The Library
Andrew Pettegree; Arthur der Weduwen
Release date: 09 Nov 2021

Description:
"Perfect for book lovers, this is a fascinating exploration of the history of libraries and the people who built them, from the ancient world to the digital age.

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. In The Library, historians Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen introduce us 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.

Beautifully written and deeply researched, The Library is essential reading for booklovers, collectors, and anyone who has ever gotten blissfully lost in the stacks."

Review:
The history of the world (the last 2000 years) as seen through the eyes of a book!

Highly recommend for all bibliophiles! Extremely well-written and superbly researched.

Libraries have been around for a very long time, but they've never had an easy go of it. Wars, religious controversies, natural disasters, politics and plunder have all had a catastrophic effect on libraries. But, did you know "the most destructive epoch in the history of the library" was World War II?

So many other interesting facts & quotes:

"The thirty copies of the Gutenberg Bible printed on parchment required the skins of at least 5,000 calves."

Fernando Colon, son of Christopher Columbus, was the first to attempt the creation of a universal library during the early 1500s.

"If there is one lesson from the centuries-long story of the library, it is that libraries only last as long as people find them useful." In order to survive, libraries need to adapt.

I will be purchasing this book when it becomes available!

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Pettegree and derWeduwen have done a thorough job of presenting the history of libraries and books from the early beginnings through the challenges facing libraries today. Based upon the extensive notes and bibliography at the end, it is abundantly clear that the authors did a great deal of research. The book's historical examination focuses on the impact of books and libraries throughout the world.

Though some might think the topic would be a tad dry, this book manages to hold readers’ interest through stories of people critical to the survival of books and libraries. As this historical account advances, readers are treated to the growing role of libraries and books during the Middle Ages through World Wars and up to the present. The current bastions of knowledge have evolved from personal, religious, and college collections into cornerstones of our public institutions. Throughout history, libraries have faced challenges to their existence and the current situation is no exception.

This is a delightful, informative book that examines one of our most cherished institutions and shows us how book lovers and librarians have helped libraries survive threats throughout time. For all who love history and especially those who love books and libraries, this is a fascinating read.

I was quite happy to see this book as I knew it would be interesting to a library geek like me.
I am yet to finish it but wanted to share my thoughts so far because I am taking it slowly.
Firstly, I love the content. It is quite interesting but it is also slow reading for me. Not because the book isn't fantastic, because it is and I know other library geeks are going to love it too.
It's rich in history and has just about everything you want to know about libraries' past.
The images throughout are a real treat and they are balanced throughout with a good mix of text.
I recommend all those that are curious about libraries' past and how they have shaped how they are now.

This offered me some insight into the history of libraries and how over the years people collected and shared and stored books, however, it was not as truly captivating as I had hoped it would be and took me a while to read and enjoy, mainly because of the detailed information/research.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

I love libraries. My favorites are large academic libraries with their stacks filled with obscure treasures. My local public library is next. In addition to the great selection in the citywide system, the librarians seem to be able to obtain just about anything I’m looking for. I even love the goofy libraries at vacation spots, more likely provided for show than because anyone is expected to read the odd old assortments. And then there are private libraries… I’ve always wanted a room with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a sliding ladder. I’ve settled for books all over my house.

When I saw The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen available on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it.

This new release is a comprehensive history of the library, from idea to execution, with all the myriad cycles of building and destruction (or fading away). It covers the “public” libraries of antiquity, the massive personal libraries of royalty and wealthy men, institutional libraries, subscription libraries, modern-day public libraries, pretty much every form of book collecting for personal use or for sharing. It covers the rise and fall of great libraries alongside the rise and fall of civilizations. It addresses the question of the future of the library. (Have faith! People have been predicting the end of “the book” for as long as there have been books. Libraries, too, will survive in one form or another.)

The Library is an impressive undertaking. It’s comprehensive (a bit lengthy) and detailed (so a bit dry), but my interest never flagged. The resiliency of the library as a concept and as a concrete public service is inspiring. Book lovers, readers and collectors, and all library nerds will find this an interesting and reassuring study of the topic.

