# Last Successful Book Burning **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2005, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985 "2005-06-27T03:12:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/21 "2005-06-29T03:55:14Z")
Can you recommend a good book on Sappho? I realize that no true biography can be done on someone we know so little of, but I’d be interested to find out just how much we’ve been able to piece together about her culture and life. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/22 "2005-06-29T08:13:26Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > [Fourth complete Sappho poem found in mummy casing](http://www.the-tls.co.uk/this_week/story.aspx?story_id=2111206). > > Fascinating story. You know, that **really** deserves it’s own thread, since it is so remarkable. In conspiracy circles, Wilhelm Reich is often cited as an example of “successful” book burning, but that’s wrong for two reasons. The first is, that Reich burned his books himself, not quite understanding the ruling made against him which said that the books couldn’t be sold, the second is that copies of the books **do** survive, but because of copyright reasons and Reich’s will, the surpressed books aren’t available in print (though, IIRC, that will soon be changing). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/23 "2005-06-29T14:24:37Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > One theory is that Christians burned her books because her name had become associated with lesbianism. I don’t know the explanation for Sappho’s poetry disappearing, but that theory is plausible. In the Middle Ages, Sappho actually had the opposite reputation. She was famous for the legend that she fell in love with the ferryman Phaon, and killed herself when he rejected her. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/24 "2005-06-29T21:13:55Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > In the Middle Ages, Sappho actually had the opposite reputation. She was famous for the legend that she fell in love with the ferryman Phaon, and killed herself when he rejected her. This legend was known in antiquity as well; it is the subject of Ovid’s [Heroides XV](http://www.farid-hajji.net/books/lat/Ovid/her-chap15.html) The recently discovered Sappho poem actually completes a papyrus fragment found at Oxyrhynchus (where they found the Gospel of Thomas); the Greek is the third fragment listed [here](http://www.fh-augsburg.de/~harsch/graeca/Chronologia/S_ante06/Sappho/sap_me04.html) . It is indeed a startling discovery. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/25 "2005-06-29T21:42:57Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Can you recommend a good book on Sappho? I realize that no true biography can be done on someone we know so little of, but I’d be interested to find out just how much we’ve been able to piece together about her culture and life. I consider[Paul Roche’s book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157392251X/qid=1120082070/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-9119399-0314537) is excellent, but that may be because it’s the only Sappho-specific book I’ve read. On-line there is a fair summary on Sappho’s genius[here](http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/worldlit/works/clark/sappho.htm). A lengthier (148 page) treatment can be found[here](http://community.middlebury.edu/%7Eharris/Sappho.pdf). I’ve only read the first few pages, but I like the author’s approach and will continue on. One of the problems with Sappho scholarship is that it often comes from someone with an agenda. That is not to say these authors don’t do their homework, but for someone like me interested in the ancient world for its own sake, it means more effort to separate the scholarly wheat from the chaff. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/26 "2005-06-29T23:44:25Z")
The early Roman King (pre-Republic), Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, called Tarquin the Proud, refused to buy ancient scrolls of prophecy offered him by the Cumaean Sibyl. She proceeded to burn 3 of the 9, & offer the remainder at the same price as the whole set. Tarquin hesitantly refused, so she burned 3 more. He bought the last 3 of the set at the original price. > **[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarquinius_Superbus)** > > Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is commonly known as Tarquin the Proud, from his cognomen Superbus (Latin for "proud, arrogant, lofty"). > Ancient accounts of the regal period mingle history and legend. Tarquin was said to have been the son or grandson of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, and to have gained th... > [@](#): > > Tarquin was approached by the Cumaean Sibyl who offered him nine books of prophecy, at an exorbitant price. Tarquin refused abruptly, and the Sibyl proceeded to burn three of the nine. She then offered him the remaining books, but at the same price. Tarquin hesitated, but refused again. The Sibyl then burned three more books, but she offered Tarquin the three remaining Sibylline Books at the original price. Tarquin accepted. The books were consulted at many portentous moments in Roman history. More data. [http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=dtwhddqf0308?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Sibylline+Books&gwp=8&curtab=2222\_1&sbid=lc01b](http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=dtwhddqf0308?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Sibylline+Books&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1&sbid=lc01b) So, the Cumaean Sibyl burned her own books. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/27 "2005-06-30T00:40:50Z")
Originally posted by bonzer > [@](#): > > It’s arguable whether it’s either “political” or “modern”, but there is the case of Michael Servetus as the example of near-successful destruction. Burnt at the stake by Calvin in 1553, attempts were also made to systematically destroy all copies of his offending Christianismi Restitutio. These were successful to the extent that only three copies of the book survive. [Here](http://www.servetus.org/en/news-events/articulos/20030202.htm) is more about Servetus’s book: "His attempt to destroy all copies of Servetus’ controversial Christianismi Restitutio was an attempt to suppress "a book that redefined Christianity in a more tolerant and inclusive way.’’ Ironically, one of the three surviving books was Calvin’s copy. Equally critical, Calvin destroyed almost all copies of a book that “contained, almost as an afterthought, a great scientific discovery – one which a century later would propel medicine into the modern age,’’ that is, an accurate description of the pulmonary system later established by William Harvey.” I suppose, for whatever reason, Calvin kept a copy of Christianismi Restitutio. The above explains the motives for this book burning. It is doubtful that Calvin was out to censor medical breakthoughs. Only three copies survied. I wonder where the two other copies were located and how they excaped from being burned. Servetus sent an early printing to Geneva, according to Bonzer’s source. Still searching for anything and this is all I could find. Where are all the politically motivated book burnings of the 19th and 20th Century, those that fit my criterion? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/28 "2005-06-30T05:43:14Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > So, the Cumaean Sibyl burned her own books. What do you wanna bet she made backup copies first… but didn’t tell anyone, of course… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985/29 "2005-06-30T14:21:58Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] A lengthier (148 page) treatment can be found[here](http://community.middlebury.edu/%7Eharris/Sappho.pdf). I’ve only read the first few pages, but I like the author’s approach and will continue on.QUOTE] That Harris manuscript looks very interesting. I’ll try to give it a read. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-successful-book-burning/309985.md?page=1)