But besides the big ones, there are old libraries. And to your attention the top 10 rating of the oldest libraries in the world.
10. Bodleian Library Oxford University Library(London, 1602)
It bears the name of Sir Thomas Bodley, who was a popular and world-famous man who collected manuscripts. Although many believe that the founder is still Bishop Thomas de Cobham. Through his efforts at the university, the first collection of books was collected, which were chained to the shelves in order to prevent theft. Along with the Vatican Library, they claim the right to be called the oldest in Europe.
9. Royal Library of Belgium(Brussels 1559)
2
National science Library. Founded by order of Philip II. Contains 8 million books, manuscripts, drawings, engravings, a large numismatic collection. The main purpose of the activity is the collection and storage of all Belgian publications and works of Belgians published abroad. In addition to national, there are a large number of foreign books. Available for visiting citizens, including students.
8. Bavarian State Library(Munich 1558)
3
This old library was founded by Albrecht V, Duke of Wittelsbach. In 1663, a law was passed in Bavaria according to which two copies of any printed work must be transferred to this library. The law is still in effect. During World War II, up to 500,000 volumes were lost and the building was 85% destroyed. Despite this, it is considered one of the most extensive European libraries. He does a lot of work on the digitization of old documents and manuscripts.
7. National Library of Malta(Valetta 1555)
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Laid by the 48th Grand Master of the Order of Saint John Claude de la Single. According to his decree, all personal books of the deceased knights were considered the property of the Order. It was developed under Louis Giren de Tencines, the bailiff-executor of the Grand Cross of the Order. The Library of Malta is a significant collection of bibliographic rarities. Here you can see a deed of gift of 1107 from Emperor Charles to King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, documents confirming noble origin knights, minutes of meetings of the Order of Saint John. The library has been open to visitors since 1812.
6. Vatican Apostolic Library(Rome Vatican 1475)
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Its inspirer and creator were Popes Nicholas V and Sixtus IV. First of all, this is the richest collection of manuscripts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Under the auspices of the library, entire expeditions were carried out to search for rare publications in the most different parts Sveta. Includes a wide variety of texts from manuscripts with the works of Cicero, Virgil, Aristotle, to works contemporary authors. Naturally, most of the collection consists of texts of religious content. The Vatican school of librarians and a laboratory for the restoration and reproduction of the most important manuscripts were created at the library. Up to 150 scientists and specialists can visit the vaults daily.
5. National Library of France(Paris 1461)
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It existed under Charles V the Wise, but the main part of his collection was lost, as the royal relatives used to not return the taken books. Louis XI began to collect the library almost anew. Among others, the library contains books from various monasteries, books about the revolution, books about Walter, as well as collections of manuscripts sent from various countries. To date, it includes 30 million storage units.
4. National Library of Austria(Vienna 1368)
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It is located in the Hofburg Palace, which served as the residence of the Habsburg imperial family. The collection includes 7.5 million books, ancient papyri, maps, globes, paintings, photographs, musical scores famous musicians such as Strauss and Bruckner. It is also known for the fact that it has collected about 8,000 incunabula - typesetting early printed editions.
3. National Library of the Czech Republic(Prague 1366)
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It is not only one of the oldest, but also one of the largest public libraries in the world, serving about 1 million readers a year. It was founded in connection with the formation of the University of Prague. Provides access to more than 6 million documents, with an annual increase of 70,000 titles. Many library projects are supported by UNESCO.
2. Library of St. Catherine's Monastery(Egypt Sinai 548-565)
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The monastery is located in Egypt at the foot of Mount Sinai. The monastery's library contains 3,304 manuscripts, 5,000 books and about 1,700 scrolls. Her collection of historical significance second only to the Apostolic Library of the Vatican. The texts are written in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Slavic languages. The most famous manuscripts are the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century (in currently is in the British Museum) and the Syriac Codex of the 5th century with quotations from the Bible. In addition to other relics, the monastery also has a collection of ancient icons.
1. Library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal(British Museum London 7th century BC)
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The oldest library in the world was discovered in 1849-51 by British archaeologists Austin Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rasam during excavations on the banks of the Euphrates. It is considered the oldest of known to the world libraries. It was conceived by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal as a repository of all the knowledge accumulated by mankind and was based on ancient Sumerian and Babylonian texts. Includes legal, administrative and economic records, descriptions of political events, magical and religious rituals, prophecies, astronomical and historical information, prayers, songs. One of the most famous mythological texts is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is one of the main sources of information about the history and culture of Mesopotamia and the decipherment of cuneiform. The bulk of the 30,000 clay tablets discovered are now in the British Museum.
