Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

Book Review: Libraries in the Ancient World
To my mind, this book clinches the case that I am an eclectic reader. The moment I heard about this book's existence -- I think from a mention of it in The Globe and Mail's weekend Book Review supplement -- I knew I had to track it down. (Interestingly enough, I ended up buying it from a local bookstore, after a visit to The World's Biggest Bookstore and Chapters.ca failed to even list the book in their records).

So, why the interest? Not because of an inherent interest in libraries (despite the fact that I worked at a library for a couple of years which helped to pay my way through University). It's because I've always been fascinated with anything relating the topic of the famous ancient library in Alexandria, and about how the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans survived into our own times. This book does not disappoint on either of those two topics.

Author Lionel Casson, author of a number of books on the life and times of the ancients, is clearly widely read, and manages to trace the development of libraries (and its precursors) in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Starting out with archeological findings of collections of cuneiform tablets, Casson goes on to look at the probable development of libraries, looking at initial developments in such things a modern librarian would be familiar with, such as indexing/cataloging, dealing with over-expanding of your holdings, and dealing with stolen books (there is mention, for example, of some interesting Mesopotamian curses that call upon numerous angry-sounding Gods to smite potential book-stealers). More interesting, is the look at the social evolution that gave birth to public libraries, as Casson reveals the prestige libraries had in the ancient world (the spur to the building of the Alexandrian library), in conjunction with the growth and development of writing, literacy, the book-selling trade and even how early Christianity became a driving force behind the switch from the use of scrolls to codices (the chunky predecessors to the books of today).

The book reveals how the ancient Greeks and Romans came to promote the idea of libraries throughout their respective empires, including the interesting revelations of the spread of libraries in most of the major provincial Roman towns, and how libraries were often to be found alongside the ever-popular Roman baths. You also get a glimpse as to how the ancients used their scrolls for, from important references for orators like Cicero, to helping to settle arguments on the health benefits of eating ice. ;-)

At just under 200 pages (with about 40 pages devoted to the index and bibliography) it's a very short book, especially given its price -- about $35 Cdn. My major complaint is that I wanted more (and for that price, I think I should have got it). Still, it is wide-ranging in its scope and a fun read for someone like me. If I saw another book by the author, chances are I'd pick it up -- though I'd hope I could get a used or remaindered copy, given the price of this one.