The Vanished Library
A Wonder of the Ancient World
$19.95, £11.95 paperback
978-0-520-07255-8
Available Now
205 pages,
September 1990, Only available in Not available in the British Commonwealth, except Canada
Categories: History; Ancient History; European History; Classics; Classical Literature & Language
September 1990, Only available in Not available in the British Commonwealth, except Canada
Categories: History; Ancient History; European History; Classics; Classical Literature & Language
"A colorful tale of royal rivalry and patronage, of strange accidents and coincidences. . . . The detective work is every bit as fascinating as the brilliant narrative which it supports."—Washington Post Book World
"Canfora guides us through the labyrinth of traditions about the library, reawakening for us the myth of the world's memory safeguarded in a single place for an élite of intellectuals."—Préfaces, Paris
"The Vanished Library is an extraordinarily innovative work of ancient history. It is not just that the book engages with cultural debates outside the field of Classics. Canfora is also experimenting with new ways of writing the history of the Classical world. . . . [The Vanished Library] is staking a claim for the reintegration of ancient history into the contemporary cultural agenda. . . . In the Anglo-American context such reintegration is definitely overdue."—Mary Beard, London Review of Books
"This mystery has awaited, for a long time, a historian with the temperament of a writer as well as that of a scholar, and it has found its ideal match in Luciano Canfora."—La Stampa, Turin
"Canfora guides us through the labyrinth of traditions about the library, reawakening for us the myth of the world's memory safeguarded in a single place for an élite of intellectuals."—Préfaces, Paris
"The Vanished Library is an extraordinarily innovative work of ancient history. It is not just that the book engages with cultural debates outside the field of Classics. Canfora is also experimenting with new ways of writing the history of the Classical world. . . . [The Vanished Library] is staking a claim for the reintegration of ancient history into the contemporary cultural agenda. . . . In the Anglo-American context such reintegration is definitely overdue."—Mary Beard, London Review of Books
"This mystery has awaited, for a long time, a historian with the temperament of a writer as well as that of a scholar, and it has found its ideal match in Luciano Canfora."—La Stampa, Turin
"A fluid, distinctive, and highly intelligent portrait of Caesar in his times."—Clifford Ando, author of Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire
"Master of the complex source material and at home in the vast secondary literature, Canfora has used his experience with communism to construct a subtle, original quest for 'the real Caesar,' the proletarian dictator. The book can only enrich research and teaching."—William M. Calder III, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign
"Master of the complex source material and at home in the vast secondary literature, Canfora has used his experience with communism to construct a subtle, original quest for 'the real Caesar,' the proletarian dictator. The book can only enrich research and teaching."—William M. Calder III, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign
The Library of Alexandria, one of the wonders of the Ancient World, has haunted Western culture for over 2,000 years. The Ptolemaic kings of Egypt—successors of Alexander the Great—had a staggering ambition: to house all of the books ever written under one roof, and the story of the universal library and its destruction still has the power to move us.
But what was the library, and where was it? Did it exist at all? Contemporary descriptions are vague and contradictory. The fate of the precious books themselves is a subject of endless speculation.
Canfora resolves these puzzles in one of the most unusual books of classical history ever written. He recreates the world of Egypt and the Greeks in brief chapters that marry the craft of the novelist and the discipline of the historian. Anecdotes, conversations, and reconstructions give The Vanished Library the compulsion of an exotic tale, yet Canfora bases all of them on historical and literary sources, which he discusses with great panache. As the chilling conclusion to this elegant piece of historical detective work he establishes who burned the books.
This volume has benefited from the collegial support of The Wake Forest University Studium.
But what was the library, and where was it? Did it exist at all? Contemporary descriptions are vague and contradictory. The fate of the precious books themselves is a subject of endless speculation.
Canfora resolves these puzzles in one of the most unusual books of classical history ever written. He recreates the world of Egypt and the Greeks in brief chapters that marry the craft of the novelist and the discipline of the historian. Anecdotes, conversations, and reconstructions give The Vanished Library the compulsion of an exotic tale, yet Canfora bases all of them on historical and literary sources, which he discusses with great panache. As the chilling conclusion to this elegant piece of historical detective work he establishes who burned the books.
This volume has benefited from the collegial support of The Wake Forest University Studium.
Hellenistic Egypt: Monarchy, Society, Economy, Culture, by Jean Bingen
The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa, by Getzel M. Cohen
Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, by Peter Green
The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa, by Getzel M. Cohen
Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, by Peter Green