speak to the one that follows.”
An interesting although not leisurely read, but ultimately worth the effort. 4 stars.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
August 17, 2025
The library: repositories of papyrus scrolls in antiquity that transformed into ecclesiastical book collections, and later into public institutions of knowledge and cultural centres we know today. Libraries primarily consisted of works of non-fiction—transferred through the ages to a literate few. The rise of fiction in the nineteenth century was initially resisted but ultimately embraced by the library as the major draw for patrons. The Gutenberg Press and its evolution over the centuries made books more accessible and libraries more ubiquitous. Private and public libraries became places of personal and national pride. Libraries are among the great institutions of humankind.
Thanks for reading Callum’s Column! Subscribe for free (only your email is required) for new book reviews and political analyses on Australia and the United States: https://callumscolumn.substack.com/
Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen provide a comprehensive history of the library in Europe and North America. This is primarily due to the prominence of this institution in this geographic region—a relatively recent phenomenon in the post-colonial world. That said, there is a rather conspicuous dearth of information on China, where paper was invented. They argue that books and libraries have triumphed despite tribulations like neglect, war, ideological censorship, or the rise of the digital age. The library, the authors argue, is a place for entertainment, emancipation, knowledge, and succour.
This book was everything that another book I read recently—The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore—was not. The library as an institution is a product of its times. You can not understand the Library of Alexandria without an understanding of Greek and Roman scholarly enterprise; you can not understand the rise of the British Library without an understanding of the rise of the British Empire. Fortunately, this historical depth is provided by the authors. Moreover, they do not shy away from the more malevolent aspects of the library, which The Bookshop did—notably, that it was also a place of censorship by totalitarian states, and even in the so-called free world.
I have added this book to my own personal library. It is a collection I hope to expand my for the rest of my life. I was fortunate to receive the entire Great Books collection as a gift, and over time, I have gathered works primarily from classical literature and the humanities. I hope to share my books with my children if I am fortunate enough to have them. Still, I believe the public library is one of the truest reflections of societies values. I look back fondly at my time studying at Reid Library at the University of Western Australia, and walking through the aisles of the local library a short walk from home. To me, all libraries—public or personal—are places of joy.
I am fortunate to live in a liberal society where books are freely available. Books and the library are a flashpoint of current culture wars where zealots attempt to bully and silence the freedom of thought of others. Yes, there should be limits on what can be read by children (I echo the sentiments of paternalism expressed by Mill in this regard). For adults, however, one should be able to read what they please—whether licentious or politically controversial. This is what makes liberal society great: the ability to accrue knowledge freely and without recourse. It is the uncensored word and repository of knowledge that facilitates this. Ultimately, liberty resides on a library bookshelf.
Thanks for reading Callum’s Column! Subscribe for free (only your email is required) for new book reviews and political analyses on Australia and the United States: https://callumscolumn.substack.com/
Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen provide a comprehensive history of the library in Europe and North America. This is primarily due to the prominence of this institution in this geographic region—a relatively recent phenomenon in the post-colonial world. That said, there is a rather conspicuous dearth of information on China, where paper was invented. They argue that books and libraries have triumphed despite tribulations like neglect, war, ideological censorship, or the rise of the digital age. The library, the authors argue, is a place for entertainment, emancipation, knowledge, and succour.
This book was everything that another book I read recently—The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore—was not. The library as an institution is a product of its times. You can not understand the Library of Alexandria without an understanding of Greek and Roman scholarly enterprise; you can not understand the rise of the British Library without an understanding of the rise of the British Empire. Fortunately, this historical depth is provided by the authors. Moreover, they do not shy away from the more malevolent aspects of the library, which The Bookshop did—notably, that it was also a place of censorship by totalitarian states, and even in the so-called free world.
I have added this book to my own personal library. It is a collection I hope to expand my for the rest of my life. I was fortunate to receive the entire Great Books collection as a gift, and over time, I have gathered works primarily from classical literature and the humanities. I hope to share my books with my children if I am fortunate enough to have them. Still, I believe the public library is one of the truest reflections of societies values. I look back fondly at my time studying at Reid Library at the University of Western Australia, and walking through the aisles of the local library a short walk from home. To me, all libraries—public or personal—are places of joy.
I am fortunate to live in a liberal society where books are freely available. Books and the library are a flashpoint of current culture wars where zealots attempt to bully and silence the freedom of thought of others. Yes, there should be limits on what can be read by children (I echo the sentiments of paternalism expressed by Mill in this regard). For adults, however, one should be able to read what they please—whether licentious or politically controversial. This is what makes liberal society great: the ability to accrue knowledge freely and without recourse. It is the uncensored word and repository of knowledge that facilitates this. Ultimately, liberty resides on a library bookshelf.
December 23, 2021
An exhaustive study of the “library” in all of its various forms in history, The Library: A Fragile History begins with a modern recreation of the library of Alexandria which tries to recapture some of the glory of that ancient site mentioned by early writers but completely lost to us. From there the book’s journey moves to early forms of texts on tablets, papyrus, leather, through history to the development of paper and printing. For libraries are inseparable from the written objects saved.
Initially, owning or perhaps even aspiring to having books was the world of rulers, of kings or princes, the very wealthy, perhaps traders. Others could not read and reading materials were beyond their knowledge. In fact, some of the wealthy wanted these early manuscripts or books as status markers for they couldn’t read either. Libraries were initially personal collections, often religious, in Western Europe written in Latin for centuries.
This is not a cursory glance or an overview. It is a caring, in depth exploration into the history of collecting words on whatever material was used by human kind. And then how these collections of materials containing words were organized or managed, be it in a box, a trunk or, eventually a shelf or shelves or a room or a building. This book is a different approach to history.
One caveat to consider whether this book is for you. The Library is intended for the reader who is interested in the minutiae of books and their history of collections, a reader who would enjoy learning of the details of collecting over the millennia and the people, collections and libraries involved.
Much of the material is Euro-centric but does address early eastern Mediterranean cultures and history. And in more recent centuries, it discusses the vast outreach of European nations through colonialism. The book moves up to the advent of the 21st century and the new digital world. The book is fully footnoted, with a bibliography.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Initially, owning or perhaps even aspiring to having books was the world of rulers, of kings or princes, the very wealthy, perhaps traders. Others could not read and reading materials were beyond their knowledge. In fact, some of the wealthy wanted these early manuscripts or books as status markers for they couldn’t read either. Libraries were initially personal collections, often religious, in Western Europe written in Latin for centuries.
This is not a cursory glance or an overview. It is a caring, in depth exploration into the history of collecting words on whatever material was used by human kind. And then how these collections of materials containing words were organized or managed, be it in a box, a trunk or, eventually a shelf or shelves or a room or a building. This book is a different approach to history.
One caveat to consider whether this book is for you. The Library is intended for the reader who is interested in the minutiae of books and their history of collections, a reader who would enjoy learning of the details of collecting over the millennia and the people, collections and libraries involved.
Much of the material is Euro-centric but does address early eastern Mediterranean cultures and history. And in more recent centuries, it discusses the vast outreach of European nations through colonialism. The book moves up to the advent of the 21st century and the new digital world. The book is fully footnoted, with a bibliography.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
February 7, 2023
This books provides an extensive overview on the emergence of the written word from clay tablets to papyrus scrolls to parchment codexes to today's paperback or hardcover editions.
And it therefore also tells of the buildings that eventually came to house all the written words.
Such as the famed Library of Alexandria that burned down not just once but three times. Alas, while the book mentioned it, it was very brief and only about one of the fires. I imagine the authors had to trim down the history and therefore had to cut corners.
Because make no mistake, stories have been accompanying humans all our lives and the history and evolution of homo sapiens is therefore accompanied by the history and evolution of stories told and recorded.
We meet scholars in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome before visiting medieval monasteries where monks copied scriptures and illuminated texts. While there were Roman nobles who already liked to own certain scrolls in private collections, that "trend" didn't kick off until noblemen in the Middle Ages needed a new "it item" to collect and proudly display. Thus, these collectors either bullied monks into giving up their manuscripts or outright stole them, thus making it necessary to chain down the most valuable ones.
