Libraries have been a godsend for ages, and now, in a time where there are very few spaces where we are allowed to exist as people for free, they are necessary. Great history.

Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen’s book is a detailed and thoroughly fascinating study of libraries. The book is well researched and referenced, with a wide-ranging coverage of libraries, from the specificity of personal collections to the big institutional and public libraries with extensive acquisitions. The books explorations demonstrate the significance of education, wealth, religion, geography, culture, and politics as well as the actions of nature on the history of books and libraries.

The book comprehensively covers a myriad of allied material related to the overall library theme, such as the development of paper, creation of manuscripts and the introduction of book auctions by the Dutch.

I loved reading this book and found myself engrossed from the start. The subject matter itself is appealing, but I also found myself very interested and impressed by the extensive research done and references used in gathering relevant data. I found the discussion about books in testator documents from Cambridge inventories and also the analysis of the Dutch book catalogues engaging, and the evident information revealed by these documents fascinating. Understanding the extent of ownership, the types of books which were sought, read and collected so long ago is amazing.

There is much to enjoy about reading The Library: A Fragile History, and I would highly recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Basic Books/Hachette for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve always been fascinated by libraries. They are my favourite place to be in. So I was more than eager to read this one.

The Library: A Fragile History takes us on a wonderful journey of discovery, from the earliest collections to the most respected libraries that stand today, against the backdrop of the development of paper and printing, the period of the Renaissance and later, the Reformation.

The book was an eye-opener. I had not imagined the richness and variety in the history of the library across nations and cultures. Nor the remarkable developments in the evolution of the book from handwritten manuscripts, boasting of elegant calligraphy, lavish colours and other decorative flourishes.

It was fascinating to read about the development of paper and how it displaced parchment, which had earlier displaced papyrus, how print enabled the democratisation of libraries and about how the gradual evolution in reading tastes, with the novel and female authorship first disapproved of and then accepted.

Initially, libraries were a treasured part of the monastic life, until members of the nobility began to acquire books. The Franciscans and the Jesuits had a lot to contribute to the proliferation of books. In fact, St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, was the first one to take the appointment of a librarian seriously. Earlier, the role of a librarian was not as defined.

The significance of the library meant that for a long time, people believed that libraries should only edify; reading for entertainment was frowned upon, as was romance as a genre.

Detective fiction was the first genre to gain a huge following. The growth of escapist literature opened up the world of books to the general public.

The author tells us about how libraries have evolved over the years, with the cathedral silence of libraries a thing of the past. Libraries in the Renaissance period were convivial social spaces, in which books jostled for attention alongside paintings, sculptures, coins and curiosities. Finally, the emergence of the public library as we know it today, in great part owing to the munificence of philanthropists, and the subscriptions-based library.

Libraries also developed tremendously on the back of the empire and colonisation with hateful ideologies like Nazism also leaving their own stamp on their development.

The continuous evolution of the library reminds us that the news of the death of the library and of the book are greatly exaggerated.

We read about some libraries that I certainly hadn’t given much thought to. The libraries of Jesus’ apostles, the writings that were later canonised in the New Testament.

I was happy to see that the National Library of India, in Kolkata, formerly known as the Imperial Library, found mention in this book.

How easy it is to destroy a library and how hard it is to build one, is the thought that struck me. In fact, the very ideas of the library has faced persecution, with libraries being vandalised and destroyed. I read with a sense of sorrow about the ethnic biblioclasm, the wilful destruction of the public library in Jaffna in Sri Lanka and that of the Bosnian state library in Sarajevo.

In modern times, the popularity of the library has suffered on account of radio, television¸ cinema and the Internet.

For those fascinated with libraries, this book is a trove of information. The research that must have gone into this book is a labour of love. The author tells us about the quantum and nature of famous book collections down the ages. The book is peppered with a few old photographs and illustrations.

My only grouse was that the book had an excessive focus on the US and Europe, besides Australia, New Zealand and Russia. There was virtually nothing about famous libraries in India or Asia, apart from stray references to the library of Mughal Emperor Akbar and the Chinese invention of paper. Nor was there any information about libraries in India before the East India Company arrived on the scene. Canada found no mention, nor did much of South America.

Aside from these misses, the story of The Library is a story of the growth of libraries that is bound to appeal to lovers of books and libraries everywhere.

The concept of this book was truly fascinating, however, I was unable to finish it. I found the first few chapters to be very dry, and that kept me from returning to it frequently. I think this is something I will personally enjoy more as an audiobook so I will seek a copy that way and I hope to get to the rest of the book. I have read a few other Library History books so I was eager to see how this one compared, and I am sorry to say I found the writing lacking some emotion and color.