Comprehensive History. This is a fairly dense (yet readable) comprehensive history of humanity's efforts to store its written words. We begin all the way back in ancient Mesopotamia with some discussion of even their clay tablets, and we come all the way through the digital and eReader era (which the authors are a bit more pessimistic about than this reader, who is admittedly a technologist). While other areas such as China, Africa, India, (modern) Australia, and Columbian era Middle America are mentioned at times, the vast majority of the focus of the discussion here is Euro-centric, with detailed discussions of American library systems once the discussion advances to the relevant time periods. Indeed, as it turns out, the "modern public library" as Americans know it today? Did not exist prior to WWII in any real form at all, though through the efforts of business titans such as Andrew Carnegie (discussed in much depth here in the text), the earlier forms of it were beginning by the late 19th century. Truly a fascinating book, but also truly a very long one. Anyone remotely interested in books and reading should probably at least consider reading this, as it really is a remarkable history of the book, its uses, and its storage. Very much recommended.

In the end, this book turned out to be satisfactory. I had almost given up on this book, stopping at around half-way through. Most of the content to that point consisted of dates, names, places, and number of books. Combined with the formal tone, I just couldn’t bring myself to invest any more time in the book, despite whatever interest the content may have generated. However other reviewers indicated that the book improved once the subject matter turned to more modern libraries. The other reviewers were correct. I skipped ahead to Part 5 and I found I enjoyed the book much more. Gone was the minutiae of the beginning of the book, with a lot more historical perspective and societal background. The formal tone, however, persisted. Thank you to Netgalley and Perseus Books, Basic Books for the advance reader copy.

Though this book is well-researched and well-written, it's very dense and I found that I didn't enjoy the content quite as much as I thought I would. That being said, I did find much of this book interesting, and I did learn a lot about the history of libraries. I'd definitely recommend if you're interested in how our modern libraries came to be.

This is a beautiful ode to the history of libraries. So many non-fiction books borderline or cross the line of being so dry, but this one kept me hooked. I had to read it nice and slow in order to really appreciate the history and views on libraries, but it was worth it.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinons are mine

First to get a gripe out of the way - I would have loved to have been able to read this on my Kindle, however, due to format available, had to read it on my phone - a bit disappointing

To the book

Having worked in libraries, I found this really interesting
Well researched social history

A very thorough book about the history of libraries, how they started out in societies, how they changed throughout the years and how they changed us.
A heavy but very worth read that should definitely be of interest to the ones who would love to have a book about the history of books.

When I first received a copy of this from Netgalley, I thought it was going to be a fairly quick read. Upon seeing the actual size of it, however, I have to admit that I found it a bit daunting. After all, I was looking for some light reading.

It was actually better than I initially expected. I thought the later chapters of the book, namely those dealing with libraries in modern times, were more interesting than the chapters dealing with the medieval part of the story, i.e., with mostly monasteries - and as a student of medieval history, I don't say this often. It was really interesting to see how books that are now considered classics were initially frowned up (seriously, people were even unhappy to have Shakespeare's plays in libraries), and how certain parts of literature were always looked down on; firstly, fiction as a whole, with lighter genres - such as romance - being subsequently mocked and condemned.

I also thought that the very goal of the book was quite interesting, namely using libraries as a backdrop to explore the social, political, and economic changes throughout the centuries. It certainly doesn't seem like libraries would be so reflective of their sociopolitical environment, at least not initially. It does, however, work out quite spectacularly, so the end result was also quite rewarding.

Overall, I am quite happy I read this - even though it was fairly time consuming.

The Library is a well researched book on the history of libraries. Sadly, it was boring and a lot of the book bleed together for me. So much of was about the collections of individual men and how much their collections were worth. The most interesting part was the last chapters because it dealt with modern libraries. But I felt like they were rushed and could have said more.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book to review.

An extremely thorough look into the history of libraries. Very comprehensive. A tad too much for me, but I can see where someone who is a real bibliophile would really enjoy it. Would serve as a good reference book. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reading copy.