Introduction
First in the world public library
Ancient Libraries of Sumer
Library of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal
First public library in Rome
First Library Ancient Rus'
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
The word "library" is of Greek origin. "Byblos" means "book" (cf. the word "Bible", i.e. "[Holy] book"), "teke" - "warehouse, storage" (cf. derivatives from this root: pharmacy, cartogedia, record library, disco, etc.). In the last lesson, the largest public library of antiquity, Alexandria, was already mentioned. Was just as famous Pergamon Library. There were many other smaller libraries - city, school, - there were also private, home collections of books. What were these libraries? What kind of books were stored there, what did they look like and what were they written on?
Curiously, the first original meaning the Latin word liber is "bast", and the second is "book". This means that initially the Romans wrote, made notes on the bark of trees (an interesting parallel is birch bark letters in ancient Russian Novgorod).
It is known that a wide variety of materials served as the basis for writing to people since ancient times: rocks, stone slabs, tree bark, palm leaves, clay tablets, tablets made of bronze, lead, tin and other materials, and finally, papyrus from Egypt and parchment (not to be confused with parchment). - modern look wrapping paper), named after the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor, where in the 2nd century BC. the production of writing material from calfskin was established. Until the 10th century, when Europe became acquainted with papermaking, and even later, parchment remained the main writing material here.
Both in Greece and Rome, they wrote mainly on papyrus and parchment, which were first made in the form of scrolls, wound on a wooden stick, put into special cases and stored in chests or on shelves in cabinets. At one end of the stick hung a label with the title of the book and its contents. Later, they learned to fold sheets of parchment or papyrus in four, forming compact "notebooks" (in Greek, "fours"). By linking together several such notebooks, they received a "volume" or "code".
Already from the 5th century BC. there were booksellers in Athens, which indicates the wide circulation of the book as a commodity and the fact that they corresponded in many copies (for this, the publishers kept a large staff of scribes).
In Rome, the first rich private libraries appear in II-I centuries BC. In the 1st century BC. Gaius Julius Caesar decided to build the first public library in Rome. It is known that during the reign of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD. Rome had 28 public libraries.
The world's first public library
It was in the III century. BC e. Big ship with raised sails, splashing with hundreds of oars, approached the shores of Egypt.
The ship sailed from Athens. In its hold, along with other goods, there were caskets filled with books. They were rolled sheets of papyrus and parchment.
Alexandria, whose population reached several hundred thousand people, was the capital of a powerful state created by one of the commanders of Alexander the Great - Ptolemy, who captured Egypt, neighboring Cyrenaica, part of Syria, the island of Cyprus and a number of areas in Asia Minor.
The Greeks - Hellenes - brought a rich culture to the conquered countries, assimilating at the same time the high cultural achievements of the peoples ancient east. A new, so-called Hellenistic culture arose here, the outstanding center of which was Alexandria.
King Ptolemy and his successors patronized the development of science, literature and art. They created a scientific institution in Alexandria, called "museyon", which means "an institution dedicated to the muses." (According to the ancient Greeks, nine muses patronized various arts and sciences.)
At the same time, through the efforts of many scientists and with the energetic assistance of the Egyptian kings, the first public library in history was created in Alexandria, which could be used not only by the citizens of Alexandria, but also by visitors.
By this time, a huge number of works had been written in Greek. Among them are essays on various branches of science, technology, Agriculture and especially a lot fiction. All works existed only in manuscripts, so there were very few copies, they were usually kept by private individuals and were very expensive. They wrote on long sheets glued together from cut papyrus stems, or on specially processed leather - parchment (from the name of the Asia Minor city of Pergamon, where parchment was first made). Small works fit into one scroll, large ones were divided into several scrolls by sections.
Ptolemy sent his commissioners to all countries of the cultural world to buy writings in Greek and other languages.
All captains of ships that came to Alexandria were ordered to report on literary works on board, which were often purchased for the library.
A special building was built for the library in one of the best areas of Alexandria. It had the shape of a rectangle and was decorated on all sides with rows of graceful columns, between which stood statues. prominent writers and scientists.