Is there really anything better than a library? I've loved libraries my entire life, and it was fascinating to learn more about libraries from across the globe through Andrew Pettegree and Arthur Der Weduwen's amazing book "The Library". I deeply enjoyed learning more about the histories of libraries from ancient times through more modern ones, and it's written in a way that's easy to read. You can easily digest the information and knowledge provided throughout the book, and it was written in a way that was very interesting. Oftentimes with this type of book the writing can be dry, but "The Library" was truly remarkable from start to finish.

If you love books, you will love this book. Avid readers, library frequenters, and anyone with a general love of history will become completely absorbed by this story. It's the perfect book to give as a gift this holiday season.

I love a book about books! This is a wonderful history of libraries and their various forms. It's great for any book- or library-lover.

Wonderful book for anyone interested in libraries. It's a thorough history of libraries and their evolution through the ages. Great read for anyone who loves books, libraries, and/or history

Very thorough history of libraries - starting with Ancient Rome and going forward through the challenges libraries face today. Lots of interesting information - and new information, even though I've read books about libraries before. Here is one of my favorites -

Greeting/warning to users of the Amsterdam library in the 18th century:
You learned sir, who enter among books,
don't slam the door with your tumultuous hand;
nor let your rowdy foot create a bang,
a nuisance to the Muse. Then, if you see someone
seated within, greet him by bowing,
and with a silent nod: nor waffle gossip:
here it's the dead who speak to them who work.

Oh. My.

What an astonishing book.

Honestly I've had such a good year for book-related histories: The Gilded Page (Mary Wellesley), and The Bookseller of Florence (Ross King), and now this. Interestingly, this book contains parts of those two, because understanding how libraries function requires some knowledge of books themselves function, and how the book trade functions. It's been like a mini-course in the whole book production history of Europe.

The authors begin with a discussion of the fabled Library of Alexandria, which is appropriate given its mythical place in the history of libraries... and ALSO that there's some attempt to do something similar in the Alexandria of today, which is, let's say, not the Alexandria of yesteryear.

What utterly intrigued me was the way that exactly what a library is FOR has changed over the centuries. I am a huge fan of the public library, and absolutely uphold its place as a community resource. I do know that in medieval Europe, libraries were the province of monasteries and nobles - not least because that reflects the literacy of the age, and also the aspirations of such people.

It was the use of libraries as exhibitions of wealth that was one aspect explored beautifully here - collecting the 'right' books, and beautiful versions. And then how do you have architecture that reflects that? If you're worried about scholars nicking off with your precious tomes, and you only have a few books, then you chain the books up (literally) and your building reflects that. But when books starting getting more accessible and you are HAPPY for them to be accessed (unlike Oxford libraries not allowing students in and having opening hours for about three hours a week), then what the rooms look like needs to change.

I deeply appreciated the exploration of libraries as both weapons within colonialism and imperialism, and victims of it too. Colonial outposts in NZ and India being sent books; translations into the languages of the colonised; and libraries being looted, or outright destroyed, across the globe - these are things that need to be remembered and dealt with as people keep thinking about the use and abuse of knowledge as power. It would have been so easy to not include those things, and to stick with somehow seeing libraries as just repositories of books - ignoring books as power - but I'm so glad the authors wanted to give a rich and full exploration of libraries as institutions.

Look, I just loved this book. It's beautifully written and has lovely images. It covers predominantly European examples of libraries. It does so across just over two millennia, from monastery to castle to private home to public institution. And the modern arguments about what a library is for! Clearly these authors are defenders of the existence of libraries, but they're not just stuck in mid-20th century versions. They are, if anything, ambitious for what place libraries can and should have in communities.

I love books and I love libraries and this was a wonderful history of them both.

A stunning, eloquent and immersive ode to the stories that bind us and the institution that sews them and holds them close.

The perfect booklover gift and a must have for every bibliophile's shelf

A bibliophiles dream bound in a single edition! And while undoubtedly scholarly and historical this is the sort of book that can also be perused in small doses by any lover of books and libraries, whether they are regularly in pursuit of knowledge or entertaining escapism in their choice of reading material. **Thank you so much to both NegGalley and Basic Books/Hachette for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! I loved it so much I bought a hardcover copy the day it came out.**

This comprehensive tome covers the history of the library from the great mythos of the Library of Alexandria to the Bodleian to the Library of Congress; from parchments and scrolls, to illuminated manuscripts to the advent of the printing press and production of the dime paperback; from collectors and the first auctions and specialist booksellers; from private collections to Universities, from lending libraries to public libraries, from the first bookmobiles to the Appalachian pack horse libraries - this book covers the growth, decline, .and regrowth over and over again all across our globe.

