The Library: An Illustrated History

by Stuart A.P. Murray, Nicholas A. Basbanes (Foreword), Donald G. Davis (Introduction)

Throughout the history of the world, libraries have been constructed, burned, discovered, raided, and cherished—and the treasures they've housed have evolved from early stone tablets to the mass-produced, bound paper books of our present day. The Library invites you to enter the libraries of ancient Greece, early China, Renaissance England, and modern-day America, and speaks to the book lover in all of us. Incorporating beautiful illustrations, insightful quotations, and many marvelous mysteries of libraries—their books, patrons, and keepers—this book is certain to provide you with a wealth of knowledge and enjoyment.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Books About Books, Reference, Library Science, Historical, Adult

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Also known as Stuart Murray .

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the dedication page: "For the dedication of the New City Library, Boston"

Behind the ever open gate
No pikes shall fence a crumbling throne,
No lackeys cringe, no courtiers wait, -
This palace is the people's own!
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1888

I can't wait to visit Boston Public Library next month! According to Stuart A.P. Murray, it "is the largest public library in the United States, and the third largest of all the libraries in the country. With 16 million volumes, Boston Public is surpassed only by the Library of Congress and the Harvard University library system."

Boston Public is famous for several firsts in America: "it was the first publicly supported municipal library; the country's first large library opened to the public; and the first library to loan out books and other materials." I imagine I will experience a similar feeling of thrilled excitement as I did when I visited the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. in June, 2019!

Another awesome library that I have experienced which is included in this book is the British Library, where I viewed the original Magna Carta and the original annotated manuscript of Alice in Wonderland. Apparently, the British Library was "established by Parliament in 1753 as an afterthought to the newly opened British Museum, the national library was essentially a division of printed books and manuscripts - even though the head of the museum held the title "Principal Librarian.""

I have also visited the Chicago Public Library, which is not too far from where I live. "The library's beginnings were in an abandoned water tower after the Great Chicago Fire ravaged the city in 1871. The 3,000 volumes were augmented by a donation of 8,000 books from England."

This is a fascinating book, which I enjoyed immensely. I am so glad my local public library owns a copy that I may borrow from time to time to learn about yet another wonderful library.

[Najibah Bakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Printed on glossy paper with coloured images of books, libraries and their founders adorning its pages, this book is full of interesting facts about history of libraries all over the world, in diverse and different cultures.

With special focus on libraries in the USA and European countries, it opens readers' eyes to the long tradition and culture of book collecting and preservation of books as records of humanity and its achievements. Other nations such as Arab-Islam, Chinese, Mayan, and African, all have left their marks in the great history of libraries.

The struggle of the African-American to establish their own separate libraries due to racism may caught inner conscience, other than the destruction of libraries due to political or religious reasons. The enemy of books and libraries, i.e. fire, were too frequently mentioned in this book, indicating how fatal can it be to the collections if no serious considerations given to prevent the catastrophe.

Among the library founders worthy of further reading is Thomas Jefferson, who was a true book lover and one of the greatest mind of America. There are also other names of library founders and librarians interesting enough to be researched.

The glossy paper however, somehow is quite a nuisance when reading in certain types of lightings because of the glare. But the beautiful photos are really entertaining.

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally published August 2010

All five La Crosse County Library branches at Bangor, Campbell, Holmen, Onalaska, and West Salem will be celebrating National Library Card month in September, so I thought it would be fun to provide you with a little bit of the history of ancient writings and libraries. It is quite interesting to learn what libraries were like thousands of years ago.

When I found that our Bangor branch had a book called The Library: An Illustrated History by Stuart A. P. Murray, I thought it an appropriate choice for this review. You will read about the libraries of ancient Greece, early China, Renaissance England, and modern day America. The first libraries appeared five thousand years ago in Southwest Asia’s "Fertile Crescent," the birthplace of writing, sometime before 3000 BC.

What was there before books? The earliest writing was done on various materials: bones, skins, bamboo, clay, and papyrus. Mostly it consisted of images representing a subject or idea.

In ancient Mesopotamia, documents were written on clay tablets. I found it interesting that the earliest clay tablets actually recorded business transactions and government matters. In time, literature developed (thank goodness)!

About an inch thick, tablets came in various shapes and sizes. Mud-like clay was placed in wooden frames, and the surface was smoothed for writing and allowed to dry until damp. In those days, invaders would frequently either carry off tablets or burn down the library; but even if the tablets were in the library, they were safe since clay does not burn.

By 3000 BC, Egyptians had developed hieroglyphics (it means “sacred engraving”). It was the Greeks who gave this term to this form of writing. In Egypt, papyrus rolls were used rather than clay tablets. Library papyrus rolls were stored in wooden boxes and chests, piled on shelves, and also kept in wooden cases made in the form of statues.

When Egypt refused to export papyrus to other countries, parchment was developed. Parchment was more durable and its smooth surface took ink and paint better than papyrus; calligraphy and beautiful designs flourished.

The Greeks were the first to establish libraries for the public. Private libraries were assembled by wealthy book-lovers including famous scholars like Plato and the philosopher Aristotle, who permitted his students and scholars to use his library.

There is so much more in this book including beautiful illustrations, but I thought the history of libraries tied in nicely with our National Library Card month. Stop in to see our display of a large map with a wide array of library cards from other states, and possibly a few foreign cards too!

Don’t forget to sign up for a library card; it’s easy to do, takes hardly any time, and best of all it’s FREE!