The entrance led into a large hall lined with white marble. There were tables for reading and writing, and comfortable chairs and beds beside them (noble Greeks liked to recline at the table on soft beds). Behind this hall was a huge repository of scrolls and office space - the room of the main custodian of the library, his assistants and translators. A lot of scientific work was carried out in the library. Outstanding scientists of that time worked here: the physicist Gerond, the astronomers Eratosthenes and Aristarchus of Samos, the anatomist and physician Herophilus, the mathematicians Euclid and Archimedes, and many others.
A huge number of works of remarkable Greek literature and literature of other ancient peoples of the Mediterranean managed to be collected in the Library of Alexandria. At the beginning of the 1st century BC e. the total number of scrolls reached 700 thousand. This is at least 200-300 thousand of our book volumes. There were complete collections of works by the great Greek playwrights - the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, the comedies of Aristophanes, Menander.
The library contained thousands of works on the history of not only big states, but also individual localities and cities of the ancient world. The remarkable works of ancient Greek historians that have survived to our time - the "father of history" Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius and others - are only a small part of this richest collection (see the article "Historians of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome").
Of the works of philosophers of antiquity stored in the library, few have come down to us. They are closely studied by modern researchers. The philosophical writings of the ancient Greeks, especially Aristotle, were highly appreciated by K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin.
Works on architecture, military affairs, exact and natural sciences: mathematics, physics, astronomy, technology, botany, geography and medicine were very carefully collected in the library. Among the medical books were the writings of the founder of medical science Hippocrates and his students.
The creation of the library was of great importance for the development of culture. Scientists, philosophers, teachers, military men, writers, artists for the first time got the opportunity to widely study literature in their specialty, get acquainted with the life and culture of contemporary peoples and peoples of the distant past.
The ancient Greek philosophers (from left to right) Plato (427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC), whose writings were in the Library of Alexandria.
In the Library of Alexandria, a completely new science arose - classification - the distribution of hundreds of thousands of different works into sections and the compilation of a catalog with the designation of the author and the title of each book. The prominent scholar Callimachus compiled a description of all the scrolls Library of Alexandria. His grandiose work would take up 122 of our large books (this work has not come down to us).
The Library of Alexandria existed in its original form for about 200 years. In 48-47 years. BC e., when the troops of the Roman commander Julius Caesar (see the article “The Beginning of the Empire”) broke into Alexandria and entered into a fierce struggle with the population of the city, a fire broke out. Part of the library was destroyed in the fire. Caesar sent many scrolls to Rome, but the ship with the scrolls sank.
At the end of the IV century. n. e., during a fierce struggle between Christians and supporters of ancient beliefs, one of the buildings of the Library of Alexandria was destroyed by a crowd of Christian fanatics, and its treasures were almost completely destroyed. Remains of a wonderful collection ancient literature were destroyed in the seventh century. n. e. troops of the Arab Caliph, who captured Alexandria in 641.
But over the many centuries of the existence of the Library of Alexandria, hundreds of scientists and writers worked in it, and many of the works stored in it dispersed throughout all countries. ancient world. Thanks to this, some of the cultural treasures of antiquity that were in the library were preserved for future generations. They formed the basis scientific knowledge and literature of many peoples in the Middle Ages and in modern times.
Ancient Libraries of Sumer
At first III millennium BC e. on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was one of the centers ancient civilization- Mesopotamia. Its southern part was called Mesopotamia. Excellent geographical and climatic conditions created conditions for the life and development of people in this territory long before the period we are considering. Several dozen small city-states were built on hills and surrounded by walls. It was the ancient Lagosh, Ur, Nippur and others that became the main carriers of the Sumerian civilization. The youngest of them, Babylon, developed so rapidly that in the 1st millennium BC. e. the Greeks began to call Mesopotamia by his name Babylonia.
For a long time scientists led archaeological excavations on the site of the most ancient cities of Mesopotamia. The ruins of palaces and temples arose before archaeologists, numerous household items, works of art, and tools were found. Among all the other finds, they saw a large number of Sumerian cuneiform tablets of various sizes and shapes, which contained information about state structure Sumer, its economy and social life. Household records, lists of words for memorization, school texts and essays, reporting documents of scribes of the III millennium BC. e. and various other information was left for posterity by the inhabitants of antiquity.
