![]() These institutions were called "book collection house" in Chinese, which was widely accepted from Song Dynasty. There were numerous private libraries in Ancient China. ![]() While most of the collection was supposedly brought to Rome and Constantinople, other pieces within the collection were sold to the Library of Alexandria, only to be destroyed later with the library. The collection was thought to have been scattered after Theophrastus' own death by Neleus. After his death, his collection grew to include the work of Theophrastus and student research. Establishing his personal collection into a library at the Lyceum, Aristotle allowed his students and fellow scholars to use it. One of the most notable figures in ancient Greece with his own private library was Aristotle. Notable scholarly figures like Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, and even Plato had their own private libraries with large collections. Private libraries were not only built by the wealthy, but also by professionals who needed information nearby, including doctors and scholars. However, private book collections owned by the elite and leading citizens were growing, along with the glorious homes and structures used to store them. Although public libraries available to all citizens were established in some cities, such as Athens, most citizens could not read. Within the next three centuries the culture of the written word rose to a pinnacle there. In 600 BC, library and archival collections in ancient Greece flourished. Finally, a private library in a New Kingdom tomb at the site of Deir el Medina housed books on medicine as well as on love poetry and wisdom literature. One Middle Kingdom tomb, associated with a healer and lector priest, contained over 20 books, one of which was the now-famous Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. The text of the manuscript is a fanciful narrative however, it proves that ordinary citizens were literate and accumulated books for their own use. Ī manuscript known as the Westcar Papyrus from this same period alludes to an individual whose residence occupies spaces for a private library. This particular library spanned many generations, being passed to one family member to the next, which gives the impression of the significance the library had. This library embodies nearly 50 manuscripts, accommodating a collection of disparate subjects from correspondence missives to astrological recipes such as incantations and dream interpretations. A private library of considerable quantity is attributed to Kenherkhepshef, a scribe. In addition to general texts on assorted literature, there is a profusion of discourses on medicine and magic. A rather large collection from the Thirteenth Dynasty suggests a library belonging to a doctor or necromancer. In total, the cache revealed a 20-volume library. The Middle Kingdom Period (2055–1650 BC) offers the best clues to the presence of private libraries in ancient Egypt.įor example, one sepulcher contained a chest with books on bureaucratic relations, hymns, and incantations. In addition, extensive clusters of papyrus scrolls have been unearthed in association with domiciliary arrangements, confirming that some type of library endured there. Several private tombs have exposed copious texts whose content is scholarly in nature. However, many personal libraries survived over time, and are perhaps more numerous than traditionally assumed. One of the problems in identifying potential individual libraries is that it is often difficult to distinguish between a personal library and one associated with a temple. While private libraries in ancient Egypt were not common, they did exist to some extent. As insignificant as these libraries may seem, they established the basis for the Library of Ashurbanipal collection. The nucleus of these private libraries were primarily texts which had been transcribed by the proprietors themselves from the time they acquired their education in the art of the scribe. Mesopotamia was home to a great number of private libraries, many with extensive collections of over 400 tablets. Examples of the earliest known private libraries include one found in Ugarit (dated to around 1200 BC) and the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh (near modern Mosul, Iraq), dating back to the 7th century BC. The earliest libraries belonged to temples or administration bodies, resembled modern archives, and were usually restricted to nobility, aristocracy, scholars, or theologians. Private library of Russian archaeologist Ivan Zabelin
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