Find this book and other titles within our catalog.

[Orsolya · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a true bibliophile, heaven on earth is either a library or bookstore (despite the modern technology of e-readers). Regardless of this love; most do not consider the history of libraries from conception to today. Stuart A.P. Murray addresses precisely this subject in, “The Library: An Illustrated History”.

Murray begins “The Library” by tracking the creation of libraries from ancient times throughout the centuries and explains the growth across the world and its regions. Early on, the text is gripping and interesting while also being informative and academic. It can not be denied that Murray has collected an abundance of research on the topic.

The striking issue at this stage is Murray’s tendency to weave off on tangents and jump back and forth chronologically. Sometimes, this eventually makes sense and Murray ties the discussions together; however, this isn’t always the case. The result of such writing is that “The Library” slows in pace and slackens in impact.

Another negative apparent in “The Library” is repetition both in facts and ideas. It would appear that this is due to a lack of proper organization or perhaps even to a poor editor as it is clear that the topic is not lacking in resources. Murray worsens this by oftentimes not even discussing libraries but instead focusing on books and the advent of writing.

“The Library” strengthens once it begins to appeal to American readers by highlighting the foundation of library systems in the states and also following the movement of librarian education worldwide. Murray’s style is more confident in this area making the topic more memorable.

The final section of “The Library” switches gears from library history and showcases the largest and most prestigious libraries in the world. Murray satisfies readers with a summary of each library’s history and expands on such details as circulation and patron demographics while supplementing with photos. The text is compelling and informative but is not overwhelming; serving to excite the reader towards libraries.

Although “The Library” provides a solid list of books, periodicals, and websites available on the subject for further reading; Murray’s sources used in his text appear to be predominately Wikipedia articles which is disappointing. It should be noted that “The Library” is glossy-paged and contains adequate illustrations making it a borderline coffee table book.

“The Library” isn’t as strong as expected but it is a solid overview/look into the development and progression of libraries and reading. Despite some of its weaknesses, the text will excite readers interested in the topic and is suggested for bibliophiles and library-lovers of all ages.

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books and love libraries. I always wanted my own library for when I retired with wall to wall, floor to ceiling books. A chaise longue and a rocking chair (depending on my mood) to relax into and READ all day long. Well, I have retired, own about 2000 hard copy books distributed throughout the house, but now mainly read on Kindle (but still buy and appreciate hardcopies), and am no longer capable of getting on either a chaise longue or a rocking chair – my wheelchair has to do.
When I was a child, my parents (who were also avid readers) would take me to the town library every week to get books. The Invercargill public library (New Zealand) was a wonderland for children – mainly due to the exceptional head librarian, who brought books to life with her amazing displays and reading aloud sessions. I wish I could remember her name.
This book details the history of libraries around the world from Mesopotamia five thousand years ago up to today, starting with ‘books’ made from clay tablets, scrolls made from animal skins, papyrus …. up to todays’ paper books, microfiches and electronic items. It discusses the reasons for creating libraries – status symbols, religions, to educate, to preserve knowledge and culture – and how libraries evolved over the millennia from private, religious or royal collections to public lending libraries. Wars resulted in the destruction of far too many libraries, but also gave the plunderers opportunity to enhance their own collections.
There are some beautiful illustrations – of ancient, medieval and modern libraries; some exceptional books and manuscripts that still exist; artworks depicting books, readers and scribes …
The last chapter details the current largest libraries of the world – how and why they were set up. This is perhaps the least interesting chapter, as it is primarily a list with statistics.
I was disappointed to see that Coimbra University library – the most spectacular I have ever visited – was not included, but that really is not a big omission. The world just has so many libraries now, that not all could be included.
The book points out how important libraries have always been (and still are) as repositories of knowledge, and how public access to libraries is essential to an educated and informed public.
A book well worth reading for any bibliophile. Highly recommended.
Some interesting quotes:

“They chose not to leave children to be their heirs and perpetuate their names: they appointed as their heirs the books they wrote and the precepts therein. … A book is better than a house or the tombs in the West. It is more beautiful than a castle or a stele in a temple.” – ancient Egyptian poem about scribes

“A library’s most-used books were not only chained to desks and lecterns to prevent theft, but they were often protected by a “book curse” to scourge whoever damaged or stole them. After finishing the copying, the scribe usually added such a curse to the final page, warning that eternal damnation or prolonged physical suffering awaited any would-be perpetrator.”
One drastic (and still popular) curse invoked to protect an entire Spanish library warned: “Him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying out for mercy, and let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails [and] let the flames of Hell consume him forever.”

An amazing library I’d never heard of (one among many):

“One of the most remarkable Asian libraries was hidden away for centuries in western China in the Mogao Grottoes, which became known as the “Caves of the Thousand Buddhas.” Discovered by Western archaeologists in the early twentieth century, these caves formed a complex of almost 500 temples, with half a million square feet of religious wall murals. The complex contained more than 15,000 paper books and 1,100 paper bundles, each of which held dozens of scrolls. This library had been sealed up in the eleventh century, perhaps to protect it from invaders, or perhaps because the books had been discarded after having been copied and then republished.”

A horrendous loss of books:

“In 1258, Mongol hordes destroyed Baghdad and its thirty-six public libraries, the pillagers tearing books apart so the leather covers could be used for sandals.”