During excavations in the city of Ur, several libraries, small collections of sacred texts, and personal libraries were found. Of particular importance were the finds made by scientists in the city of Nippur (modern Iraq) - the oldest religious center of the Sumerians. About 100 thousand clay tablets, placed in 62 rooms, sometimes split into dozens of pieces or with erased inscriptions, were found at the site of the Nippur temple library.
In total, about 150 monuments of Sumerian literature are known. Among them are poetic records of myths, epic tales, prayers, hymns to gods and kings, psalms, wedding-love songs, funeral laments, lamentations about national disasters, which were part of the church service; didactics is widely represented: teachings, edifications, disputes-dialogues, as well as fables, anecdotes, sayings and proverbs. Of course, such a distribution by genre is completely arbitrary and is based on our modern ideas about genres.
The Sumerians themselves had their own classification - in almost every literary work, its “genre” is indicated in the last line: laudatory song, dialogue, lamentation, etc. Unfortunately, the principles of this classification are not always clear to us: the same type, from our point of view, works fall into different categories in Sumerian designations, and vice versa - monuments of obviously different genres are assigned to one category, say, a hymn and an epic. In a number of cases, classification designations indicate the nature of the performance or musical accompaniment (crying to the flute, song to the drum, etc.), since all works were performed aloud - they were sung, and if they were not sung, they were read in a singsong voice after memorization from the tablet.
Tablets found in Sumerian libraries were kept in closed boxes or baskets. Each of them had labels with inscriptions about the nature of the materials contained in them: “Documents relating to the garden”, “Sending of workers”, etc. There were tablets with marks about the loss of texts, a list of 87 works - a kind of prototype of the catalog. The long work on deciphering the records allowed scientists to get an idea not only about the “funds” and conditions for storing the tablets, but also to replenish knowledge about the history of the people who once lived in this territory.
At the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. The temple library of Nippur was burned down by the Elamite conqueror Kudur-Mabuk.
Library of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal
Babylonia became the successor of the Sumerian culture, and then Assyria. For many centuries, Assyrian rulers waged successful wars with neighboring states. At the beginning of the 7th century BC. e. they subjugated Babylonia, part of Asia Minor and even Egypt. Big role the well-trained Assyrian army played in the conquest of new lands: the famous Assyrian chariots, cavalry and infantry.
Ancient Nineveh, founded in the 5th millennium BC, became the capital of a powerful state. e. The residence of the Assyrian rulers was distinguished by a large number of palaces. Built on hills, surrounded by high walls, they struck with luxurious finishes. Numerous sculptures, gold and marble surrounded their owners. At the entrance to the palaces stood statues of winged bulls with human heads who were supposed to protect them from evil deities.
One of the last Assyrian rulers was Ashurbanipal (668 - 626 BC), a highly educated king for his time - literate, able to read and write. His father, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680 - 669 BC), according to some researchers, originally wanted to make a high priest out of his son. And the priests were highly educated people for their time - they had to be able to read cuneiform and know the sacred texts.
Ashurbanipal did not become a priest, but his love of reading remained with him for the rest of his life. On two of the tablets subsequently found by archaeologists, it was written in his hand that he knew the languages and scribal art of all masters of writing, attended meetings of scribes, and solved complex problems with multiplication and division. It is not surprising that it was this ruler who, two and a half thousand years ago, collected in his palace in Nineveh the richest library of tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets.
In the 7th century BC e. Ashurbanipal subjugated a vast territory to his power. By his personal command, throughout the forty years of his reign, many experienced scribes who knew several languages traveled throughout the Assyrian state. They searched for ancient books in the libraries and temples of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Akkad, Lars and, if it was impossible to take the originals, made copies of them.
On most of the copies, marks have been preserved confirming its accuracy: “According to the ancient original, written off and verified.” If the original from which the copy was made was erased from time to time or was illegibly written, then the scribes marked: “Erased” or “I don’t know”. The scribe had to replace the obsolete signs on the ancient texts with modern ones, it was allowed to shorten a very long text. “... Look for rare tablets stored in the local archives,” the king’s order read, “of which we do not have copies in Assyria, and bring them to me ... No one dares to refuse to give you the tablets ...”