One of the most interesting parts to me in the history of the printed page (and covered here) is the eventual popularity of fiction (vs non-fiction "learned reading") and the eschewing of that form of print in the larger collecting of books in libraries. How lending/circulating libraries (primarily sources of fiction) were "fretted over what might fall into the hands of their wives and daughters, apprentices and servants or impressionable youths." They were "denounced as purveyors of pornography and books of brain-rotting triviality" in the 18th & 19th century. Ironically much similar is still said in the modern era, especially with the advent of the popular paperback novel. and that oh so poo-pooed upon "romance" novel, which got its bad reputation as far back as 1773 as being written "solely for the use of circulating libraries, and very proper to debauch all young women who are still undebauched." I'm pretty sure there are still people saying the same thing today.

There are modern era anecdotes that will both shock, appall and entertain - from the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake which led to the revamping of the Library and the sudden disappearance of some where between 200,000-500,000 books into a landfill - a debacle that is still kept relatively hushed up - to the discovery of a librarians 10,000 plus purloined hoard found in his house in 1982.

The book also covers the oft prophesized decline of books and libraries (yes its supposed decline was stated long before the advent of the modern technological era), with some very up to date information all the way up to our global epidemic and its effects on both reading and libraries. This advance of the tech age is possibly the most thought provoking portion of the book as it effects us as readers today, and this book provides plenty of insight. "More fundamentally, are books just too slow for the modern world, where our mindscape is dominated by a smart phone?" "The internet, it is true, is the perfect tool for an impatient age, we love the convenience of same day delivery, but we complain more and more of the stress of the relentless pace of life. Libraries and books encourage reflective thought. We cannot delegate the whole burden of returning balance to our lives to classes and therapeutic groups. A book creates a mindfulness class of one."
"Most of all , by empowering the digital revolution, librarians have given up the one unique selling point which they defended so tenaciously for almost as long as we have had libraries: the right to apply their knowledge, taste and discrimination to assisting the choice of their patrons. This has been the key to understanding so much in this book: the idea that in an age of plenty there will always be helpmates to assist readers in making the right choice of book. Can the internet, in all its enormous variety, ever replace this reflective process of deliberation, the slow choosing the eager anticipation, the slow unfolding of plot?" (and while impressive algorithms have made it easy to find "more of the same" - "What if we want something different, rather than more of the same? What if we do not know that we want something different, but a chance encounter sparks our interests?")

So lots of thought provoking questions here as well as history and bibliphilism (and as a true book lover and collector I also loved the portions about private collectors and the building of their collections).

This is a must have book for booklovers and bibliophiles the world over!

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Complex and meticulously researched, Andrew Pettegrew and Arthur der Weduwen’s The Library: A Fragile History leads the reader on a tumultuous journey filled with accounts of destruction, loss, power struggles, survival, and above all resilience. From the famed, ancient Library of Alexandria, to the modern media center, and all iterations in between, this well-executed historical exploration provides an account perfect for anyone with an affinity toward libraries. Though the writing is, at times, a bit dry, the book succeeds in its lofty goal to chronicle the sometimes tragic and sometimes sordid story behind the contemporary library system.

I have always been fascinated by the idea of the library and the history of how knowledge has been preserved over time. Pettegree and Weduwen definitely helped me satisfy this curiosity with this wonderful book.

I love books about books. I have spent most of my life in libraries. In fact, I have spent most of my life with my face buried in books. When I retired as a university literature professor, I promptly volunteered as a librarian. NetGalley is the perfect app for me. NetGalley is rather like being let loose in a candy shop. I seem to request every book that I see that has bookseller, bookbinder, book writer, or library in the title.

When I requested "The Library," I had no idea about the content of the book. Fortunately, the history provided by authors, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, in their non-fiction book, "The Library," turned out to be just as interesting as I had expected. When we travel, I seek out libraries throughout Europe. I recognized some of those libraries in "The Library." I have been in libraries in monasteries and in the Vatican, in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, in the old British Library in London, and in the Folger Library in Washington DC. And so, of course I found "The Library" captivating. Every one of the libraries that I have visited left me nearly speechless and in awe. It was a thrill to recognize so many of the descriptions in Pettegree and der Weduwen's book. The role of money and religion in establishing libraries and the collecting of books was not a surprise. The same holds true today. Libraries continue to need money. While libraries no longer buy books by the yard, the need to fill shelves remains important. The history that Pettegree and der Weduwen provide is fascinating, and while much of it was not surprising to me, there were other sections that made me smile, such as an acknowledgement of the power that libraries hold. The destruction of libraries, whether in Alexandria or World War II are sad beyond words.

The photos and illustrations in "The Library" were terrific. I could only wish there were more of them. Anyone who loves libraries, the history of libraries, the history of books, and all the various permutations of books will love this book. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley giving me access to this ARC of The Library.