The joy of books:

“Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626): “Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested.” Danish physician A. Bartholini (1597–1643), who was devoted to literature, wrote: “Without books, God is silent, justice dormant, natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things involved in darkness.”

and the importance of libraries

“Readers and book collectors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were driven by both a love of learning and a love of books as treasured possessions—even if the ideas contained inside were not in keeping with their own beliefs.”
“An old West African Islamic proverb expresses the importance of Timbuktu’s libraries to the region’s Muslims, and the sanctity of the written word to the faith: “Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom come from Timbuktu.””
“Not only was there a deep-seated urge among many in the wealthier classes to educate Americans, and thereby make them better citizens, but there was also the need to inform the flood of immigrants, who would have a better chance of integrating into American society if they could read American publications.”
“By 1875, 188 public libraries had been established in the United States, thanks to the library movement. More than 600 were operating in 1886, the year Carnegie began dispersing his personal fortune for the construction of free public libraries in the United States. No other individual before or since has made a greater single impact on American public libraries, which already had made a great impact on Carnegie.”

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic history of libraries. Centuries of pillaging and burning and politics and religion and foreign conquests is hard to read. This reads like an adventure novel where you hope books and libraries "win".

In 1914, the Belgian university town of Louvain was burned when its people resisted the German invasion. Over 300,000 books lost. Rebuilding became a priority and donations poured in. By 1928, there were over 900,000 books. But in 1940, Nazi commanders saw it as a symbol of Belgian and Allied defiance and intentionally bombarded the library into ruins again. Reconstruction was finally completed by the year 2000.

Before the printing-press was invented, books took forever to transcribe.

During the middle ages, a substantial monastery might have as many as forty scribes at work in its scriptoria. The average scribe copying two books a year. Every book was made by hand. Just copying the Bible took fifteen months of toil.

So they wrote curses inside the books to deter theft.

Steal not this book my honest friend
For fear the gallows should be your end,
And when you die the Lord will say
And where's the book you stole away?

Our 'Public Library' is a fairly modern invention:

By 1875, 188 public libraries had been established in the United States. More than 600 were operating in 1886, the year Carnegie began dispersing his personal fortune for the construction of free public libraries in the United States.

Schools are well known to contain good libraries:

By far, the world's most numerous type of library is the public school library. Of the more than 123,000 libraries in the United States, almost 1000,000 are in schools.

There a lots of well chosen pictures in this book. The final 70 pages highlight 50 different libraries from around the world.

Easy 5* for me.

[Steve Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything you need to know about the history of libraries around the world. From Alexander the Great to ancient Greece and Rome. Europe, Asia, South America, even a few sentences about Australia. Being an American book, the largest section is dedicated to the US.

There is a reference section at the back of the book that lists a variety of national libraries from a lot of countries, including an overview of the Australian National Library in Canberra.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

It probably isn't surprising that I am interested in library history. In fact, this isn't the first one I have read, but it is one of the best.

The book starts in ancient times, focusing at the early libraries found in Mesopotamia and Sumer before moving on into Egypt and other well-known cultures. What is interesting is the book doesn't just focus on the library, but highlights developments in the creation of paper, the printing process, literacy rates, and the educational environments in various locations around the world throughout history.

One thing I really appreciated is that the book lived up to the promise of the title. Throughout the whole narrative, there are beautiful graphics and reproductions of related documents that help provide depth to the coverage of the topic. The illustrations include works of art, pictures of the libraries being discussed, and illustrations or photographs of the important people being highlighted in the narrative.

Each chapter focuses on a time period, such as ancient times, the early Middle Ages, the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Colonial Period in America, early America, and modern times. Much of what is covered in relation to American history was familiar since I teach it in one of my classes, but it was presented in a refreshing way.

What I really liked was that Stuart also highlighted the development of libraries elsewhere in the world, including the Islamic world, Africa, Asia and South America. It was interesting to learn that Ethiopia was a major learning center as well as India, China, Korea and MesoAmerica having strong traditions of writing and librarianship without the often assumed Western influence.

The final chapter introduces brief descriptions and photographs of many of the largest and most important libraries in the world today.

Anyone looking for a nice overview of the topic will find this to be a good option. The only complaint that I have is that it is pretty heavy. Because of the illustrations, the book is published with high-glossy pages. It makes the illustrations more impressive, but it is a little rough on the wrists.

[Margaret Galbraith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this on and off over time. It’s a fabulous coffee table book if your interested in wonderful old real libraries. I loathe the new clinical ones which to me feel like a hospital. The old libraries had a true feeling and seemed to envelop you into a different world. Sadly my old library back home in Scotland is no longer there. Demolished for a much newer one which I’m glad I don’t have to visit. They’ve truly messed up the library where I used to work and sadly not for the best but luckily the old reading room is there for many generations to see. When I did open day at the University the majority of attendees wanted to see the old reading room!

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few early chapters that were quite interesting. Going through the history was a bit dry and there were some editing errors.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the 123,000 libraries in the U.S., almost 100,000 are in public schools. Libraries have been around since ancient civilizations, but in the U.S. libraries have been supported and increased as a result of peaceful times, philanthropists, democratic ideals and more. The rise of the middle class in America meant demands for education and knowledge and libraries were interwoven into existing democratic ideals. It was believed that freedom of thought and the ability to think for oneself was necessary in a democratic society made up of educated, informed citizens. In his book, The Library: an Illustrated History, Stuart Murphy looks at libraries from ancient Mesopotamia to modern times. He examines libraries in the East and West in this beautifully illustrated book full of information about fascinating people and anecdotes. Many funny and interesting stories make this book easy-to-read from the book-cursing scribes to Mark Twain’s hysterical and witty comment to the librarian that requested him to defend his offensive book, Huckleberry Finn. He told her to put it next to the equally violent and offensive book, The Bible.