In a fairly short period of time, Ashurbanipal managed to assemble one of the first libraries in the world, distinguished not only by its size, but also by the completeness of its funds, and which even today is one of the best treasures known to mankind. In her fund, she had tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets not only about the ancient states of Assyria and Babylon, but also about all branches of knowledge known at that time. There was literature on geography and history, grammar and law, mathematics and astronomy, medicine and natural science, religious and theological literature was well represented in the funds: collections of witchcraft spells against evil spirits, diseases, evil eye and damage; penitential psalms and confessional questionnaires.
The royal library, as evidenced by the entry on one of the tablets, was most likely open for wide use, and was kept in exemplary order. There were inventory records and a catalog, systematization of funds was carried out. The name of the work, the room and the shelf where it was stored were indicated on the tile, the number of lines in the tablet was noted.
If the work did not fit on one plate, then the last line of the previous entry was repeated on the next. Below indicated initial words the work itself. Tablets that belonged to one work were kept together, in a separate wooden box or clay chest, and placed on special shelves in a systematic manner. A label with the name of the branch of knowledge was attached to the shelf.
During excavations, scientists found copies of the first cuneiform textbooks, compiled in the 18th century BC. e., various dictionaries, including Sumero-Akkadian. In fragments, the “Textbook for Prince Ashurbanipal” was preserved - a bilingual educational dictionary. The Babylonian book of Genesis, the epic of Gilgamesh with the legend of the flood, various legends and myths were found.
The total number of tablets found by scientists was about 20 thousand. The bulk of these unique clay books is stored in the British Museum (London).
First public library in Rome
"The fruits of the human mind are common property." This phrase belongs to the founder of the world's first public library, Asinius Pollio. The opening of this library took place in Rome in 39 BC.
Until the II century BC. in Rome, only a few read and collected books. But already in the II century BC. with the expansion of Roman expansion to the East, the first private libraries appeared in Rome. The first collections of books among the Romans were only the trophies of Roman military leaders: Aemilius Paul in 168 BC. brought the library of the Macedonian king Perseus, and Lucullus brought books captured in the Pontic kingdom ...
In the second half of the II century and in the I century BC. the Romans most of all fought with the Greeks who lived in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The Hellenic world was culturally incomparably higher than the Roman one. With the conquest of the eastern regions by Rome, the mass penetration of advanced Greek culture into Rome begins. To speak Greek, to be able to read the books of outstanding Greek authors, becomes prestigious. (How to speak French in Russia in the 19th century!)
Already by the 1st century BC. a great many private libraries appear there. Some of them were quite significant up to 30,000 scrolls! These personal libraries were most often located in the villas of former military leaders, in well-ventilated rooms with windows facing east to better preserve the books. The scrolls were kept in low cabinets along the walls, sometimes in wall niches, as well as in cabinets in the center of the room. The cabinets were mostly made of cedar, as it is not susceptible to deterioration and decay. (One of these villas, the "Villa de Papira" was discovered and excavated in Herculaneum, the city that was destroyed by the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius).
In the second half of the 1st century BC. thanks to the powerful influence of Greek culture, a large number of educated, inquisitive and talented people appear in Rome. These people needed to communicate with each other, share knowledge, make inquiries with authoritative authors of wise books, argue, compete in eloquence... Special institutions were needed for this. Thus, the need gradually matured for the creation of public libraries in Rome as a center of communication and equal access to books.
The famous Guy Julius Caesar (10044 BC), having visited in 47 BC. in Egypt, in Alexandria, he saw with his own eyes the famous library. He planned to establish in Rome a similar one, but accessible to a larger number of people. Therefore, he had the intention to take a lot of books from Egypt to Rome, translate these books into Latin, while preserving the originals, and invite Alexandrian scholars, writers and poets to Rome.
Murder in 44 BC Caesar prevented the implementation of these plans. But the seed sown by the enlightened ruler sprouted. Five years after his death, the first public library was opened. The military leader Gaius Asinius Pollio (76 BC - 5 AD), having successfully ended the war with Parthia and returned to his hometown, built the famous Atrium of Liberty in his villa using military spoils. This is where the library is located. She served the "Academy of Eloquence" opened there.
Philosophers gathered in the library founded by Pollio to talk about the creations of Greek thought, poets to read their favorite verses and discuss the literary merits of a particular work, to shine with eloquence. The basis of the library was made up of books captured by the Romans in Illyria, and it was divided into funds of Latin and Greek books. Greek books predominated, of course.