What?! You thought Stephen Strange was the first to borrow books he wasn't supposed to? ;P
The private collections of noble houses and even rulers also meant that displaying books became a status symbol, which in turn kickstarted books being manufactured in greater quantities and even bound in lavish ways with pearls and jewels.
And let's not forget that royal patronage was as essential to the scholar as to the ruler (a kind of symbiosis) since the ruler profited from insights or even scientific breakthroughs that meant they could establish or even expand their rule while the scholar had the means to pursue the sciences and in relative safety.
I say relative because the book, to my great pleasure, also tells of fates like that of Timbuktu. Once one of if not THE center for learning in the Islamic world, it was taken over by Moroccan fanatics, sacked, all the scholars were killed and the scriptures burnt or otherwise destroyed before a religious regime was put in place instead. Sounds familiar? Yeah, we're not as "advanced" or "civilized" as we like to tell ourselves (and if you don't believe me or are quick to point out WHEN this happened to Timbuktu, I have very recent examples, too). :/
The materials used in the making of books also mattered and changed significantly over time. In 13th century Spain and Italy, paper mills were established that then spread to France, Germany and other regions. The paper back then wasn't the paper we know today (that came only in 1744) but was made from textiles. It was faster and easier to make and way cheaper than parchment for which hundreds of calves and sheep had to be killed when making even only one book!
Naturally, the manufacture of books only really got rolling after the invention of the printing press. And education also played a part because until more "mundane" people could read, there just wasn't that big a demand for books.
In this context, it was interesting to read of the emergence of publishers, the first of which was the Cambridge University Press, founded by Henry VIII in 1534. Around the same time but supposedly slightly later, the Schwabe Verlag in Switzerland and the House of Elzevir were also founded. In only 100 years since the invention of the printing press, more books had been produced than in the entire history of the written word up until that point! This also necessitated the regulation of the print trade.
The "modern" texts were more accessible than religious or older scientific ones and also translated into many languages (so not everyone had to know Latin or other ancient languages).
Eventually, newspapers, penny dreadfuls, book mobiles and more emerged and they all made reading cheaper, easier and generally accessible to the masses. Literature slowly but surely had made its way to every part of society (more or less, it still had ways to go). The written word had gone from mystic force to public resource.
And this is exactly when libraries the way we think about them today were born. The libraries housed in monasteries or universities as well as the subscription libraries made way to the public libraries that allowed access to all citizens, who could either read there or take a book home. A principle which has remained the same ever since.
In most countries, the library access itself isn't limited, you only need to pay (usually an annual fee) if you also want to take books home with you. In fabled realms, you don't even have to pay the annual fee - it is paid automatically when you're a citizen of that town via your taxes. But even if you have to pay an annual fee, it usually is so low that people from all walks of life can afford it and that is exactly the point: access to knowledge and entertainment for everyone.
There was one story I really wanted to hear about in this but which was unfortunately left out: that of Jella Lepman, who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930 but returned at the end of WW2 to provide children with education and books. She's the founder of the Children's Library in Munich. While others dropped medical and food supplies from planes, she arranged for the same to be done with books, saying that stories are just as vital (which I agree with). To this day, the Children's Library at Munich is one of the best in my opinion with a great creation story to boot.
Sadly, Germany has lost many of its libraries (making a well-stocked and well-funded one like the one Jella Lepman founded all the more valuable and important) and the ones still existing are often in terrible shape (both the building and the collection of books), overpriced and staffed with downright rude people ... a sad sight indeed.
Maybe that's why private collections persist more than ever. In Germany, towns either don't have a library to begin with or the libraries (even in bigger cities) aren't too well stocked. Interestingly, the history of the purge of Germany libraries was addressed in this book and gave important context as to why the status has been different here (with repercussions until today).
I don't know the excuse of people from other countries. ;P
The most impressive private collection and simultaneously the biggest private one in Germany was discovered only about a week ago and made at least national (I think even international) news: https://de.euronews.com/2023/02/02/gr...
It's situated in Mettingen and contains about 70.000 books. The owner was a mining engineer so he was able to take care of the necessary structural analysis and any adaptations that had to be made. *lol* Apparently, he died back in 2022 but his widow kept his treasure until she now had to move to a care home.
I'm happy to report that there could be a revolution brewing about Germany's public libraries at last. Only last week, I read an (admittedly older) article about the transformation of German libraries into places where people can connect, linger and spend entire days doing all kinds of things. For those of you who are now scratching their heads going "yeah ... aren't they already?!" I can only say that you obviously come from a much better place than me (library-wise). *lol*
The article for the German-speakers here (or if you want to have google translate it for you): https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/bi...
The rest of you can enjoy the pictures.
It speaks of the central library of Cologne, which will be completely rebuilt by 2026. The architects mentioned in the article want libraries to become fully fledged "third locations" (the first being one's home, the second your school or place of work).
However, while more and more towns seem to finally modernize their libraries and work hard to make more people want to come, some threats have never truly gone away:
The Nazis weren't the last to burn books and authors, their publishers and translators are still at mortal risk (as can be seen by Salman Rushdie's story that claimed several lives already). Not to mention the new rise of censorship, even or especially in 1st-world-countries that really should know better.
Repression is nothing new, as this book also nicely illustrates with examples from around the world. However, reading about all the advances and the fight for freedom from the Church and other repressive powers, only to then realize where we stand …
Then, there is a global movement that turns employers against employees again. Some countries are more affected by this than others (so far), not least because of established laws, but this also has consequences for the publishing industry as can be seen by certain books being less available, no access at all to certain other books depending on where you live (despite Amazon's best efforts) and significantly rising prices.
Hopefully, the book will not go back to being a mystic, exclusive item only the ruling class has access to. Especially after reading this book and following the history and evolution of the written word and libraries, it becomes crystal clear just how big of a step backwards and what a shame that would be (not least because it would go hand in hand with less education and that would be quite catastrophic).
I wanted to end this review with a picture of the state library of Stuttgart (capital of my state) but when I showed it to a friend of mine and asked what he thought of it, he said it reminded him of a mall bookstore. I asked him if the US / Canada actually had bookstores that big and he said "several". Then he told be of the library of Chicago with its 7 stories and GARGOYLES. I feel … very small now and shall refrain from showing the picture. *lol*
A note on the writing style of this book:
Naturally, this book is choke-full of names and dates since it recounts history and has to cover one hell of a lot of it. However, the names and dates don't necessarily have to mean too much to you so you don't have to feel intimidated by them. So long as you keep in mind how long the written word and libraries have been around and marvel at the evolution of both, you'll be fine.
What I might have enjoyed more would have been if the authors had mentioned truly modern forms of the book. It seemed as if the authors weren't too impressed or in favour of ebooks and audiobooks weren't mentioned at all despite their influence on both literature and libraries. Pity.
Otherwise, the book was well-written and I like the amount of obviously extensive research that has gone into this. The authors are obviously bibliophiles.
And it therefore also tells of the buildings that eventually came to house all the written words.
Such as the famed Library of Alexandria that burned down not just once but three times. Alas, while the book mentioned it, it was very brief and only about one of the fires. I imagine the authors had to trim down the history and therefore had to cut corners.
Because make no mistake, stories have been accompanying humans all our lives and the history and evolution of homo sapiens is therefore accompanied by the history and evolution of stories told and recorded.
We meet scholars in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome before visiting medieval monasteries where monks copied scriptures and illuminated texts. While there were Roman nobles who already liked to own certain scrolls in private collections, that "trend" didn't kick off until noblemen in the Middle Ages needed a new "it item" to collect and proudly display. Thus, these collectors either bullied monks into giving up their manuscripts or outright stole them, thus making it necessary to chain down the most valuable ones.
What?! You thought Stephen Strange was the first to borrow books he wasn't supposed to? ;P
The private collections of noble houses and even rulers also meant that displaying books became a status symbol, which in turn kickstarted books being manufactured in greater quantities and even bound in lavish ways with pearls and jewels.
And let's not forget that royal patronage was as essential to the scholar as to the ruler (a kind of symbiosis) since the ruler profited from insights or even scientific breakthroughs that meant they could establish or even expand their rule while the scholar had the means to pursue the sciences and in relative safety.
