For some reason I just couldn’t get caught up in the narrative like I usually do, even though this was an interesting read.

I had heard snippets about the Ptolemaic era before but didn’t have much context to put it in. Now I do, and among other things I learned that the Ptolemaic family dynasty was one of the more ruthlessly dysfunctional ones around, despite its interest in fostering philosophy and the advancement of knowledge. It was also amazing to read about how the ancient Alexandrians had correctly deduced the shape of the earth and extensively mapped almost all of the known world at the time. While their original maps have been lost, their books left such detailed descriptions and instructions for creating them that Renaissance scholars were able to reconstruct them. They also invented the water clock, an analog computer (the Antikythera mechanism is worth Googling), and the forerunner of the steam engine. The scholar Aristarchus had even discovered heliocentrism, and Copernicus’s handwritten manuscripts contain references to Aristarchus’s work, although for unknown reasons he later removed these from the printed version of his text.

I also really enjoyed learning more about the Library of Alexandria. At its peak the library held 750,000 scrolls. I am going to use “books” and “scrolls” interchangeably here, not least because this book does the same. To my mind, a library by definition has books and I’m not sure what I’d call a collection of scrolls.

I actually have a substantially lower opinion of the legendary library than when I started, because it turns out that many of its books were actually stolen from other libraries in the ancient world, and a book-stealing library – especially in the days before the printing press – is no library for me. For example, books that a library in Athens had sent to be copied were never returned and neither were any of the copies, meaning that when the library was destroyed all of material the Athens library had sent was lost forever. It gave me some insight into the reasoning behind creating the famous “chained libraries” of the Middle Ages, some of which still exist. Not only that, but all the books coming in to Alexandria were confiscated for copying; the originals went into the library while the copies were given to the original owners. I am glad that today’s libraries have substantially different acquisitions policies. In fact, the Library of Congress has been known to repatriate valuable antique books upon learning that the sellers had fraudulently acquired them.

No one knows for sure how the Library of Alexandria, both its main collection and a smaller “daughter” collection most likely kept at the Serapeum temple, were lost. But it is likely that most or even all of the main collection was destroyed during the Alexandrine War, when Julius Caesar burned the Egyptian fleet in the Great Harbor and the wind swept the flames toward the city. After this event, there were no more explicit references to the main library, suggesting that it may have been destroyed altogether. But even if it wasn’t, the loss would have been a disaster; Livy stated that as many as four hundred thousand scrolls were lost in the fire. However, the smaller collection is known to have survived the Alexandrine War. The Serapeum temple is known to have survived into the fourth century and would have been the logical home of the books, since it was designed to appeal to Egyptians and the ancient Egyptian practice had been to combine temples with libraries and colleges. However, there is no definitive evidence that the books were still actually there. Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis, who died in 402, claimed in his Weights and Measures that the daughter library was still there, but his work is the only source that claims this, and all other descriptions of the destruction of the temple make no reference to the books. Even the virulently anti-Christian Eunapius of Antioch, who might be expected to blame Christians for any possible atrocity, does not mention the destruction of the library. And so, “the fate of one of Alexandria’s great libraries again slips through our fingers.” (Page 264).

Finally, some food for thought from the introduction: “Other libraries have held more books; indeed, today the Library of Congress in Washington and the British Library in London hold between them nearly every book printed in the last two hundred years and many more besides. But they are not complete, not least because most of the knowledge of the first thousand years of Western civilization is missing. These were the books that formed the library of Alexandria, and only a handful have been seen since that library’s tragic destruction. All that remains is perhaps 1 percent of the works that were once lodged there, the chance survivors of that shipwreck of human achievement.” But this also made me start wondering in what sense any library is “complete,” because in some ways there are two different kinds of books – those already written and those waiting to be written. And we need them all.
( )

For some reason I just couldn’t get caught up in the narrative like I usually do, even though this was an interesting read.

I had heard snippets about the Ptolemaic era before but didn’t have much context to put it in. Now I do, and among other things I learned that the Ptolemaic family dynasty was one of the more ruthlessly dysfunctional ones around, despite its interest in fostering philosophy and the advancement of knowledge. It was also amazing to read about how the ancient Alexandrians had correctly deduced the shape of the earth and extensively mapped almost all of the known world at the time. While their original maps have been lost, their books left such detailed descriptions and instructions for creating them that Renaissance scholars were able to reconstruct them. They also invented the water clock, an analog computer (the Antikythera mechanism is worth Googling), and the forerunner of the steam engine. The scholar Aristarchus had even discovered heliocentrism, and Copernicus’s handwritten manuscripts contain references to Aristarchus’s work, although for unknown reasons he later removed these from the printed version of his text.

I also really enjoyed learning more about the Library of Alexandria. At its peak the library held 750,000 scrolls. I am going to use “books” and “scrolls” interchangeably here, not least because this book does the same. To my mind, a library by definition has books and I’m not sure what I’d call a collection of scrolls.

I actually have a substantially lower opinion of the legendary library than when I started, because it turns out that many of its books were actually stolen from other libraries in the ancient world, and a book-stealing library – especially in the days before the printing press – is no library for me. For example, books that a library in Athens had sent to be copied were never returned and neither were any of the copies, meaning that when the library was destroyed all of material the Athens library had sent was lost forever. It gave me some insight into the reasoning behind creating the famous “chained libraries” of the Middle Ages, some of which still exist. Not only that, but all the books coming in to Alexandria were confiscated for copying; the originals went into the library while the copies were given to the original owners. I am glad that today’s libraries have substantially different acquisitions policies. In fact, the Library of Congress has been known to repatriate valuable antique books upon learning that the sellers had fraudulently acquired them.