Thank you to Net Galley and Perseus Books for the review copy of The Library: A Fragile History, releasing Nov 9th.⁣
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As an ardent bookworm and history lover, this book was a decadent treat. The authors take you through the history of the library from Alexandria to today’s digital collections. Along the way, the reader is treated to fascinating glimpses of long gone collections and collectors. It’s a tale of destruction (so many lost books!) but also profound creativity. It’s amazing to realize how much we have in common with book lovers across the centuries.⁣ Reading this book will give you a fuller appreciation for your local library and the ideals that lie behind it.⁣
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However, I wish the book had been less Eurocentric. Non-Western libraries are only given a cursory mention. The story of the library is incomplete without examining its history more intensely in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East at the very least. There was also an inaccurate reference to Jane Austen’s views on novels that reveals a sloppiness that I can only hope will be caught before publication.⁣
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In the final pages, I feel like the authors were trying to express a sense of pessimism about the future of libraries. In contrast, I feel optimistic that, whatever the future brings, the library will live on in some form. If the authors were aware of Bookstagram, I think they would be even more encouraged.

I read this as part of NetGalley

This was such an amazing and thorough recounting of the make up and scope of libraries from ancient times until now. I was impressed with the amount of detail and research that went into this and the writing was far from dry as it wove through time and scope.
If anything, it shows with extreme clarity how much we’ve lost over time and how many works no longer exists that most likely should be celebrated. Time, decay, wars, religion, revolutions, and censorship from the Roman times until present day have robbed us of more books than we’ll ever know.
The only wish I had for this book is that they spent more time in Asia and talking through books there and how, even if very different, libraries existed and manifested. There is only passing references through the books outside of India and almost no color on Africa and Southeast Asia.
The library, in all its manifestations over the centuries is still a common good and will continue to be for centuries to come.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Perseus Books for an advanced copy of this history title.

Books about books are always fun, especially for a bibliophile who dreams of huge libraries in studio apartments. The Library by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen is an expansive study on the ideas of libraries, where the ideas of libraries came from, where they are going and the importance of libraries today. Also covered are the many libraries that are no more, the collectors who made them and how the idea of libraries have changed over the years.

The book is not a book that you can just glance through, but is a very strong history on this subject. The research is deep with a lot of facts, places, names, and book collections mentioned through the book. The writing can sometimes be a tad textbook-ish, but the subject matter and the story the writers are telling, plus the narrative in some place is quite gripping is a small complaint.

What strikes most is the numerous destructions. From accident, to wanton devastation, great collections, one of kind manuscripts, family histories are burnt, eaten, made moldy, used to wrap gifts and other uses. Even the fact that digital libraries can be lost, and or modified is touched on pointing out that ideas might not die, but reading their original text might.

A utterly fascinating book, perfect for bibliophiles, historians and libertarians to be. One that belongs on every shelf where ever books might be gathered. A very good read.

Every Library should own a copy of this book about how Libraries came to pass. Here I thought it started with Benjamin Franklin, but no it came from Charlemagne who decided that other should be allowed to read in order to make better decisions. From there, the library like humans have grown and shrank, change and then revert back, been glories and forgotten, but over thousand of years the library is still with us, not in the same way but like everything it changes. The one amazing thing about libraries, is that it does survive at all especially with all the characters that have tried to silence it and all the books with have lost. I wonder what we keep having to learn because the answer was in a book that was burn or destroy.

I found the book easy to read but it has a lot of historical information so it took me awhile to finish it, and I find it eye opening about the struggle and creation of libraries.

I want to thank Perseus Books, Basic Books, Basic Books and NetGalley for this book about the one thing everyone on NetGalley adores, BOOKS.

This book takes the reader on a journey through time to learn the history of books and libraries .if you. are a book, library, and/or history lover, this book is for you! Indeed, a fabulous read. I definitely will be reading more books by these authors.
Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to read, learn, and enjoy this book.

Extremely informative, and even intense book about libraries and the history of libraries. I enjoyed the book because I am a fan of libraries, and interested in the history of this institution. It is a bit on the heavier side though, because it gives the reader a lot of specific information. I am sure I will use this book as a reference book for future needs. I think this book might be too in-depth for a casual reader, but for someone looking for more knowledge and content this is an excellent choice!