I say relative because the book, to my great pleasure, also tells of fates like that of Timbuktu. Once one of if not THE center for learning in the Islamic world, it was taken over by Moroccan fanatics, sacked, all the scholars were killed and the scriptures burnt or otherwise destroyed before a religious regime was put in place instead. Sounds familiar? Yeah, we're not as "advanced" or "civilized" as we like to tell ourselves (and if you don't believe me or are quick to point out WHEN this happened to Timbuktu, I have very recent examples, too). :/
The materials used in the making of books also mattered and changed significantly over time. In 13th century Spain and Italy, paper mills were established that then spread to France, Germany and other regions. The paper back then wasn't the paper we know today (that came only in 1744) but was made from textiles. It was faster and easier to make and way cheaper than parchment for which hundreds of calves and sheep had to be killed when making even only one book!
Naturally, the manufacture of books only really got rolling after the invention of the printing press. And education also played a part because until more "mundane" people could read, there just wasn't that big a demand for books.
In this context, it was interesting to read of the emergence of publishers, the first of which was the Cambridge University Press, founded by Henry VIII in 1534. Around the same time but supposedly slightly later, the Schwabe Verlag in Switzerland and the House of Elzevir were also founded. In only 100 years since the invention of the printing press, more books had been produced than in the entire history of the written word up until that point! This also necessitated the regulation of the print trade.
The "modern" texts were more accessible than religious or older scientific ones and also translated into many languages (so not everyone had to know Latin or other ancient languages).
Eventually, newspapers, penny dreadfuls, book mobiles and more emerged and they all made reading cheaper, easier and generally accessible to the masses. Literature slowly but surely had made its way to every part of society (more or less, it still had ways to go). The written word had gone from mystic force to public resource.
And this is exactly when libraries the way we think about them today were born. The libraries housed in monasteries or universities as well as the subscription libraries made way to the public libraries that allowed access to all citizens, who could either read there or take a book home. A principle which has remained the same ever since.
In most countries, the library access itself isn't limited, you only need to pay (usually an annual fee) if you also want to take books home with you. In fabled realms, you don't even have to pay the annual fee - it is paid automatically when you're a citizen of that town via your taxes. But even if you have to pay an annual fee, it usually is so low that people from all walks of life can afford it and that is exactly the point: access to knowledge and entertainment for everyone.
There was one story I really wanted to hear about in this but which was unfortunately left out: that of Jella Lepman, who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930 but returned at the end of WW2 to provide children with education and books. She's the founder of the Children's Library in Munich. While others dropped medical and food supplies from planes, she arranged for the same to be done with books, saying that stories are just as vital (which I agree with). To this day, the Children's Library at Munich is one of the best in my opinion with a great creation story to boot.
Sadly, Germany has lost many of its libraries (making a well-stocked and well-funded one like the one Jella Lepman founded all the more valuable and important) and the ones still existing are often in terrible shape (both the building and the collection of books), overpriced and staffed with downright rude people ... a sad sight indeed.
Maybe that's why private collections persist more than ever. In Germany, towns either don't have a library to begin with or the libraries (even in bigger cities) aren't too well stocked. Interestingly, the history of the purge of Germany libraries was addressed in this book and gave important context as to why the status has been different here (with repercussions until today).
I don't know the excuse of people from other countries. ;P
The most impressive private collection and simultaneously the biggest private one in Germany was discovered only about a week ago and made at least national (I think even international) news: https://de.euronews.com/2023/02/02/gr...
It's situated in Mettingen and contains about 70.000 books. The owner was a mining engineer so he was able to take care of the necessary structural analysis and any adaptations that had to be made. *lol* Apparently, he died back in 2022 but his widow kept his treasure until she now had to move to a care home.
I'm happy to report that there could be a revolution brewing about Germany's public libraries at last. Only last week, I read an (admittedly older) article about the transformation of German libraries into places where people can connect, linger and spend entire days doing all kinds of things. For those of you who are now scratching their heads going "yeah ... aren't they already?!" I can only say that you obviously come from a much better place than me (library-wise). *lol*
The article for the German-speakers here (or if you want to have google translate it for you): https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/bi...
The rest of you can enjoy the pictures.
It speaks of the central library of Cologne, which will be completely rebuilt by 2026. The architects mentioned in the article want libraries to become fully fledged "third locations" (the first being one's home, the second your school or place of work).
However, while more and more towns seem to finally modernize their libraries and work hard to make more people want to come, some threats have never truly gone away:
The Nazis weren't the last to burn books and authors, their publishers and translators are still at mortal risk (as can be seen by Salman Rushdie's story that claimed several lives already). Not to mention the new rise of censorship, even or especially in 1st-world-countries that really should know better.
Repression is nothing new, as this book also nicely illustrates with examples from around the world. However, reading about all the advances and the fight for freedom from the Church and other repressive powers, only to then realize where we stand …
Then, there is a global movement that turns employers against employees again. Some countries are more affected by this than others (so far), not least because of established laws, but this also has consequences for the publishing industry as can be seen by certain books being less available, no access at all to certain other books depending on where you live (despite Amazon's best efforts) and significantly rising prices.
Hopefully, the book will not go back to being a mystic, exclusive item only the ruling class has access to. Especially after reading this book and following the history and evolution of the written word and libraries, it becomes crystal clear just how big of a step backwards and what a shame that would be (not least because it would go hand in hand with less education and that would be quite catastrophic).
I wanted to end this review with a picture of the state library of Stuttgart (capital of my state) but when I showed it to a friend of mine and asked what he thought of it, he said it reminded him of a mall bookstore. I asked him if the US / Canada actually had bookstores that big and he said "several". Then he told be of the library of Chicago with its 7 stories and GARGOYLES. I feel … very small now and shall refrain from showing the picture. *lol*
A note on the writing style of this book:
Naturally, this book is choke-full of names and dates since it recounts history and has to cover one hell of a lot of it. However, the names and dates don't necessarily have to mean too much to you so you don't have to feel intimidated by them. So long as you keep in mind how long the written word and libraries have been around and marvel at the evolution of both, you'll be fine.
What I might have enjoyed more would have been if the authors had mentioned truly modern forms of the book. It seemed as if the authors weren't too impressed or in favour of ebooks and audiobooks weren't mentioned at all despite their influence on both literature and libraries. Pity.
Otherwise, the book was well-written and I like the amount of obviously extensive research that has gone into this. The authors are obviously bibliophiles.
April 26, 2022
Libraries will continue to exist as long as people use their resources. A thriving library is managed effectively by people who work to understand the needs of their community and develop their collections to meet those current needs and anticipate future needs. They are forward thinking.
"In other words, libraries need to adapt to survive, as they have always adapted to survive, a feat very successfully accomplished in recent years in France, with its network of Médiathèques, albeit with a huge commitment of public funds. University libraries, responding to student demand, are now social hubs as much as places of work, the cathedral silence that once characterized the library a thing of the past."
Libraries are social spaces and offer community events that encourage people to engage with one another such as book and movie discussion groups, craft events, or experiences such as chick hatching. Some libraries have expanded services to include passport application processing, voter registration, and license plate renewal.
In addition to loaning books, music and movies, some libraries have a library of things, which enable people to borrow items such as sewing machines or specialty tools, which they wouldn't ordinarily have access to.
Talking of access, libraries offer free access to WiFi to everyone without having to make a purchase and they may have WiFi hotspots to checkout also. Some libraries even have recording studios, maker spaces, and community craft projects available to the public. There truly is something for everyone.
The Library: A Fragile History is a comprehensive, yet accessible look at how libraries have evolved and adapted over time to become what they are today. "Why have libraries survived? Libraries are slow-thinking spaces away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life."
"In other words, libraries need to adapt to survive, as they have always adapted to survive, a feat very successfully accomplished in recent years in France, with its network of Médiathèques, albeit with a huge commitment of public funds. University libraries, responding to student demand, are now social hubs as much as places of work, the cathedral silence that once characterized the library a thing of the past."