No one knows for sure how the Library of Alexandria, both its main collection and a smaller “daughter” collection most likely kept at the Serapeum temple, were lost. But it is likely that most or even all of the main collection was destroyed during the Alexandrine War, when Julius Caesar burned the Egyptian fleet in the Great Harbor and the wind swept the flames toward the city. After this event, there were no more explicit references to the main library, suggesting that it may have been destroyed altogether. But even if it wasn’t, the loss would have been a disaster; Livy stated that as many as four hundred thousand scrolls were lost in the fire. However, the smaller collection is known to have survived the Alexandrine War. The Serapeum temple is known to have survived into the fourth century and would have been the logical home of the books, since it was designed to appeal to Egyptians and the ancient Egyptian practice had been to combine temples with libraries and colleges. However, there is no definitive evidence that the books were still actually there. Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis, who died in 402, claimed in his Weights and Measures that the daughter library was still there, but his work is the only source that claims this, and all other descriptions of the destruction of the temple make no reference to the books. Even the virulently anti-Christian Eunapius of Antioch, who might be expected to blame Christians for any possible atrocity, does not mention the destruction of the library. And so, “the fate of one of Alexandria’s great libraries again slips through our fingers.” (Page 264).

Finally, some food for thought from the introduction: “Other libraries have held more books; indeed, today the Library of Congress in Washington and the British Library in London hold between them nearly every book printed in the last two hundred years and many more besides. But they are not complete, not least because most of the knowledge of the first thousand years of Western civilization is missing. These were the books that formed the library of Alexandria, and only a handful have been seen since that library’s tragic destruction. All that remains is perhaps 1 percent of the works that were once lodged there, the chance survivors of that shipwreck of human achievement.” But this also made me start wondering in what sense any library is “complete,” because in some ways there are two different kinds of books – those already written and those waiting to be written. And we need them all.
( )

Plenty of amazing stories of intellectual superheros - including Hero. They produced a giant lighthouse, geography, steam devices, braille, siege engines, maps of the world, a philosophical framework for world religions, and so much more before Christians beat down the pagan philosophers in the streets. No, the library was not wiped out by fires from Caesar's ships. The destruction of these records of science, mathematics, medicine, technology, and philosophy occurred much later. This is one of my favorite non fiction works. ( )

This is a well-researched book with many facts told in a chronological order. Unfortunately, it is also somewhat dry and boring at times. I overall enjoyed learning about the history of Alexandria and the people involved with this city over time. The story helps one appreciate the value of the city and inspires a visit to it. Well done but not fascinating or amazing. ( )

Volledig eens met de enige andere Nederlandse bespreking: een waardeloos prul door de twee journalist-auteurs met SBS-geschetter en getetter aangekondigd als een vernieuwend boek over een onbekende stad uit de oudheid als had niemand die ooit nog beschreven, maar naast onzin en misinterpretatie bestaand uit allang bekende feiten, daarbij anecdotes, serieuze bronnen, erkende falsificaties, onbetrouwbare en betrouwbare vertalingen door elkaar gebruikend.

Over de vertaling van Paul Syrier ben ik alleen nog negatiever, en van enige redactie van de Nederlandse versie lijkt geen sprake: Strabo heeft in de Nederlandse vertaling geschreven 'Geography', Caesar 'Commentary on the Gallic and Civil Wars' (vertaling uit 1851 !), Diodorus Siculus 'Library of History' (Historische Bibliotheek noemen wij dat, βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική), Origenes schreef een boek 'met de toepasselijke titel On Martyrdom, dat in een latere tekst, de Exhortation to Martyrdom, bewaard is gebleven' en zo gaat het maar door. Toch heeft soms Claudius Ptolemeüs wél 'Geographia' geschreven en niet Geography, en Aristoteles 'Oeconomica' (in feite algemeen toegeschreven aan een leerling van Aristoteles of een later persoon uit zijn school), en Shakespeare zelfs wél in het Nederlands 'Cymbelijn'. Ook over Latijnse of Griekse transcriptie is geen moment nagedacht, of over het juiste lidwoord bij Latijnse en Griekse termen; de antieke teksten zijn door Syrier klakkeloos vertaald uit de Engelse Loeb-edities die de auteurs citeren (ongeacht hoe oud die edities zijn), zonder ooit in een bestaande Nederlandse vertaling te kijken. Kortom een lakse vertaling door een vertaler die over de klassieke oudheid van toeten noch blazen weet en ook niet wil weten.

Dan zwijg ik nog van talloze ongelukkige wendingen: zo zien de handelaren 'dit ongebruikelijke wezen' lopen, als gedoeld wordt op de monnik Planudes, draagt een vlag een 'olijfkroon', is een kist 'gedrapeerd met een mantel', zijn mausolea 'stemloos' en zo kan ik nog heel lang doorgaan.

Ik kon dit boek niet uitlezen en ben halverwege in mijn ergernis blijven steken, des te vervelender omdat ik het heb gekregen van iemand die ik hoogschat. ( )