TimGauntley’s

Virtual* Library Tour

Presented to Simcoe County District School

Board 2010

*All but one have been destroyed by biblioclasts!

For more information on Ancient libraries go to timgauntley.blogspot.com

The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal (Nineveh)

From Tim’s Library Tour, 2010

SCDSB, Ontario

The Library of Ashurbanipal (Nineveh)

• 7rd century BC – 605 CE• 22,000+ fired clay tablets (stylus)•multiliterate royal collection of art, records, oral and written literature • first organization principles for retrieval• Epic of Gilgamesh

Teacher-Librarians

The Library at Alexandria (Egypt)

From Tim’s Library Tour, 2010

SCDSB, Ontario

The Library of Alexandria

• 3rd century BC – 391 CE• part of the Musaeum (temple of the Muses)• 1,000,000 (?) papyrus scrolls• research centre for scholars• had gardens, walkways, meeting rooms, • “The place of the cure of the soul”

Teacher-Librarians

The Ulpian Library of Trajan (Rome)

From Tim’s Library Tour, 2010

SCDSB, Ontario

The Ulpian Library of Rome (Trajan)• 100 – 450 CE• divided into adjoining libraries (Greek and Latin) of papyrus scrolls: one either side of Trajan’s column• beginning of a public library and reading room with little censorship or control• a sumptious public space

Teacher-Librarians

The House of Wisdom (Bagdad)

From Tim’s Library Tour, 2010

SCDSB, Ontario

The House of Wisdom (Bagdad)• 9th -13th century• established to preserve and create knowledge • Improved paper making from Chinese with linen books•welcomed Greek and latin scholars into a centre of intellectual development• included an observatory

Teacher-Librarians

The Abbey Library of St Gall (Switzerland)

From Tim’s Library Tour, 2010

SCDSB, Ontario

Abbey Library of St. Gall• 719- present• access first limited to

scholars Contains 2,100 manuscripts (codices/parchment/books) from the 8th to 15th centuries, 1,650 incunabula (those printed before 1500) in addition to 160,000 volumes• now pre-1000 manuscripts

available in digital library at http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en

Teacher-Librarians

Thank You For Joining Tim’s Tours