Libraries are social spaces and offer community events that encourage people to engage with one another such as book and movie discussion groups, craft events, or experiences such as chick hatching. Some libraries have expanded services to include passport application processing, voter registration, and license plate renewal.
In addition to loaning books, music and movies, some libraries have a library of things, which enable people to borrow items such as sewing machines or specialty tools, which they wouldn't ordinarily have access to.
Talking of access, libraries offer free access to WiFi to everyone without having to make a purchase and they may have WiFi hotspots to checkout also. Some libraries even have recording studios, maker spaces, and community craft projects available to the public. There truly is something for everyone.
The Library: A Fragile History is a comprehensive, yet accessible look at how libraries have evolved and adapted over time to become what they are today. "Why have libraries survived? Libraries are slow-thinking spaces away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life."
January 7, 2022
This review first appeared on my blog - https://nsfordwriter.com - on 11th December 2021.
As a former librarian and student of library studies, this book needed to work hard to impress me. Unfortunately, it failed. I’m not doubting the scholarship and structure of the text, but I had some major issues.
This book is about the history of libraries, mostly in the western world, from ancient times until the current era. The authors, I have found, specialise in the history of early printed books, Reformation Europe and the book trade. It seems to me that they have written a book focusing on these topics while presenting it as a broader history of libraries. Only the last part (of 6) was about the 20th century, which after the devastating impact of the Second World War on libraries, saw the biggest technological revolutions since the invention of moveable type and printing presses – that is, the provision of computers for library users, electronic library management systems, barcodes, radio-frequency identification, the internet, ebooks – and which gets so little attention.
It really bugged me how the authors mention ebooks (or ereaders, they don’t differentiate between the two) perhaps once or twice and seem to dismiss them as a passing fad which will soon be obsolete, like CD-ROMs. They don’t think that ebooks count as proper books, clearly. Libraries are, in their opinion, defined as buildings or rooms containing physical printed books. No mention of audiobooks, e-journals which are a vital part of university library provision, the changing roles of modern librarians (teachers, community links, promoters of information literacy), how libraries now accommodate users with disabilities or even the differences between libraries and archives. Dewey Decimal Classification is incorrectly described as a cataloguing system. Classification is barely looked at, anyhow. The book is preoccupied with books as objects and with reeling off lists of how many works various libraries lost in fires. The writing style is dry and academic, suitable for students of book history but for the casual reader it’s about as exciting as the lint on a librarian’s cardigan.
As a former librarian and student of library studies, this book needed to work hard to impress me. Unfortunately, it failed. I’m not doubting the scholarship and structure of the text, but I had some major issues.
This book is about the history of libraries, mostly in the western world, from ancient times until the current era. The authors, I have found, specialise in the history of early printed books, Reformation Europe and the book trade. It seems to me that they have written a book focusing on these topics while presenting it as a broader history of libraries. Only the last part (of 6) was about the 20th century, which after the devastating impact of the Second World War on libraries, saw the biggest technological revolutions since the invention of moveable type and printing presses – that is, the provision of computers for library users, electronic library management systems, barcodes, radio-frequency identification, the internet, ebooks – and which gets so little attention.
It really bugged me how the authors mention ebooks (or ereaders, they don’t differentiate between the two) perhaps once or twice and seem to dismiss them as a passing fad which will soon be obsolete, like CD-ROMs. They don’t think that ebooks count as proper books, clearly. Libraries are, in their opinion, defined as buildings or rooms containing physical printed books. No mention of audiobooks, e-journals which are a vital part of university library provision, the changing roles of modern librarians (teachers, community links, promoters of information literacy), how libraries now accommodate users with disabilities or even the differences between libraries and archives. Dewey Decimal Classification is incorrectly described as a cataloguing system. Classification is barely looked at, anyhow. The book is preoccupied with books as objects and with reeling off lists of how many works various libraries lost in fires. The writing style is dry and academic, suitable for students of book history but for the casual reader it’s about as exciting as the lint on a librarian’s cardigan.
December 21, 2021
'Anyone who wishes may join the community of book readers at any point in their lives, and they may equally leave or suspend their membership (a characteristic libraries share with organised religion).'
Review to follow.
Review to follow.
December 12, 2021
Pettegree and der Weduwen’s focus is more on the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance history of the library, when it largely existed as personal collections of the wealthy and powerful. I’ll admit I skimmed some of those chapters, but if those eras of history make your heart sing, you’re in luck. The final chapters, with more recent history of the politics and progress of the library as a public institution, were of most interest to me.
My full review of The Library is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of The Library is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
September 12, 2021
Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley
In case you missed it, this week (the week of Sept 6, 2021) a man tweeted about how people virtue signal with large libraries and that you really shouldn’t own more than x number of books (or have x number of shelf space) and that he didn’t believe people read more than two books a week. Needless to say the vast amount of book lovers called him out - and then he accused them of bragging about the number of books they read and virtue signaling. Then accused them of not going to the library. Which is strange because most readers buy a lot of books and borrow from the library. Not to mention, in some areas, local libraries are either very small or very far away.
Anyway, he doesn’t get libraries of any type really or readers for that matter.
Lucky, we have books like this one by Pettegree and de Weduwen that not only get libraries, but also get readers and those who love libraries, be they personal or public.
Pettegree and de Weduwen chronicle the raise of the personal if elitist library and then move to the advent of the public library. The bulk of the history on the library in the Western World, therefore mostly Europe and America (why is Canada always overlooked, I mean really, unless it is hockey or maple syrup).
That said, the book is a pretty good overview. The coverage of the Medieval Period is well done, and includes women who developed personal libraries as well as men. They focus on the Dutch who owned personal libraries in the periods of the Renaissance and Reformation, and move into the modern era where they discuss not only the development of the public library, especially in regards to the Carnegie libraries.
There is a particularly good section that discusses the rise in women readers as well as the popularity of romance novels. Considering how little respect the romance genre and romance readers do seem to get from various histories and commenters on books, it was a nice nod to see two authors highlight the positivity of the genre.
The subtitle comes because the focus is on the tragedies of losing libraries. The loss of Alexandria is covered, of course; but the authors include other, less well known losses. The modern era could use a bit more development in terms of the section about the attempts of book challenges and bans that occur, not just in the US. It should be noted that bans and challenges are covered as are librarcides.
The book is readable and engrossing. It is a quick and excellent history. Well worth the read, and the owning of, if you like books.
In case you missed it, this week (the week of Sept 6, 2021) a man tweeted about how people virtue signal with large libraries and that you really shouldn’t own more than x number of books (or have x number of shelf space) and that he didn’t believe people read more than two books a week. Needless to say the vast amount of book lovers called him out - and then he accused them of bragging about the number of books they read and virtue signaling. Then accused them of not going to the library. Which is strange because most readers buy a lot of books and borrow from the library. Not to mention, in some areas, local libraries are either very small or very far away.
Anyway, he doesn’t get libraries of any type really or readers for that matter.
Lucky, we have books like this one by Pettegree and de Weduwen that not only get libraries, but also get readers and those who love libraries, be they personal or public.
Pettegree and de Weduwen chronicle the raise of the personal if elitist library and then move to the advent of the public library. The bulk of the history on the library in the Western World, therefore mostly Europe and America (why is Canada always overlooked, I mean really, unless it is hockey or maple syrup).
That said, the book is a pretty good overview. The coverage of the Medieval Period is well done, and includes women who developed personal libraries as well as men. They focus on the Dutch who owned personal libraries in the periods of the Renaissance and Reformation, and move into the modern era where they discuss not only the development of the public library, especially in regards to the Carnegie libraries.
There is a particularly good section that discusses the rise in women readers as well as the popularity of romance novels. Considering how little respect the romance genre and romance readers do seem to get from various histories and commenters on books, it was a nice nod to see two authors highlight the positivity of the genre.
The subtitle comes because the focus is on the tragedies of losing libraries. The loss of Alexandria is covered, of course; but the authors include other, less well known losses. The modern era could use a bit more development in terms of the section about the attempts of book challenges and bans that occur, not just in the US. It should be noted that bans and challenges are covered as are librarcides.
The book is readable and engrossing. It is a quick and excellent history. Well worth the read, and the owning of, if you like books.