I’m not sure if anyone would find this book interesting except book lovers, book collectors, and librarians. Maybe an English teacher because libraries are linked with world literature. The last chapter is on famous libraries all over the world. I always drag my husband into libraries when we travel so I particularly liked this section. The book doesn’t go into great depth but gives an overview. This made me want to read up on some of the famous people in history that ruled countries.

I did have problems with the author jumping forward and backwards in history with the narration. The book is not chronological and for my random brain I got lost as to where I was in time. In one chapter they were talking about the Boston Town Library from 1800-1850′s and then at the end they wrote about the first public library in 1653. It would have been better to place the information on the first public library at the beginning of the chapter. Maybe the author used an unorganized timeline to be funny. The majority of librarians tend to be obsessive about organization.

[Daniel M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart A. P. Murray A lovely history of libraries and how they came to be. From cuneiform libraries in 612 BC (clay tablets that survived 2500 years in a collapsed library), to Carnegie libraries around the US (some cities turned them down with a snooty “we don’t need your charity” as in the case of Detroit).
Fascinating, with excellent illustrations.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of libraries is the history of culture itself. As soon as people figured out writing, they needed to have a place to store it. It enabled us to remember things beyond the unreliable method of oral transmission. If you have ever played Telephone, you would know what I am talking about.

In modern times, the library is so much more than a mere book repository. However, most people seem more interested in checking their Facebook or some email program than actually looking at all of the books and other media available. I go to the library every three weeks to check out books and the computers are 90% occupied without fail when I go there. It makes me feel sorry for this generation, though some older people are on them too. On the other hand, it might be that they are doing things on the internet that are important. I never ask and I won't peek. However, I have vented enough.

The Library: An Illustrated History is what it claims to be. While it is not completely illustrated there are pictures in the book that illustrate the points that the author makes or to demonstrate a piece of technology. For example, there is a page that shows a picture of a set of Korean blocks that made up a set for a printing press. The rest of it is devoted to the history of libraries organized chronologically. I mean, how else would you do it honestly?

The book starts out with Nineveh, an ancient Mesopotamian city. An archaeological dig discovered the ruins of a library and consequently found the oldest example of writing, Cuneiform. A lot of ancient libraries were destroyed by Barbarians, but sometimes the written material got lucky and was merely buried under sand or mud. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any surviving ancient libraries. I know of a few libraries that received widespread fame; The House of Wisdom in Babylon, The Great Library of Alexandria, and several more.

So alongside the Library as an establishment, the book discusses and studies forms of writing and different writing mediums. So we have papyrus from Egypt, clay tablets from the Sumerians and other sections of Mesopotamia, and more such things. It discusses how papyri were stored and kept from rotting, or how the material could be reused for different purposes. Furthermore, the book discusses the spread of writing and various technologies for reading and so on. As another example, Egypt controlled the distribution of papyrus sheets and the method of writing, thereby creating a monopoly of sorts in the ancient world.

So this book was fascinating. It was especially interesting how the ancient world treated the literate.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A near-perfect cross between a reference book and a coffee table conversation piece, Stuart Murray's The Library: An Illustrated History offers a wide-ranging, well-written overview of the institution from back-before-books-were-a-thing to the late 2000s.

With a foreward from Nicholas Basbanes (Mr. Bibliomania himself) and a brief introduction by UT Austin Professor Emeritus of Library History Donald Davis which outlines just how ambitious the work is (spoiler alert: very), this Library opens with the creation of writing and moves steadily forward through the Classical and Middle Ages into the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, taking care to hopscotch across continents to include information about libraries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. While the focus from there swings toward the institution in the United States during the 1700s-1900s, it cuts back to a more international perspective in the final chapter on present day libraries, librarians, and archives before closing with an extensive collection of snapshot histories of libraries from around the world.

While the text is accessible and chock full of trivia guaranteed to make an appearance at your next book nerd cocktail party, its somewhat haphazard chronological arrangement within broadly defined eras can leave the reader confused about which trends or events came first and which overlapped. Worse, there's absolutely zero textual notes, so good luck tracking down any of the fascinating factoids without reading your way completely through the list of suggested further readings Murray provides at the end. Readers interested in the images, which are frequently lovely and gorgeously reproduced if not always directly tied to the adjacent text, will fare better, as a meticulous sourcing is provided for those, likely for Creative Commons licensing reasons.

Though a bit frustrating if read for purely research reasons, Murray's Library nevertheless stands as a lovely and entertaining monument to a beloved institution, and one which will appeal to librarians and civilians alike.

[Stephie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book Stuart A. P. Murray gives a history of libraries with many images. It is an illustrated history after all, and it is. The content contains chapters on ancient libraries and moves through to the middle ages and libraries in the orient. After these it covers the Renaissance. Next, religious libraries are covered and then Europe during the Wars of Religion period. It then comes to America and the new United States of America. Before wrapping things up with the organization of libraries, it looks at the development of the library in the 19th century into 20th. It has a tour of libraries around the world as an ending section

I have no specific comments. I will say that I found the first 12 chapters to be good and for the most part interesting, but when it came to the libraries of the world section, it quickly got very repetitive and boring, but I did finished it out.