Following Pollio, he founded two public libraries, Latin and Greek, in 28 AD. Octavian August. They were located in Rome on the Palatine Hill at the Temple of Apollo (the so-called Palatine Library). Later they were discovered by Tiberius (ruled 1437 AD), Vespasian (ruled 7079 AD), Trajan (ruled 98117 AD) and other emperors. On their part, these were populist acts. The fact is that in the days of the empire, the construction and opening of public libraries was considered a great service to society.
The first library of Ancient Rus'
It is believed that the first library of Ancient Rus' was founded by Yaroslav the Wise at St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. This is reported by "The Tale of Bygone Years", the first chronicle early XII century.
All rulers European countries, who had the good fortune to intermarry with the great Kiev prince (Yaroslav's children were married or were married to representatives of the reigning dynasties of France, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Rome and Byzantium), knew about the passions of their eastern relative and at every opportunity gave him books. Moreover, the books are not simple, but in luxurious salaries, decorated with jewels.
Further accumulation of book treasures forced Yaroslav to allocate a special room for the library. Dozens of learned monks worked on the correspondence of individual ancient manuscripts; They were also engaged in the translation of sacred books. In particular, the monks translated a lot of books from Greek into Russian. An example of such a translation is the historical work "The Chronicle of George Amartol".
The Ipatiev Chronicle wrote about the benefits of books: “Great is the benefit of a person from book teaching. And with books, we show and taught if we find the way to repentance and wisdom, and refrain from the words of the book. No, it was not for nothing that Prince Yaroslav was nicknamed the Wise! The chroniclers respectfully wrote about him: “I read the books myself!”
Book collections arose in Kyiv even before Yaroslav. For example, his father Vladimir Svyatoslavich, according to the chronicler, "loved the words of the book and, apparently, owned a library ...".
The very word "library" was almost never used in Ancient Rus'. In different cities of Rus', rooms for books had a variety of names: "book guardian", "book depository", "book depository", "book depository", "storage treasury", "book cage", "book chamber". For the first time the word "library" is found in the famous Gennadiev Bible of 1499. The term "library" was still unusual for Russians, so the translator made an explanation in the margin against it - "book house".
Where did the first library of Ancient Rus' go? She could not be lost, lost completely and without a trace. It seems that it was not stored the way it is now, that is, in front of everyone, with free access to books for everyone. Most likely, the library was located in the basement of the Hagia Sophia. Moreover, for the most valuable and richly decorated books, it was simply necessary to have a secret storage, such as a modern fireproof safe.
According to the well-known Soviet researcher and speleologist I. Ya. Stelletsky, "neither archaeologists nor architects were interested in this issue and never wrote anything on this topic." But treasure hunters have been keeping Yaroslav the Wise's library in sight since ancient times. Many are sure that there are extensive cellars under the St. Sophia Cathedral, which have not been really explored by anyone.
Conclusion
Libraries first appeared in the ancient East. Officially, the collection of clay tablets, approximately 2500 BC, is considered the first library. e., found in the temple of the Babylonian city of Nippur. One of the oldest collections of books that have come down to us can also be considered a box of papyri found in one of the tombs near Egyptian Thebes. It dates back to II. transition period(XVIII - XVII centuries BC). Approximately around 1250 BC. e. Ramses II collected about 20,000 papyri. The most famous ancient Eastern library is a collection of cuneiform tablets from the palace of the Assyrian king of the 7th century BC. e. Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. The main part of the plates contains legal information. In ancient Greece, the first public library was founded in Heraclea by the tyrant Clearchus (4th century BC).
The Library of Alexandria became the largest center of ancient literature. It was created in the III century BC. e. Ptolemy I and was the center of education of the entire Hellenistic world. The Library of Alexandria was part of the mouseĩon (museum) complex. The complex included living rooms, dining rooms, reading rooms, botanical and zoological gardens, an observatory and a library. Later, medical and astronomical instruments, stuffed animals, statues and busts were added to it, which were used for teaching. The mouseĩon included 200,000 papyri in the Temple (almost all libraries of antiquity were attached to temples) and 700,000 documents in the School. Museum and most of The Library of Alexandria was destroyed around 270 AD.
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What world libraries of the past and present can be attributed to the largest treasuries of human thought? For the entire time of the existence of our civilization, there were not so many of them - and the most famous of them have sunk into oblivion.