January 30, 2023
This book covers the evolution of the Library from the status symbol of the nobility, through professional personal libraries of scholars and merchants, subscription libraries and all the way to the public good that they are today, with additional insights of the value different people place on them. I find it quite surprising just how late fiction was allowed into the hallowed halls of libraries.
The book's subtitle "A Fragile History" is especially poignant. The author really managed to show the difficulty of preserving books, especially entire collections through the ages. With all of the neglect, theft, war, elitism and censorship it is surprising there are any books older than 100 years left in the world. By the end I got a real sense of the libraries perseverance and the herculean effort needed to preserve them.
Considering that we are all book lovers on this website I can recommend this book to literally everyone here.
The book's subtitle "A Fragile History" is especially poignant. The author really managed to show the difficulty of preserving books, especially entire collections through the ages. With all of the neglect, theft, war, elitism and censorship it is surprising there are any books older than 100 years left in the world. By the end I got a real sense of the libraries perseverance and the herculean effort needed to preserve them.
Considering that we are all book lovers on this website I can recommend this book to literally everyone here.
June 25, 2022
This is a history of libraries, from Sumer to the present, concentrating primarily on the UK, USA and Western Europe. Rather dry, it ends with some passion with praise of the book and an argued prediction of its perdurance.
October 11, 2021
An extremely thorough look into the history of libraries. Very comprehensive. A tad too much for me, but I can see where someone who is a real bibliophile would really enjoy it. Would serve as a good reference book. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reading copy.
January 17, 2026
Esto sí que es una maravilla.
Todo lo que no me dio el maldito Junco me lo ha dado este.
Cronológico. Lleno de datos. Bibliografía extensísima. Tiene en cuenta el resto del mundo. Explica las realidades. Menciona la romántica. TODO BIEN JODER.
Lo necesito en papel en casa.
Todo lo que no me dio el maldito Junco me lo ha dado este.
Cronológico. Lleno de datos. Bibliografía extensísima. Tiene en cuenta el resto del mundo. Explica las realidades. Menciona la romántica. TODO BIEN JODER.
Lo necesito en papel en casa.
November 6, 2021
A library lover's dream! Full of history, from the beginning of the beginning, and a careful tour through the libraries that have shaped our written record of humanity. An encyclopedic read, wrapping a reader roundabout with all those hours of research, the many crooks and crannies investigated and historical detective-diving obvious in every chapter.
Don't be shy, bookworms. This is the one to read.
A Sincere Thanks to Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen, Perseus Books and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.
Don't be shy, bookworms. This is the one to read.
A Sincere Thanks to Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen, Perseus Books and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.
February 18, 2023
As a pretty libertarian bibliophile, I have a complicated relationship with libraries. What interests me more than libraries though, is what lies ahead for physical books. I see the future of the library inextricably linked to that, hence my desire to read this.
This is a straightforward account, without interesting writing particularly, but laced with interesting characters. Their narrative is one of cycles, rather than one of progression, which I think is spot on. And they make an encouraging case in the end for the continuance of the physical space of books and libraries. For those interested in the subject, this is worth reading.
This is a straightforward account, without interesting writing particularly, but laced with interesting characters. Their narrative is one of cycles, rather than one of progression, which I think is spot on. And they make an encouraging case in the end for the continuance of the physical space of books and libraries. For those interested in the subject, this is worth reading.
October 18, 2021
I read this as part of NetGalley
This was such an amazing and thorough recounting of the make up and scope of libraries from ancient times until now. I was impressed with the amount of detail and research that went into this and the writing was far from dry as it wove through time and scope.
If anything, it shows with extreme clarity how much we’ve lost over time and how many works no longer exists that most likely should be celebrated. Time, decay, wars, religion, revolutions, and censorship from the Roman times until present day have robbed us of more books than we’ll ever know.
The only wish I had for this book is that they spent more time in Asia and talking through books there and how, even if very different, libraries existed and manifested. There is only passing references through the books outside of India and almost no color on Africa and Southeast Asia.
The library, in all its manifestations over the centuries is still a common good and will continue to be for centuries to come.
This was such an amazing and thorough recounting of the make up and scope of libraries from ancient times until now. I was impressed with the amount of detail and research that went into this and the writing was far from dry as it wove through time and scope.
If anything, it shows with extreme clarity how much we’ve lost over time and how many works no longer exists that most likely should be celebrated. Time, decay, wars, religion, revolutions, and censorship from the Roman times until present day have robbed us of more books than we’ll ever know.
The only wish I had for this book is that they spent more time in Asia and talking through books there and how, even if very different, libraries existed and manifested. There is only passing references through the books outside of India and almost no color on Africa and Southeast Asia.
The library, in all its manifestations over the centuries is still a common good and will continue to be for centuries to come.
February 15, 2022
The library is a fascinating account the history of libraries and books through the ages. The chapters span from the ancient library of Alexandria to libraries in this day and age. The writing of the library is pretty accessible but it is clearly a scholarly read. The amount of research the authors put in write this book is evident throughout book and manifests itself in an impressive number of references (many of which seem worthy to read on their own).
The library is not the type of book you read trough on a rainy afternoon. There is much knowledge to be gain here and worthy to take your time with. I read this as an eARC and will definitely seek to add a physical copy of this book to my own collection when it gets published later this year.
The library is not the type of book you read trough on a rainy afternoon. There is much knowledge to be gain here and worthy to take your time with. I read this as an eARC and will definitely seek to add a physical copy of this book to my own collection when it gets published later this year.
November 15, 2021
A bibliophiles dream bound in a single edition! And while undoubtedly scholarly and historical this is the sort of book that can also be perused in small doses by any lover of books and libraries, whether they are regularly in pursuit of knowledge or entertaining escapism in their choice of reading material. **Thank you so much to both NegGalley and Basic Books/Hachette for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! I loved it so much I bought a hardcover copy the day it came out.**
This comprehensive tome covers the history of the library from the great mythos of the Library of Alexandria to the Bodleian to the Library of Congress; from parchments and scrolls, to illuminated manuscripts to the advent of the printing press and production of the dime paperback; from collectors and the first auctions and specialist booksellers; from private collections to Universities, from lending libraries to public libraries, from the first bookmobiles to the Appalachian pack horse libraries - this book covers the growth, decline, .and regrowth over and over again all across our globe.
One of the most interesting parts to me in the history of the printed page (and covered here) is the eventual popularity of fiction (vs non-fiction "learned reading") and the eschewing of that form of print in the larger collecting of books in libraries. How lending/circulating libraries (primarily sources of fiction) were "fretted over what might fall into the hands of their wives and daughters, apprentices and servants or impressionable youths." They were "denounced as purveyors of pornography and books of brain-rotting triviality" in the 18th & 19th century. Ironically much similar is still said in the modern era, especially with the advent of the popular paperback novel. and that oh so poo-pooed upon "romance" novel, which got its bad reputation as far back as 1773 as being written "solely for the use of circulating libraries, and very proper to debauch all young women who are still undebauched." I'm pretty sure there are still people saying the same thing today.
There are modern era anecdotes that will both shock, appall and entertain - from the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake which led to the revamping of the Library and the sudden disappearance of some where between 200,000-500,000 books into a landfill - a debacle that is still kept relatively hushed up - to the discovery of a librarians 10,000 plus purloined hoard found in his house in 1982.
The book also covers the oft prophesized decline of books and libraries (yes its supposed decline was stated long before the advent of the modern technological era), with some very up to date information all the way up to our global epidemic and its effects on both reading and libraries. This advance of the tech age is possibly the most thought provoking portion of the book as it effects us as readers today, and this book provides plenty of insight. "More fundamentally, are books just too slow for the modern world, where our mindscape is dominated by a smart phone?" "The internet, it is true, is the perfect tool for an impatient age, we love the convenience of same day delivery, but we complain more and more of the stress of the relentless pace of life. Libraries and books encourage reflective thought. We cannot delegate the whole burden of returning balance to our lives to classes and therapeutic groups. A book creates a mindfulness class of one."