If you like illustrations you will like that part of the book. There are drawing, paintings, prints, and photos. And, of course if you like books and libraries it should be a good read, keeping in mind the repetitiveness of the final section.

[Faith Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As library lover, I collect non-fiction on the history of libraries. This is a lovely edition to my collection. I was most interested in the history, particularly that devoted to the United States. It provides a historical survey of library and librarian development which I found fascinating. I skimmed the last section which listed a number of current libraries and their specialties.

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed by this book. Though in hindsight, I guess the author delivers on his title. It is a history of Libraries and he does a reasonable job of looking at libraries from Assurbanipal in Assyria onwards. .... In the seventh century BCE, Assyrian king Assurbanipal established one of the greatest ancient libraries at Nineveh, on the Tigris River. Assurbanipal’s royal library of more than 30,000 clay tablets, written in several languages, often were organized according to shape: four-sided tablets were for financial transactions, while round tablets recorded agricultural information. (In this era, some written documents were also on wood and others on wax tablets.) The Nineveh library was Assurbanipal’s passion, and he sent out scribes to the distant corners of his kingdom to visit other libraries and record their contents. These were among the first library catalogs. The king also organized the copying of original literary works, for he sought to study the “artistic script of the Sumerians” and the “obscure script of the Akkadians.”
With the rise of the Egyptian state papyrus became the major medium for scrolls. Papyrus grew almost exclusively in Egypt; this meant that Egyptians controlled its distribution, which influenced the development of books and writing in the civilized world.
The English term “library” derives from liber, Latin for “book.” The Greek term for a papyrus roll is biblion, and a container for storing rolls is called a bibliotheke. In some languages, the word for library is a variant of bibliotheke, a place where books are kept. Legend has it that when the preeminence of Egypt’s Alexandria library was challenged by a new library at Pergamum in Asia Minor, the Egyptians refused to export papyrus to their competitors. As a result, Pergamum developed a writing material of its own, made from the skin of calves, sheep, and goats, called parchment (it is pergamenum in Latin and pergament in Germanic languages, harking back to its origins in Pergamum).
The world of Islam acquired the art of papermaking in the eighth century, taught by Chinese prisoners who had been taken during eastward expeditions. Eventually, the Muslims brought papermaking to the Indian subcontinent and to Europe. Muslim Spain had at least seventy libraries, with the greatest at Cordoba, a city second in size only to Constantinople. In 1258, Mongol hordes destroyed Baghdad and its thirty-six public libraries, the pillagers tearing books apart so the leather covers could be used for sandals. .....I guess what is important to you!!...By the tenth century, many Islamic cities had major libraries, and one of the largest, with an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 books, was at Cordoba. The craft of papermaking reached (Muslim) Spain in the twelfth century, and at subsequent hundred-year intervals arrived in Italy, Germany, and England. Yet, for centuries after paper became widely available in Europe, vellum and parchment were preferred for documents that had to be long-lasting. up to 40 percent of the cost of a book made in Constantinople had been in the parchment alone. The increased use of paper drastically reduced publishing costs.
In some ways the history of libraries is a difficult subject to cover because libraries have tended to have long lives but have suffered from wars and fires especially....and sometimes from neglect. In fact, one of the depressing things I noticed in the book was the constant refrain of massive losses caused by fires. And this points to a fundamental problem with Libraries....collections concentrated in the one spot....they are in danger of fire always. The other common factor appeared to be that political and religious strife culminating in wars allowed the conquerors to make off with booty in the form of libraries ...though all too frequently libraries were simply torched. Other common factor appeared to be religious fundamentalism in its various forms which encouraged massive "book-burnings" and the consequent loss of knowledge.
I was interested in the observation about the Spanish destroying the Aztec codices: "Ironically, what the Spanish were eradicating was, in fact, a biased Aztec version of history. The Aztecs, themselves, had tried to wipe out Mayan culture and traditions previous to the Spaniards’ arrival".
It's hard to grasp today just how precious books were prior to the arrival of moveable type printing presses. Just copying the bible took 15 months of toil.
European books, publishing, and libraries underwent a radical change after 1450, when German goldsmith Johann Gutenberg turned his metalworking talents to the manufacture of “movable type.” At his workshop in the Rhineland city of Mainz, Gutenberg.......By 1500, approximately 260 printing establishments were in operation. Within a few decades after Gutenberg’s achievement, the enormous output of the printing press stimulated increased reading, as well as original new scholarship and writing on every sort of subject". One significant effect of typesetting and large-scale printing was that authorship of specific works could be more surely ascertained. Previously, texts were often copied and recopied and incorporated, without attribution, into other works. One estimate calculates that 40,000 book editions had been published by the start of the sixteenth century. Figuring an average print run of 500 copies of each edition, as many as 20 million books could have been printed. Although half the titles were Bibles or Christian texts, many were literary works by the likes of Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, and England’s Chaucer. Other titles offered valuable scientific and historical information, until then impossible to find without hunting endlessly through libraries and archives.
At the same time, the Church used the duplication power of the press to print thousands of so-called letters of indulgence, purchased by the devout in hopes of spending less time in purgatory after their earthly lives. Opposition to indulgences and to the absolute authority of the pope spurred on the Protestant Reformation, led by German monk and theologian, Martin Luther (1483–1546). .....Though Luther published a pamphlet in 1524 that called upon all German cities to establish schools to teach children—schools that needed libraries free of the Church’s rigid dogma. Luther called for libraries with books on religious commentary, law, and medicine, and for histories that “help in observing the marvelous works of God.” (So surprisingly liberal in this respect).
There are some interesting digressions about islamic libraries: a major Mongol leader, or khan, named Berke (d. 1266) converted to Islam, yet he could do nothing to stop a rival (Christian-led) Mongol horde from sacking Baghdad, Islam’s greatest city. The invaders slaughtered hundreds of thousands and ravaged the metropolis, throwing so many books into the Tigris that for a year the river ran black with ink. The destruction of a revered city and its sacred Islamic books, including many a Qur’an, so infuriated Berke that he struck an alliance with the Muslim Mamluks defending the Levant, Palestine, and Egypt. Berke’s aid helped defeat the Mongol horde, saving Jerusalem and Cairo and Islam’s holy cities on the Arabian Peninsula, all of them with irreplaceable libraries.
And interestingly, in Africa, in Timbuktu.....the city’s leading families possessed more than 100,000 manuscripts, then considered one of Timbuktu’s greatest treasures. Written mostly in Arabic, and many of them pre-Islamic, these works were the source of a young scholar’s education, particularly in religion, commerce, astronomy, botany, and music. (As I recall....such manuscripts were only recently squirrelled away to prevent their destruction at the hands of muslim extremists).
The sack of Baghdad in 1258 sent surviving Islamic scholars, doctors, writers, architects, teachers, and musicians to Delhi, which became the great center of Islamic culture.
One of the greatest Mughal emperors, Akbar (1542–1605), formed a department exclusively for cataloging and arranging the Imperial Library’s 24,000 volumes. He did much of the work himself, classifying the books under three main groupings: first, poetry, medicine, astrology, and music; second, philology, philosophy, Sufism, astronomy, and geometry; and third, commentaries on the Qur’an, general theology, and law. This system was comparable to the classification of most Muslim libraries of the era.
Something that I was unaware of was that (despite having lived 3 years in Malaysia) a distinctive form of manuscript illumination developed among the Malays, an art influenced by Chinese Islamic manuscript illumination and Arabic script. The Malays also followed traditional Muslim methods of book design and layout—symmetrically decorated double pages and beautifully illuminated colophons (brief, informative texts about the book or author). The texts usually were in Malay or Arabic, but sometimes used other regional languages such as Acehnese or Javanese.
Even in the late part of the 16th century, books were precious. Francis Trigge established a famous public library in Lincolnshire in 1598......"The chains were riveted to the front cover of Trigge’s books, which numbered more than three hundred and fifty titles. Protestant and Catholic works were well represented in the library, considered a unique period collection that manifests the conflicting religious ideas of the Reformation".
But society also started to change (in Britain anyway): coffeehouses became popular in the mid-seventeenth century. The house was usually open to everyone, generally without deference to rank, as attested to by one set of “Rules and Orders of the Coffee-House”....... Periodicals (printed weekly newspapers, sometimes from foreign lands) were the most popular reading matter. New books, many of them brief monographs on a specific subject, were also discussed around the tables. It seems that the ordinary man could get a pretty good education via the coffee houses.
In the Americas, the first North American paper mill was established in Mexico City in 1575. It was not until 1690 that the first British-American paper mill began operations near Philadelphia and there was no American-produced type until 1769.
Stuart goes into a great deal of detail about the growth of public libraries and the important role of benefactors like Andrew Carnegie. By 1875, 188 public libraries had been established in the United States, thanks to the library movement. More than 600 were operating in 1886.
He has a large section of the book devoted to various libraries of the world ...especially the large national library collections such as the British Library and the Library of Congress in the USA. But I was a little disappointed in his choices because he seems to have focused on the size of the library rather than, say, the beauty of its construction. He doesn't cover the beautiful Ervin Szabo library in Budapest, or the wonderful Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial in Spain, for example.
Overall, I think he does a workman like job with a huge subject ......maybe just a bit disappointed with the choice of libraries to cover in detail and the omission of many of the really beautiful libraries of the world. I give it three stars.