THE BEGINNING OF TIME
The most ancient libraries are called the storage of clay tablets of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization. They are over four and a half thousand years old. The first repository of papyrus books appeared only 12 centuries later. They became the library of Ancient Egypt, founded during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II. Another no less famous "ancient book depository is associated with the name of Alexander the Great. The emperor founded a city in the Nile Delta and named it after himself.
Later, a library was built there, which was called Alexandria. It was headed by the largest scientists: Eratosthenes, Zenodotus, Aristarchus of Samos, Callimachus, and others. By the way, it was under Callimachus that for the first time in history a catalog of existing manuscripts was created in it, later regularly replenished. Thanks to this, she became the first prototype of the familiar to us, modern library. According to various estimates, it contained from 100 to 700 thousand volumes.
In addition to works ancient Greek literature and the sciences that formed its basis, there were books in oriental languages. Many of them have been translated into Greek. Thus, interpenetration and mutual enrichment of cultures took place. The library was visited by ancient Greek mathematicians and philosophers, in particular Euclid and Eratosthenes.
In those days, it overshadowed even one of the recognized wonders of the world - the Pharos lighthouse, located in the same place, in Alexandria. Unfortunately, the library has not survived. Some died in a fire as early as 48 BC, during the capture of the city by Julius Caesar. It was finally destroyed in 646 AD, during the time of the Arab caliph Omar the victorious, who captured Egypt. It is he who is credited with the words: "If these books repeat the Koran, then they are not needed, if not, then they are harmful."
However, there is an encouraging version that the funds of the Library of Alexandria were not destroyed, but the Arabs took possession of them as winners. It is no coincidence that at present UNESCO has developed a plan for the restoration of the Library of Alexandria, first of all, the period of Antiquity and early Christianity. For this, the collection and copying of surviving manuscripts from neighboring countries will be carried out.
WHO CREATED THE IVAN THE TERRIBLE LIBRARY?
The disappeared library of Ivan IV the Terrible, also known as "Liberia" (from the Latin liber - "book"), still haunts historians, researchers of antiquity and all sorts of adventurers. For several centuries, it has been the source of numerous rumors and speculations. It is also interesting that at least the assembly rare books is called the name of Ivan the Terrible, but it came to Moscow long before the birth of the tsar. On the contrary, under Grozny, the priceless treasure was lost, and perhaps forever.
Before entering Rus', the Byzantine emperor Constantine XI was the owner of the book collection. After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the emperor fled to Rome with his niece, Princess Sophia Paleologus. At the same time, the main part of the library, which included folios in ancient Greek, Latin and Hebrew, was taken there on a ship. The library, which had been collected bit by bit for millennia, arrived in Moscow as a dowry of Sophia, who was married to the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (grandfather of Ivan the Terrible).
In addition to books related to spiritual and church topics, a significant place in it was occupied by scientific treatises and poems of ancient classics. Liberia was rumored to contain books on magic and witchcraft practices. Priceless tomes, which told about the history of human civilization and the origin of life on Earth, stood apart.
Many researchers believe that the basis of the main book collection of Ancient Rus' was just a part of the deceased Alexandria Library. Sources report that even under the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III - the son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog and the future father of Ivan the Terrible - all manuscripts were translated into Russian.
The same sources indicate that the scientist did it Athos monk Maxim Grek (1470-1556) was a well-known publicist and translator of that time. He was discharged from Constantinople with a specific goal: to translate books from languages unknown in Rus' into Church Slavonic, which he did long years. And so that he could not tell anyone about what he had seen, he was never released from Rus' again.
Later, the royal library was constantly replenished by Ivan the Terrible - he personally bought books brought from all over the world. There is a hypothesis that the king was able to get the legendary book collection Yaroslav the Wise, kept for several centuries in the dungeons Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
However, some experts express doubts about the scientific value of the lost library of Ivan the Terrible. Thus, academician D.S. Likhachev, one of the world's largest experts in ancient Rus', believed that its significance was greatly exaggerated, since "a significant part of this collection was church books that Sophia Paleolog brought to Rus' from Byzantium to pray in her own mother tongue". The academician also believed that it would be more important for us to save the book treasures that are perishing today.
850 KILOMETERS OF SHELVES
One of the most famous libraries of our time is the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Its dimensions are really grandiose: the total length bookshelves is 850 km! They (as of 2003) contain over 130 million items of storage (books, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, photographs, sound recordings and microfilms). The annual growth of the fund is from 1 to 3 million units.