"Most of all , by empowering the digital revolution, librarians have given up the one unique selling point which they defended so tenaciously for almost as long as we have had libraries: the right to apply their knowledge, taste and discrimination to assisting the choice of their patrons. This has been the key to understanding so much in this book: the idea that in an age of plenty there will always be helpmates to assist readers in making the right choice of book. Can the internet, in all its enormous variety, ever replace this reflective process of deliberation, the slow choosing the eager anticipation, the slow unfolding of plot?" (and while impressive algorithms have made it easy to find "more of the same" - "What if we want something different, rather than more of the same? What if we do not know that we want something different, but a chance encounter sparks our interests?")
So lots of thought provoking questions here as well as history and bibliphilism (and as a true book lover and collector I also loved the portions about private collectors and the building of their collections).
This is a must have book for booklovers and bibliophiles the world over!
This comprehensive tome covers the history of the library from the great mythos of the Library of Alexandria to the Bodleian to the Library of Congress; from parchments and scrolls, to illuminated manuscripts to the advent of the printing press and production of the dime paperback; from collectors and the first auctions and specialist booksellers; from private collections to Universities, from lending libraries to public libraries, from the first bookmobiles to the Appalachian pack horse libraries - this book covers the growth, decline, .and regrowth over and over again all across our globe.
One of the most interesting parts to me in the history of the printed page (and covered here) is the eventual popularity of fiction (vs non-fiction "learned reading") and the eschewing of that form of print in the larger collecting of books in libraries. How lending/circulating libraries (primarily sources of fiction) were "fretted over what might fall into the hands of their wives and daughters, apprentices and servants or impressionable youths." They were "denounced as purveyors of pornography and books of brain-rotting triviality" in the 18th & 19th century. Ironically much similar is still said in the modern era, especially with the advent of the popular paperback novel. and that oh so poo-pooed upon "romance" novel, which got its bad reputation as far back as 1773 as being written "solely for the use of circulating libraries, and very proper to debauch all young women who are still undebauched." I'm pretty sure there are still people saying the same thing today.
There are modern era anecdotes that will both shock, appall and entertain - from the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake which led to the revamping of the Library and the sudden disappearance of some where between 200,000-500,000 books into a landfill - a debacle that is still kept relatively hushed up - to the discovery of a librarians 10,000 plus purloined hoard found in his house in 1982.
The book also covers the oft prophesized decline of books and libraries (yes its supposed decline was stated long before the advent of the modern technological era), with some very up to date information all the way up to our global epidemic and its effects on both reading and libraries. This advance of the tech age is possibly the most thought provoking portion of the book as it effects us as readers today, and this book provides plenty of insight. "More fundamentally, are books just too slow for the modern world, where our mindscape is dominated by a smart phone?" "The internet, it is true, is the perfect tool for an impatient age, we love the convenience of same day delivery, but we complain more and more of the stress of the relentless pace of life. Libraries and books encourage reflective thought. We cannot delegate the whole burden of returning balance to our lives to classes and therapeutic groups. A book creates a mindfulness class of one."
"Most of all , by empowering the digital revolution, librarians have given up the one unique selling point which they defended so tenaciously for almost as long as we have had libraries: the right to apply their knowledge, taste and discrimination to assisting the choice of their patrons. This has been the key to understanding so much in this book: the idea that in an age of plenty there will always be helpmates to assist readers in making the right choice of book. Can the internet, in all its enormous variety, ever replace this reflective process of deliberation, the slow choosing the eager anticipation, the slow unfolding of plot?" (and while impressive algorithms have made it easy to find "more of the same" - "What if we want something different, rather than more of the same? What if we do not know that we want something different, but a chance encounter sparks our interests?")
So lots of thought provoking questions here as well as history and bibliphilism (and as a true book lover and collector I also loved the portions about private collectors and the building of their collections).
This is a must have book for booklovers and bibliophiles the world over!
November 10, 2021
I love books about books. I have spent most of my life in libraries. In fact, I have spent most of my life with my face buried in books. When I retired as a university literature professor, I promptly volunteered as a librarian. NetGalley is the perfect app for me. NetGalley is rather like being let loose in a candy shop. I seem to request every book that I see that has bookseller, bookbinder, book writer, or library in the title.
When I requested "The Library," I had no idea about the content of the book. Fortunately, the history provided by authors, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, in their non-fiction book, "The Library," turned out to be just as interesting as I had expected. When we travel, I seek out libraries throughout Europe. I recognized some of those libraries in "The Library." I have been in libraries in monasteries and in the Vatican, in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, in the old British Library in London, and in the Folger Library in Washington DC. And so, of course I found "The Library" captivating. Every one of the libraries that I have visited left me nearly speechless and in awe. It was a thrill to recognize so many of the descriptions in Pettegree and der Weduwen's book. The role of money and religion in establishing libraries and the collecting of books was not a surprise. The same holds true today. Libraries continue to need money. While libraries no longer buy books by the yard, the need to fill shelves remains important. The history that Pettegree and der Weduwen provide is fascinating, and while much of it was not surprising to me, there were other sections that made me smile, such as an acknowledgement of the power that libraries hold. The destruction of libraries, whether in Alexandria or World War II are sad beyond words.
The photos and illustrations in "The Library" were terrific. I could only wish there were more of them. Anyone who loves libraries, the history of libraries, the history of books, and all the various permutations of books will love this book. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley giving me access to this ARC of The Library.
When I requested "The Library," I had no idea about the content of the book. Fortunately, the history provided by authors, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, in their non-fiction book, "The Library," turned out to be just as interesting as I had expected. When we travel, I seek out libraries throughout Europe. I recognized some of those libraries in "The Library." I have been in libraries in monasteries and in the Vatican, in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, in the old British Library in London, and in the Folger Library in Washington DC. And so, of course I found "The Library" captivating. Every one of the libraries that I have visited left me nearly speechless and in awe. It was a thrill to recognize so many of the descriptions in Pettegree and der Weduwen's book. The role of money and religion in establishing libraries and the collecting of books was not a surprise. The same holds true today. Libraries continue to need money. While libraries no longer buy books by the yard, the need to fill shelves remains important. The history that Pettegree and der Weduwen provide is fascinating, and while much of it was not surprising to me, there were other sections that made me smile, such as an acknowledgement of the power that libraries hold. The destruction of libraries, whether in Alexandria or World War II are sad beyond words.
The photos and illustrations in "The Library" were terrific. I could only wish there were more of them. Anyone who loves libraries, the history of libraries, the history of books, and all the various permutations of books will love this book. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley giving me access to this ARC of The Library.
January 23, 2022
I read two-fifths of this before succumbing to the facts that 1) I have to return it to the library because another patron has a hold on it and 2) I don't want to read it, I just want to have read it. I care passionately about larger issues like literacy and access to information and book production, acquisition, and preservation, but I really do not give a shit about so much of the material Pettegree and der Weduwen marshal as support for their claims. I understand the basic point that manuscripts and books are fragile and that not everyone cares about that. After so many examples, I no longer care that this obscure monastery owned X number of manuscripts on such and such a date, after which they were lost or destroyed. I no longer care how many books this or that obscure lawyer, professor, or merchant owned at his death, after which the books were sold at auction.
It's not like what I read was a complete waste of time: I'm glad to know that as a consequence of the printing press, handwritten manuscripts in jewel-encrusted bindings lost a lot of their prestige as displays of wealth, so rich Italians in the sixteenth century instead showed off how rich they were by commissioning buildings, statues, and paintings, which after all are a lot more durable than ink on leather.
But to grasp that gem, I had to wade through so much redundant, trivial information, on top of which the book is poorly edited and includes many awkward or weird sentences, as well as this complete head-scratcher: "The seventy-eight books of the Duke of Croy were bought by Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), governor of the Habsburg Low Countries and brother of Duke Philip the Fair" (86). Because Renaissance Europe did not acknowledge trans people, I had to google Margaret of Austria to determine what was going on: Duke Philip the Fair was Margaret's brother; she was his sister.
The book should have been better edited and more concise.
It's not like what I read was a complete waste of time: I'm glad to know that as a consequence of the printing press, handwritten manuscripts in jewel-encrusted bindings lost a lot of their prestige as displays of wealth, so rich Italians in the sixteenth century instead showed off how rich they were by commissioning buildings, statues, and paintings, which after all are a lot more durable than ink on leather.