[JoAnn/QuAppelle Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a book and library lover like myself, this book is the ultimate! Murray has complied wonderful information and illustrations into one volume that is a real treasure trove.

I loved the vignettes about unknown people, obscure events, and objects related to libraries (Sister Juana of Mexico; chained books; when and where the first papermaking mills were; all of the steps a scribe had to take prior to starting to write a document; and so much more). These little tidbits of information were so interesting.

The old illustrations (many were etchings) fascinated me, as did the photos of writing and books from long ago. It was interesting to follow the long and circuitous path of public libraries...how what we have today came to be.

I especially enjoyed the final section entitled "Libraries of the World". My dream would be to travel all over the world visiting these libraries. Sigh!

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always considered the library like a second home. It is everything I want and everything I need in my life, I swear. Except there is no food in a library, there are books about food, lots of books, but...not really any one can consume to retain their life.

I got this book from my library and read it on a whim just because I was curious to see the history of the place I love so much.

It was a dry read but mostly because my heart wasn't in it as it is in the real deal. I feel like living an experience is better than reading of one.

Now there are the books that can take a reader right inside and make them part of the story, those are books of power and wonder and they make reading an altogether different experience.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you already have an existing interesting in the history of libraries, then you'll find this book worth reading, otherwise you won't.
There were lots of good little tidbits and facts that were enlightening, and I especially enjoyed the sections of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance libraries; I personally lost a little interest when the chronicle moved on to more modern libraries.
The side-pictures and illustrations were nice, although this book definitely had the feel of one where multiple authors wrote it: different sections seemed to repeat information and sometimes seemed to jump around randomly in geography or chronology.

[Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I read a library book about libraries.

Let me just say, The Library: An Illustrated History, by Stuart A.P Murray, is not as illustrated as you might think. The illustrated portion was, more or less, an afterthought from the author. I can only guess that one would need to put a spin on a book about libraries to get the book to sell.

Alexandria, Egypt is an addition to my “Places to go” list because of this book. How could I forget the city of the first library? Well, I am not sure, but all is well now.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to do a presentation in class on this book. Otherwise I wouldn't have known this book existed.

This is a great book. I loved it. It's full of pictures of libraries around the world and artifacts found from ancient libraries.

It's a comprehensive look at the history of libraries and books and how books changed throughout the millennia. You will learn a lot of interesting facts reading this book.

It's a must-read for all library lovers and book lovers. It's a very fast read, as well.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the history of libraries. It had nice pictures and good information. Some interesting things I liked reading about were how the books were so valuable they were chained to the shelves and stolen as war prizes, and how books were lost time after time because paper burns.

Since I am not an expert on ancient history, I would have appreciated some maps of the areas being discussed. I could have also used a timeline of library events as the book jumped back and forth between geographical areas and time.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting history of the library for the non-scholar (like me). Illustrated with photos and drawings throughout. The book includes an index and a list of sources, as well as some suggestions for further reading. This is one of those books you might not want to read cover to cover, but that's all right - you can dip into it anywhere and find some fascinating reading as well as some really gorgeous pictures of books and the places where they live.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lovely book with lots of beautiful pictures and good information. However, there are also numerous little nitpick-type errors that detract from the good points. You'd be better off reading Library: An Unquiet History for more accurate, more detailed, and more interesting information, and just checking this one out for the pretty pictures.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needed more pictures and less prose. The content of each chapter isn't quite organized enough or even on topic. Also, it seems like I have to fact check some of their assertions about certain stories. Pictures of libraries were cool.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated. The pictures alone are worth reading this book.

[S. J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.8 Stars*

Scorecard: (Out of 10)
* Quality of Writing - 2
* Pace - 2
* Plot development - 1
* Characters - NA
* Enjoyability - 1
* Insightfulness - 1
* Ease of Reading - 1
* Photos/Illustrations - 10
Final Score = 18/80; 23%

Never, NEVER have I suffered through a book as hard as I did this one. This book...'it crushed my dreams, it crushed them so hard.'

*The Gush*
Not to say it was all bad. I did learn things from each of the chapters. For more details on what stood out to me in each one, check out my updates, which correspond to a chapter (or so) a piece.
There is...little I have to write here, so instead I wanted to list a couple of quotes that I really enjoyed (and as I plan to never read this again, this will be my only way of remembering them).
De Bury's book Philobiblion "meaning 'the love of books,' included chapter titles such as: 'That the Treasure of Wisdom is Chiefly Contained in Books'; The Degree of Affection That Is Properly Due to Books...'" (p 70) Best title EVER!
Some of my favorites quotes about books are the following. Erasmus - "When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes." Sir Francis Bacon - "Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested." I would add that some are meant to be barely choked down with lots of will power. And finally there is Bartholini - "Without books, God is silent, justice dormant, natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things involved in darkness." (p. 81) Also there is the Italian proverb, "There is no worse robber than a bad book" which I quite liked. (p. 132)
The book was littered with facts and trivia I'd never learned, particularly concerning the history of libraries on a Global scale. I learned a decent amount but, well read on. Read on.

*The Rant* (Warning: this will be long)
Let me state that I slogged through this book. It took me a month but it felt ten times longer. This, I believe, comes from two somewhat interconnected issues with this book. First is the issue I labeled Poor structure/jumping interest/where are the library facts?. The best way to illustrate the first part of this is with the simple fact that I should have got this read in at most five days. Instead, it took on average two+ days simply to get through one chapter. I would then have to tuck it away and come back to it after reading something else. When you consider that very few pages did not contain at minimum one inserted picture and no chapter did not contain at least one full page illustration, that is inexcusable. This was largely due to fact that the pacing, segues between facts, and the basic structure of the writing itself were, in my opinion, barely adequate at bast. The information was for the most part very interesting but getting it was an uphill battle. The author further seemed to leap from one thought to another almost like a mountain goat jumping between peaks. There was no explanation, no lead in; it seemed like he bundled thing into a rough chronological order and then shook them and wrote as the pieces fell. It was disjointed and difficult to follow how any of it fit into the larger theme other then...and, its a LIBRARY! Further, the books themselves were discussed far more than the physical libraries or the people who worked tirelessly to build up the collections and figured out ways to catalog them. There are other sources on the history of the book, that is not this works purpose. The second point is I believe the real reason for the above and the other parts of the rant: Write what you KNOW. This is a maxim that authors do their worse when they forget. The author's blurb states he specializes in American History...and why over half the book has nothing to do with America! This should be a good thing, learning the history beyond the US's often blinkered view of the rest of the world (particularly noticeable in how WW I and II are taught) except for the fact that the author's less then complete comprehension of most of the subject matter shows desperately throughout most of the book. Indeed, I'd despaired of the writer's competency until Ch. 10, when his knowledge clearly caught up with the topic. The chapter is close to actually being fun and interesting to read. That rapidly ended come the next chapter. This is not to say that people unfamiliar with a topic cannot write very competent works, but it seemed that where ever he got his information did not give him insight into the weight of importance of any of it. There are paragraphs on some random fact that means little and then next to nothing on a person who is essential to the history of Library Science.

