# Recommend books on the ancient Library of Alexandria? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620 "2004-01-04T08:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/1 "2004-01-04T08:01:44Z")
I was watching the DVD of the series _Cosmos_ by Carl Sagan, and his piece on the Library of Alexandria caught my interested (if I could go back in time to anywhere, it would be there, assuming I could also read in the relevant languages). Does anyone know of any good books, either fiction or non, that deal with the Library of Alexandria in detail? An Amazon search only yielded I]The Shores of Wisdom: The Story of the Ancient Library of Alexandria\* by Derek Flower, which seems a bit light. Other recommendations much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/2 "2004-01-04T08:58:35Z")
It isn’t totally about The Great Library, but there is some neat stuff in here: **Patience and Fortitude** by Nicholas Basbanes. ISBN 0-06-051446-9. Published by Perennial. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/3 "2004-01-04T17:26:01Z")
_Library: An Unquiet History_, by Matthew Battles, has a chapter on the library. It’s not a heavy scholarly book, though. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/4 "2004-01-04T22:35:47Z")
If they find me, they will try to collect the late charges. I owe them about the Gross National Product of a small European country. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/5 "2004-01-04T23:43:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\*If they find me, they will try to collect the late charges. I owe them about the Gross National Product of a small European country. \*\* Keep your boasts about your Gross Products to yourself, **DrFidelius**. Some of us are eating! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/6 "2004-01-05T02:32:07Z")
When I first glanced at it, I thought that the name of the thread was “Recommend books **from** the ancient Library of Alexandria?” Too bad - that would have been some interesting reading. ---
**Author:** ![dangergene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dangergene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangergene)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/7 "2004-01-05T02:42:24Z")
actually, now we’re on the subject. [highack-albeit a related one] I heard once that we lost more knowledge in the fire that destroyed the library (the fire was intentionally lit by invading armies, wasn’t it?) than we have accumulated in the [insert preposterously long number here- I don’t recall the period suggested]. Does anyone have any idea of how true this is? Just how much was lost? And do we have any idea of what sort of things were lost? I know the Greeks (Hellenes, actually) were able to create helmets using a single piece of bronze pummelled into shape. The process is no longer with us, this may have been explained somewhere in the library. so what else was lost? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/8 "2004-01-05T02:46:36Z")
The third “-gry” word. ---
**Author:** ![dangergene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dangergene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangergene)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/9 "2004-01-05T02:46:39Z")
that should read ‘[hijack]’ what a way to start the new year! feh… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/10 "2004-01-05T05:07:49Z")
[The Vanished Library](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0520072553/qid=1073278868//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/102-2313505-9682538?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Luciano Canfora is a good one in addition to the ones you’ve already mentioned. The primary source descriptions can be found online [here](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/GreekScience/Students/Ellen/Museum.html) as well as other places. In 2002 a “New” Library of Alexandria (the [Biblioteca Alexandrina](http://www.bibalex.org/website/) ) was dedicated in modern Alexandria (al-Iskandrion). The UNESCO site features a [virtual tour](http://www.unesco.org/webworld/alexandria_new/vrml_stills_12.html) of the ancient library; the [new library](http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0919/design_1-1.html) looks like it was designed by the best architectural firm on Tatooine. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-ancient-library-of-alexandria/222620/11 "2004-01-05T21:24:59Z")
First of all, what is with all the dumb jokes on this thread? I was asking what I thought was a serious question and not getting much in the way of answers. Clearly it’s too much to ask for people to follow the adage, “If you don’t have anything useful to say, shut the hell up.” **dangergene** : Carl Sagan made it sound like the destruction of the ancient Library of Alexandria contributed to the thousand-year Dark Age that engulfed Europe, and many of the lost discoveries were only re-made during the Renaissance. In any case, it seems like a lot of information that was lost took at least a millenium to recover, which to my mind is a major setback to human understanding. Also, who knows what knowledge was in that library that we _haven]t_ recovered and where it could have led. It seems like a momentous loss. **Sampiro** : Thanks for the title. I will look for it.