But to grasp that gem, I had to wade through so much redundant, trivial information, on top of which the book is poorly edited and includes many awkward or weird sentences, as well as this complete head-scratcher: "The seventy-eight books of the Duke of Croy were bought by Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), governor of the Habsburg Low Countries and brother of Duke Philip the Fair" (86). Because Renaissance Europe did not acknowledge trans people, I had to google Margaret of Austria to determine what was going on: Duke Philip the Fair was Margaret's brother; she was his sister.
The book should have been better edited and more concise.
Read
May 12, 2024M'ha agradat moltíssim. Un bon repàs a la història de les biblioteques i sobretot, un encoratjador missatge perquè no desapareguin mai del tot
November 16, 2021
I read this courtesy of NetGalley.
Oh. My.
What an astonishing book.
Honestly I've had such a good year for book-related histories: The Gilded Page (Mary Wellesley), and The Bookseller of Florence (Ross King), and now this. Interestingly, this book contains parts of those two, because understanding how libraries function requires some knowledge of books themselves function, and how the book trade functions. It's been like a mini-course in the whole book production history of Europe.
The authors begin with a discussion of the fabled Library of Alexandria, which is appropriate given its mythical place in the history of libraries... and ALSO that there's some attempt to do something similar in the Alexandria of today, which is, let's say, not the Alexandria of yesteryear.
What utterly intrigued me was the way that exactly what a library is FOR has changed over the centuries. I am a huge fan of the public library, and absolutely uphold its place as a community resource. I do know that in medieval Europe, libraries were the province of monasteries and nobles - not least because that reflects the literacy of the age, and also the aspirations of such people.
It was the use of libraries as exhibitions of wealth that was one aspect explored beautifully here - collecting the 'right' books, and beautiful versions. And then how do you have architecture that reflects that? If you're worried about scholars nicking off with your precious tomes, and you only have a few books, then you chain the books up (literally) and your building reflects that. But when books starting getting more accessible and you are HAPPY for them to be accessed (unlike Oxford libraries not allowing students in and having opening hours for about three hours a week), then what the rooms look like needs to change.
I deeply appreciated the exploration of libraries as both weapons within colonialism and imperialism, and victims of it too. Colonial outposts in NZ and India being sent books; translations into the languages of the colonised; and libraries being looted, or outright destroyed, across the globe - these are things that need to be remembered and dealt with as people keep thinking about the use and abuse of knowledge as power. It would have been so easy to not include those things, and to stick with somehow seeing libraries as just repositories of books - ignoring books as power - but I'm so glad the authors wanted to give a rich and full exploration of libraries as institutions.
Look, I just loved this book. It's beautifully written and has lovely images. It covers predominantly European examples of libraries. It does so across just over two millennia, from monastery to castle to private home to public institution. And the modern arguments about what a library is for! Clearly these authors are defenders of the existence of libraries, but they're not just stuck in mid-20th century versions. They are, if anything, ambitious for what place libraries can and should have in communities.
I love books and I love libraries and this was a wonderful history of them both.
Oh. My.
What an astonishing book.
Honestly I've had such a good year for book-related histories: The Gilded Page (Mary Wellesley), and The Bookseller of Florence (Ross King), and now this. Interestingly, this book contains parts of those two, because understanding how libraries function requires some knowledge of books themselves function, and how the book trade functions. It's been like a mini-course in the whole book production history of Europe.
The authors begin with a discussion of the fabled Library of Alexandria, which is appropriate given its mythical place in the history of libraries... and ALSO that there's some attempt to do something similar in the Alexandria of today, which is, let's say, not the Alexandria of yesteryear.
What utterly intrigued me was the way that exactly what a library is FOR has changed over the centuries. I am a huge fan of the public library, and absolutely uphold its place as a community resource. I do know that in medieval Europe, libraries were the province of monasteries and nobles - not least because that reflects the literacy of the age, and also the aspirations of such people.
It was the use of libraries as exhibitions of wealth that was one aspect explored beautifully here - collecting the 'right' books, and beautiful versions. And then how do you have architecture that reflects that? If you're worried about scholars nicking off with your precious tomes, and you only have a few books, then you chain the books up (literally) and your building reflects that. But when books starting getting more accessible and you are HAPPY for them to be accessed (unlike Oxford libraries not allowing students in and having opening hours for about three hours a week), then what the rooms look like needs to change.
I deeply appreciated the exploration of libraries as both weapons within colonialism and imperialism, and victims of it too. Colonial outposts in NZ and India being sent books; translations into the languages of the colonised; and libraries being looted, or outright destroyed, across the globe - these are things that need to be remembered and dealt with as people keep thinking about the use and abuse of knowledge as power. It would have been so easy to not include those things, and to stick with somehow seeing libraries as just repositories of books - ignoring books as power - but I'm so glad the authors wanted to give a rich and full exploration of libraries as institutions.
Look, I just loved this book. It's beautifully written and has lovely images. It covers predominantly European examples of libraries. It does so across just over two millennia, from monastery to castle to private home to public institution. And the modern arguments about what a library is for! Clearly these authors are defenders of the existence of libraries, but they're not just stuck in mid-20th century versions. They are, if anything, ambitious for what place libraries can and should have in communities.
I love books and I love libraries and this was a wonderful history of them both.
September 12, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The Library: A Fragile History will be available for purchase on November ninth.
I was so excited to read The Library: A Fragile History! A book dedicated simply and wholly to the subject of libraries? Yes, please! This is an exhaustive, detailed dive into a subject that is dear to most book lovers: namely the history of libraries and the roles they have played over the years. I fully expected this to become a new favorite.
Unfortunately, that was not my final takeaway. This is the sort of book that does not benefit from a straight cover-to-cover read. It would be better taken in pieces over a longer period of time. There is simply so much information to take in. It is apparent that the authors took great care in doing their research and they spared no detail. And I mean no detail. Therein lies my difficulty. As much as the subject appeals to me, and as much as I’ve enjoyed other books about similar subjects, this book bored me.
It wasn’t for lack of knowledge on the authors’ parts. It wasn’t that the book was poorly organized. Rather, it was very well put together. There was just no excitement shown in the pages. I felt like the authors weren’t really all that invested in what they were writing. And that sort of rubbed off on me a little bit. This would make a great study guide, but as a book that is read for enjoyment, it just didn’t quite do it for me. I will admit that I might have enjoyed it more if I had read it in bits and bursts, instead of straight through. There was so much information to take in, after all.
If you don’t mind books that are a little dry, the information in this book might appeal to you. After all, if you’re taking the time to read a book blog, chances are high that you love books and libraries. I really wanted to love The Library: A Fragile History, but this book just wasn’t for me.
I was so excited to read The Library: A Fragile History! A book dedicated simply and wholly to the subject of libraries? Yes, please! This is an exhaustive, detailed dive into a subject that is dear to most book lovers: namely the history of libraries and the roles they have played over the years. I fully expected this to become a new favorite.
Unfortunately, that was not my final takeaway. This is the sort of book that does not benefit from a straight cover-to-cover read. It would be better taken in pieces over a longer period of time. There is simply so much information to take in. It is apparent that the authors took great care in doing their research and they spared no detail. And I mean no detail. Therein lies my difficulty. As much as the subject appeals to me, and as much as I’ve enjoyed other books about similar subjects, this book bored me.
It wasn’t for lack of knowledge on the authors’ parts. It wasn’t that the book was poorly organized. Rather, it was very well put together. There was just no excitement shown in the pages. I felt like the authors weren’t really all that invested in what they were writing. And that sort of rubbed off on me a little bit. This would make a great study guide, but as a book that is read for enjoyment, it just didn’t quite do it for me. I will admit that I might have enjoyed it more if I had read it in bits and bursts, instead of straight through. There was so much information to take in, after all.
If you don’t mind books that are a little dry, the information in this book might appeal to you. After all, if you’re taking the time to read a book blog, chances are high that you love books and libraries. I really wanted to love The Library: A Fragile History, but this book just wasn’t for me.
