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.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This fascination book extends the ancient library well beyond Alexandria's hoary shadow. * Times Higher Education Supplement *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Maße
Höhe: 223 mm
Breite: 145 mm
Dicke: 22 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-19-957780-4 (9780199577804)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Yun Lee Too has held research fellowships at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and the Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington and has taught at the University of Liverpool and Columbia University. She currently lives in New York City.
Autor*in
Independent scholar
Introduction ; ORIGINS: THE DIACHRONIC PERSPECTIVE ; 1. The Birth of A Library ; 2. Library Catalogues: From Literary Description to Literary Self-Description ; FORMS OF THE LIBRARY ; 3. The Breathing Library: Performing Cultural Memories ; 4. The Library (as) Book: The Fantasy of the Total Text ; 5. The Library of Universal History: Diodorus Siculus and Literary Cosmopolitanism ; MEMORIES ; 6. Inside and Outside of the Library: The Memory of Canon ; PHYSICALITIES ; 7. Picture Libraries: Statues among the Books ; 8. The Sociality of the Ancient Library
