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The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World

Yun Lee Too author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:7th Jan '10

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The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World cover

In The Idea of the Library in the Ancient World Yun Lee Too argues that the ancient library was much more than its incarnation at Alexandria, which has been the focus for students of the subject up till now. In fact, the library is a complex institution with many different forms. It can be a building with books, but it can also be individual people, or the individual books themselves. In antiquity, the library's functions are numerous: as an instrument of power, of memory, of which it has various modes; as an articulation of a political ideal, an art gallery, a place for sociality. Too indirectly raises important conceptual questions about the contemporary library, bringing to these the insights that a study of antiquity can offer.

This fascination book extends the ancient library well beyond Alexandria's hoary shadow. * Times Higher Education Supplement *

ISBN: 9780199577804

Dimensions: 223mm x 145mm x 22mm

Weight: 487g

276 pages