From Greek and Roman times to the digital era, the library has remained central to knowledge, scholarship, and the imagination. The Meaning of the Library is a generously illustrated examination of this key institution of Western culture. Tracing what the library has meant since its beginning, examining how its significance has shifted, and ponderi

List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction, Alice Crawford xiii Part 1 The Library through Time Chapter 1 Adventures in Ancient Greek and Roman Libraries, Edith Hall 1 Chapter 2 The Image of the Medieval Library, Richard Gameson 31 Chapter 3 The Renaissance Library and the Challenge of Print, Andrew Pettegree 72 Chapter 4 From Printing Shop to Bookshelves: How Books Began the Journey to Enlightenment Libraries, Robert Darnton 91 Chapter 5 "The Advantages of Literature": The Subscription Library in Georgian Britain, David Allan 103 Chapter 6 Literature and the Library in the Nineteenth Century, John Sutherland 124 Part 2 The Library in Imagination Chapter 7 The Library in Fiction, Marina Warner 153 Chapter 8 The Library in Poetry, Robert Crawford 176 Chapter 9 The Library in Film: Order and Mystery, Laura Marcus 199 Part 3 The Library Now and in the Future Chapter 10 "Casting and Gathering": Libraries, Archives, and the Modern Writer, Stephen Enniss 223 Chapter 11 Meanings of the Library Today, John P. Wilkin 236 Chapter 12 The Modern Library and Global Democracy, James H. Billington 254 Selected Bibliography 267 Contributors 281 Index 285

"[F]or both scholar and general reader, comprehensive bibliographic notes constitute a multilingual gold mine of historical resources on libraries."--Booklist "As a history and an assessment of an inestimable resource and a force for good in the world,The Meaning of the Libraryis a timely and thought-provoking compilation."--Patricia Craig, Independent "The Meaning of the Libraryis a riveting and deeply satisfying work that is bound to leave the reader not only far more aware of the sociocultural importance of the institution as a reservoir of heritage and learning, but also inspired to think of issues that lie beyond the earthly and temporal realm."--Lois C. Henderson, Bookpleasures.com "A marvelous survey of Western libraries and books from Greek and Roman times to today... It is a lovely book, handsomely designed with endnotes, author bios, bibliography, index, and an eight-page, four-color insert-illustrations of ancient and medieval book cabinets."--Wally Wood, Bookpleasures.com "These pleasant peregrinations exploring the role that libraries ... have played as preservers, proponents, and providers of culture will appeal widely to library scholars and bibliophiles."--Choice "This excellent volume, well produced and with an extensive bibliography, is not standard library history, but it is delightful reading, whether consumed as a whole or used to browse in. It should provide any library historians with new insights into their discipline and can be highly recommended."--Peter Hoare, Library & Information History "Each essay is excellently written and researched; each new perspective illuminates a different fact in great and mind-expanding detail... Bibliophiles, especially, will love [The Meaning of the Library] as it focuses attention on the deeper importance book collections hold."--Gretchen Wagner, San Francisco Book Review "A wonderfully informative, erudite and entertaining collection of essays."--Alberto Manguel, Times Literary Supplement

"This wide-ranging survey of the long and tumultuous history of libraries contains at least a dozen tantalizing bits of information per page. I was fascinated and enriched. And because these essays began as lectures delivered in a library, they illustrate beautifully one of the library's most important roles—as a stage set for writers to share what they've learned about various subjects, including Roman bathhouses, Victorian fumigators, plunder, lust, and the eighteenth-century librarian upon whose death, it was said, ‘The books are grievin, ‘mang themselves.'"—Marilyn Johnson, author of This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All"The Meaning of the Library covers the history of the library from antiquity to the present day. This is a very good collection of essays."—Colin Burrow, editor of Metaphysical Poetry"The library as a topic is currently of increasing cultural interest. I enjoyed The Meaning of the Library and learned a lot from the book's eclectic and interesting mix of essays."—Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian, University of Oxford