This book is very informative but at the same time it is very dry, I think it would be better enjoyed as a pick up and put down every now then type of book rather than reading constantly from cover to cover. I also felt it was just a tiny bit too long.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Perseus Books and the authors for the copy of this book. All views are my own.*

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Release Date: November 9, 2021.
From the time I signed my first library card; giving me access to thousands of titles; I was fascinated with the library. In this book, a historical perspective on the library, the reader enters the halls of art, writing, collecting, and conquest. From antiquity to the modern library, the reader of this fine book will learn about how historical and cultural changes to the library which altered thought and learning. Well written in an easy style, this book was enjoyable and an excellent reference for future reading as well. I admit to needing to review this in a timely fashion and will be curling up to read a second time out of pure enjoyment.

Wow - what a book. It's incredibly well researched and written.

This is one of the first books I've ever read completely dedicated to the history of libraries, and inextricably, books. I work in a library and visit my public library at least once a week. I found this history/social commentary on the role and place of libraries in society to be a really interesting piece of work.

I did find the book very long and a bit dry in parts, that said, it was very well-written, full of very-well researched text and the chosen illustrations complemented the text well. The scope of the work wasn't entirely clear, the authors jumping from a European-focused first 2/3 of the book to a US-focused last third with hints of Russia, Australia and then back to England and the continent. As a Canadian reader I was disappointed to find Canada left out almost entirely of the book. The rating is for content and quality, not necessarily enjoyability - but in this case I think that's okay..

Imagine the sheer amount of effort required to acquire your personal library from scratch in ancient times! One religious text may require up to 50 animals and a very patient scribe or two. To have a library of any kind would have been rare. Literacy rates were low, few could afford luxuries. It is unimaginable for most of us to comprehend the lack of access to life-enriching reading materials throughout history.

This meticulously-researched book is chock full to the brim with everything you want to know about libraries including materials used for recording (papyrus, parchment, vellum...), plundering collections after wars, lives of scribes, moving collections from country to country, private collections, storage, maintenance, literacy, public displays, role of monasteries and religion, printing presses driving down prices, booksellers, medical collections, chained books, deliberate book burning (and loss in accidental fires), library labels, subscription libraries, library acts, the effects of radio and internet and censorship.

So much to love about this meaty book. I really like the inclusion of quantities of books owned by various people hundreds and thousands of years ago and would love to meet some of them! Several literally lived for books and thankfully placed great importance upon them. As society and politics change, libraries adapt. I am filled with gratitude for our library system which is a life saver especially during long, cold and snowy winters. As long as there are readers, there will be libraries of some kind, preferably physical. My library is my pride and joy!

Those who adore books about books ought to read this. Yes, it is rather long and academic but gripping, educational and includes fascinating photographs.

My sincere thank you to Perseus Books, Basic Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this stellar book!

A library lover's dream! Full of history, from the beginning of the beginning, and a careful tour through the libraries that have shaped our written record of humanity. An encyclopedic read, wrapping a reader roundabout with all those hours of research, the many crooks and crannies investigated and historical detective-diving obvious in every chapter.

Don't be shy, bookworms. This is the one to read.

A Sincere Thanks to Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen, Perseus Books and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen is currently scheduled for release on November 7 2021. Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes, or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings—the history of the library is rich, varied, and stuffed full of incident. Historians Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen introduce readers to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world’s great collections, trace the rise and fall of literary tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanors committed in pursuit of rare manuscripts. In doing so, they reveal that while collections themselves are fragile, often falling into ruin within a few decades, the idea of the library has been remarkably resilient as each generation makes—and remakes—the institution anew.

The Library: A Fragile History is a well written and thoroughly researched book. It gives an overview of the history of libraries, highlighting some notable libraries and collectors along the way. I think the information is very well organized, and I appreciated the inclusion of some women that have had an impact, which is often left out or written about in a condescending way. I appreciate the amount of research and work that went into the book, and found the subject matter fascinating. However, I think those most interested would do better to tackle this book one section at a time rather than trying to read it straight through. The information is great, it is meticulously researched and cited, but the text reads a bot dry and dense. The passion the authors, and most readers that pick up this book, feel is not conveyed through the text making it a less engaging read. I am still very glad I read it and learned so much, and I think those interested in the title and subject matter will be as well. It is just a slightly more dense non fiction read than I normally enjoy. As one would hope, and expect, from a book about libraries the lists of citations and the bibliography was complete and though. This made me happier as a reader because I could further explore the sources used in researching this book.

The Library: A Fragile History is a book that will appeal to anyone that has ever fallen in love with reading, books, libraries, or the trappings of any related topics.