October 19, 2021
A very thorough book about the history of libraries, how
they started out in societies, how they changed throughout the years and how they changed us.
A heavy but very worth read that should definitely be of interest to the ones who would love to have a book about the history of books.
[Thank you NetGalley and the authors for allowing me to read the e-ARC version of the book]
they started out in societies, how they changed throughout the years and how they changed us.
A heavy but very worth read that should definitely be of interest to the ones who would love to have a book about the history of books.
[Thank you NetGalley and the authors for allowing me to read the e-ARC version of the book]
December 17, 2023
Rating: 3.5 stars
An interesting, dense, but somewhat turgid, (mostly European + colonies) history of collections of books (i.e. libraries); their acquisition; upkeep and funding (or lack thereof); development from elite, private collections to various public collections; and often their plunder or destruction; from ancient times to the modern era.
An interesting, dense, but somewhat turgid, (mostly European + colonies) history of collections of books (i.e. libraries); their acquisition; upkeep and funding (or lack thereof); development from elite, private collections to various public collections; and often their plunder or destruction; from ancient times to the modern era.
August 24, 2025
British historian Andrew Pettegree and Dutch historian Arthur der Weduwen have been frequent publishing colleagues. Their collaborative 2021 nonfiction book The Library takes on a very ambitious scope - tracing the history of libraries across human civilizations, from ancient times to the present. I learned a lot from this book, though it is quite comprehensive (518 pages/15 hour audiobook), and at times I felt it veered into dry and repetitive territories. There is a lot of interesting discussion on libraries as personal vs. private collections, fiction vs. nonfiction in library collection development, the target audience of public libraries, and the censorship and destruction of books as a political act that are still relevant to modern times. As someone who greatly benefits from public libraries (>95% of the books I read are borrowed from libraries in audiobook or Ebook format), I obviously have a vested interest in maintaining and growing this invaluable institution.
Further reading: libraries
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading, edited by James Patterson | my review
My statistics:
Book 264 for 2025
Book 2190 cumulatively
Further reading: libraries
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading, edited by James Patterson | my review
My statistics:
Book 264 for 2025
Book 2190 cumulatively
February 4, 2023
This was a worthwhile read for any library lover, but I might have liked it least out of Pettegree's books, all of which focus in some way on the history of communication in print, especially in early modern Europe.
In this work, he and a new coauthor cover the development in size and scope of libraries from the ancient world to the present, with most of their attention devoted to Europe. The best part of the book is the section dealing with circulating and subscription libraries, how they differed and competed, how they influenced the publishing industry, and how they eventually gave rise to the present public library. This takes place in the historical period they know best and draws out a distinction that hadn't previously clicked for me, even as a librarian. Subscription libraries tended to have a high-minded purpose; members took join responsibility for selecting improving texts. Circulating libraries catered to a (stereotypically feminine) interest in fiction, delivered in quantity. Both charged for membership. (In fact, in Philadelphia, we had examples of all of these kinds of libraries and our public library is still called the "Free Library" for clarity!). I also enjoyed the coverage of how book storage and security evolved over the centuries. The de-Naizification of Europe's libraries was an interesting topic I hadn't encountered before.
Pettegree is great at finding little details to illustrate larger points, which is one reason I enjoy his work. Reading this as a librarian, though, I started to have some concerns, especially with the scope. In this account, the work of libraries is above all acquiring books--how many, from where, in what language, and on what topics? But describing them, the mechanics of circulating them, removing them, divining the needs or wants of users, teaching, learning--none of these activities are much in evidence. Certainly, the mission of the library is something that has changed a great deal over the centuries, but in this book, this just happens sort of invisibly in the background rather than being the actively discussed. Only when they touch on book choice (should we be buying all this low-brow fiction that people seem to want?) does the work of librarianship surface.
Thus, the book goes somewhat off the rails in the final pages due to a problem that crops up early but doesn't need to be resolved in the 17th century: what is the difference between a book collection and a library? The authors cover multiple transitions between private and community--monastery libraries that are appropriated as national collections, or fee-based circulating libraries that inspire free public libraries. But when we hit the 20th century, and libraries are transforming into a more user-driven institution that is oriented around information rather than physical books, the authors perceive a stark (and undesirable) break with tradition, because they'd defined libraries as book collecting. Book collecting still happens, I assure you! But your local public library's Overdrive collection may look more like a Georgian circulating library full of indulgent Gothic fiction than a seriously improving monastery or university library. Somehow, after all these pages, the authors seem to be asserting that that's not okay. I disagree! But I still found this worth reading.
In this work, he and a new coauthor cover the development in size and scope of libraries from the ancient world to the present, with most of their attention devoted to Europe. The best part of the book is the section dealing with circulating and subscription libraries, how they differed and competed, how they influenced the publishing industry, and how they eventually gave rise to the present public library. This takes place in the historical period they know best and draws out a distinction that hadn't previously clicked for me, even as a librarian. Subscription libraries tended to have a high-minded purpose; members took join responsibility for selecting improving texts. Circulating libraries catered to a (stereotypically feminine) interest in fiction, delivered in quantity. Both charged for membership. (In fact, in Philadelphia, we had examples of all of these kinds of libraries and our public library is still called the "Free Library" for clarity!). I also enjoyed the coverage of how book storage and security evolved over the centuries. The de-Naizification of Europe's libraries was an interesting topic I hadn't encountered before.
Pettegree is great at finding little details to illustrate larger points, which is one reason I enjoy his work. Reading this as a librarian, though, I started to have some concerns, especially with the scope. In this account, the work of libraries is above all acquiring books--how many, from where, in what language, and on what topics? But describing them, the mechanics of circulating them, removing them, divining the needs or wants of users, teaching, learning--none of these activities are much in evidence. Certainly, the mission of the library is something that has changed a great deal over the centuries, but in this book, this just happens sort of invisibly in the background rather than being the actively discussed. Only when they touch on book choice (should we be buying all this low-brow fiction that people seem to want?) does the work of librarianship surface.
Thus, the book goes somewhat off the rails in the final pages due to a problem that crops up early but doesn't need to be resolved in the 17th century: what is the difference between a book collection and a library? The authors cover multiple transitions between private and community--monastery libraries that are appropriated as national collections, or fee-based circulating libraries that inspire free public libraries. But when we hit the 20th century, and libraries are transforming into a more user-driven institution that is oriented around information rather than physical books, the authors perceive a stark (and undesirable) break with tradition, because they'd defined libraries as book collecting. Book collecting still happens, I assure you! But your local public library's Overdrive collection may look more like a Georgian circulating library full of indulgent Gothic fiction than a seriously improving monastery or university library. Somehow, after all these pages, the authors seem to be asserting that that's not okay. I disagree! But I still found this worth reading.
November 11, 2021
A very thorough history of libraries from the vaunted Library of Alexandria to today's current public libraries this is a very readable history. It covers the personalities involved in libraries like Thomas Bodley and Andrew Carnegie and covers the way libraries are thought of throughout the world. The only area that wasn't fully represented was Latin America but that's a small quibble. Overall, a must read for those who love books, reading & libraries.
September 10, 2021
Read for Library Journal. The historical critique of ALA was exactly what I needed to know that my instincts were correct about what I need to make ALA do to be better.
February 5, 2022
In "The Library: A Fragile History", Pettegree and der Weduwen address the growth of libraries over the centuries, while necessarily pulling in the very notion of reading and the nature of books themselves. In very ancient times, libraries were collections of baked clay tablets which stored royal archives and laws; later, the Greek and Roman upper class wrote histories, poetry, essays, and scientific books on papyrus or parchment scrolls. Ancient libraries revolved around individual collections, which continued well into the 1800's, though universities and monasteries amassed increasingly large libraries, often in the thousands of volumes. With the invention of moveable type presses, libraries mushroomed in size, with many upper middle class collectors owning 10,000 books. Besides tracking the growth of libraries in size, the authors also trace the changing ways society viewed libraries, and sometimes used libraries as weapons for propaganda, or destruction of opposing opinions. The style of writing enlivens what could have been a somewhat dry topic, making it immensely pleasurable to read.
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