My second major issue with this book again comes from two separate yet interconnected sources.
*Sigh*...OK, I hoped for a lot from this book. This was clearly not meant solely for Library Science Majors; this was written at least partly for any book/library lover who's ever wondered "how and why". I wasn't expecting technical, boring history but rather something that would interest the average person. This...kinda does that but by some, in my mind, underhanded tricks. The first is by playing up biases. I won't go into detail on this because it would take up a review itself. Suffice it to say, what the author focuses on and what he doesn't is very...interesting. He pushes his bias and agendas by ignoring large bits of history and focusing solely on negative aspects that promote solely his views. Further, even though this is a 'popular' history work, one would expect some notations of where he got his information. I was not expecting detailed footnotes (thought those would have been nice) but even a list at the back of the book listing the source and page where the information was used would have been nice. Instead we have a Sources column that is tiny, with number with no corresponding placement in the text and most come from a Wiki. This may be my History Major coming out but wikis are great for general information but not for a printed text on history. I'm sorry, but no. (Other reviews note this as well.) The second issue is the biggest problem other then the basic structure of the book. In my opinion, it renders this text largely useless as a source of information. I speak of Fire.
Ok, yes, fire is the big bad of books, it's the boogie man and every librarian has a thing against any open flame. And that does not take into account purposeful burnings of books because of their information and the burner's thoughts about them. Terrible thing, terrible losses of books, I get that and it is something that should be covered. However, this is the history of the LIBRARY not THE BOOK. There are more important things to cover than every single instance of burning books in human history. By the third chapter, I could predict when another burning was coming up. I think I could create a drinking game base around 'take a drink when a book/library burning occurs'. You'd be drunk before reaching chapter 3. Fire and burning also took up places that should have held other info; the reader is actually denied pertinent data to be given the 'continuing story' of the burning of books. The book became sensationalism at the cost of...the information the entire book is suppose to be about. I will end with an illustration of just how bad this hammering on fire became. It came to a head in chapter 12 when the text read thus: "Due to Allied Bombing, it cost Japan heavily in loss of many...LIBRARIES!?" (The emphasis is my own insert.) I had to read that statement several times before I realized that it did indeed say what I feared it said. As sad as losing libraries is, I think the Japanese were more focused on the LIVES THEY LOST! I find this incredibly offensive.

*Conclusion*
I cannot in good conscience recommend this book. If you must, check out the pictures which are rather good. But if you are interested in the history of the Library, this simply does not live up to that statement. Between the mishmash of facts, the over blowing of the importance of facts, and the less then stellar writing leaves this a poor choice to read.

On the plus side, it has lovely pictures! (as every other review mentions)

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love libraries. One of my dreams would be to take a long trip dedicated to visiting libraries large and small; university and community; public and private. I love libraries. There is always so much to learn when you walk through the door of a library. So it was with anticipation that I read this illustrated history of the library. In this book, the author attempts to do a global history of libraries. That is both the strength and weakness of the book. On the one hand, the reader is taken on a rapid journey through time with libraries. One has a very quick introduction to books and libraries through time and around the world. But such a rapid tour is bound to leave a lot of ground uncovered and to spend time in periods of time or parts of the world which are less interesting to the reader. That is true of this book. On the whole, it is a reasonable introduction to a delightful history.
This book is an illustrated history and even though I read it on a Kindle the illustrations add a lot to this history. I especially liked the "book wheel," a large wheel that held a number of heavy books. The reader set in front of the wheel and could turn it to move from book to book in order to study a number of volumes at the same time. It was an earlier version of moving between tabs in a browser! And, of course, an illustration taken from the history of illuminated manuscripts is astonishing for its beauty.
This book brought me back to the library where my love of books began as a child. I was interested to learn that it was one of the many Carnegie-funded community libraries. Unfortunately, it was torn down and no longer stands majestically on the corner as it did in my childhood. But it must have been part of creating a love of libraries, a love that continues unabated to this day.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how international this history was. I'm only beginning to appreciate how limited my knowledge of Eastern culture is, and it was fascinating to read the chapter on 'Asia and Islam'. The section on 'Libraries of the World' was rather dull though, reading more like a tour guide or directory. I hope if the author makes another edition of this book, he'll either integrate the significant parts of this section with the historical content, or maybe show a large photographs of the library with a small table of stats (number of books, when it was built, how many times it was burnt down, etc., looool).

Notes:
-Phillip II of Spain (1527-98) collected books banned by his Inquisition in his library, El Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial (pg. 86). Yay hypocrisy.
-The Incans actually had a fairly well developed tradition of written records, but most of these were destroyed by Spanish conquistadores attempting to destroy 'paganism'. Like, ffs, they actually destroyed quipu, a system of records using knots, which were mostly TAX RECORDS. Must look up Bartolome de las Casas, a Dominican priest who actually saved native codices from the fires, opposed the importation of African slaves, and became a folk hero. (pg. 95).
-The seminal work on library science was Gabriel Naude's (1600-1653) 'Advice on Establishing a Library'.
-Samuel Clemens | Mark Twain was horrified that children might read 'Tom Sawyer' and supported a librarian in removing it, and an unexpurgated Bible (?! WTH?!) from the children's section of the library (pg. 190).