This library is the largest in the world in the history of mankind. The birth of the book depository is attributed to January 24, 1800, when, at the initiative of US President John Adams, Congress allocated 5,000 dollars to complete it. It is noteworthy that the library's Russian fund contains over 200 thousand books and more than 10 thousand different magazines. It houses a huge number of Russian printed publications for the period from 1708 to 1800, as well as many works of Russian art. literature XIX century.
The famous library of the Krasnoyarsk merchant GV Yudin is also located there. It includes books on history, ethnography, archeology, handwritten texts on the exploration of Siberia, all Pushkin's lifetime editions, and even complete collection Russian magazines of the XVIII century! The merchant sold his unique book and magazine collection to the Library of Congress in 1907.
FIFTH IN THE WORLD
Today, UNESCO considers major libraries with funds exceeding 14 million items. This condition corresponds to 24 book depositories of the world. In this honorary list, Russia is represented by six book temples - three such libraries are located in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg and one in Novosibirsk.
The basis of the largest in the country of the Russian state library laid the famous private collection State Chancellor Count N. P. Rumyantsev. By decree of Nicholas I of March 23, 1828, with the library included in it, it came under the jurisdiction of the state. In 1831, it was opened as a public institution in St. Petersburg. And after 30 years, the museum was moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow and began to work in accordance with the "Regulations on the Moscow Public Museum and the Rumyantsev Museum" approved by Alexander II.
STORAGE OF MYSTERIOUS KNOWLEDGE
Of great interest is the world's oldest Vatican Apostolic Library. It was founded in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V. Today, its holdings include about 1,600,000 printed books, 150,000 manuscripts, 8,300 incunabula, more than 100,000 engravings and geographical maps, 300,000 coins and medals. The Vatican Library also houses the richest collection of Renaissance manuscripts.
It is not without reason considered a repository secret knowledge humanity. The library has rooms where neither journalists, nor historians, nor specialists in other sciences are allowed, although the huge number of ancient and medieval manuscripts makes it the most attractive for historians of all time.
Alexander VOROBYOV
The library is not just a place where books are read in silence, it is a temple of thought, a museum of history. These institutions have collected and carefully stored the most various works writing and printing intended for public use. We present to your attention the TOP 10 oldest libraries in the world.
The first place in the ranking of the TOP 10 oldest libraries in the world is Vatican Apostolic Library. It was founded at the beginning of the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V and holds the largest number of Renaissance and medieval manuscripts. Today, the walls of the Vatican Library contain 150 thousand manuscripts, more than 200 thousand engravings and geographical maps, about 300 thousand medals and coins, and most importantly, about two million printed books. According to rumors, there are a huge number of secret rooms in the premises of this library, access to which only a select few have. Officially, the library is open for free use by scientific and research work. But in reality, no more than 150 researchers per day can get access to these walls. Among the numerous books that the Vatican Apostolic Library is still replenished with, there are old manuscripts of the works of Cicero, Terence, Virgil, letters of Petrarch, Michelangelo, Luther, as well as a rare sample of the Bible printed by Gutenberg in the middle of the 15th century. The interior halls are decorated with frescoes.
One of the oldest libraries in the world is − Bodleian Library. It is located in the UK at Oxford University. Many experts believe that this library is the oldest in Europe and the largest in Britain. This was facilitated by a decree issued in 1610, according to which all books published in the country had to send one sample here. Today, the Bodleian Library is named after Thomas Bodley, who was a diplomat to Queen Elizabeth and donated many books and ancient manuscripts to the library.
National Library of Malta was founded in 1555 by the 48th Master of the Order of Saint John, Claude de la Single. It was he who issued a decree according to which, after the death of the knights, their personal books became the property of the Order. The peak of the development of the National Library of Malta falls on the reign of the bailiff Louis Girene de Tencines. Thanks to his efforts in the library, a deed of gift 1107 from Emperor Charles to King Baldwin of Jerusalem. In addition, the walls of this library contain the rarest samples of books, minutes of the meetings of the Order of St. John, as well as many documents about members of the order. Since 1812, part of the library has been open to the public.
National Library of the Czech Republic was founded in 1366. Its building is the second largest in Prague. It is located in the city center, in the Stare Mesto quarter. The National Czech Library is part of the Clementinum. This is a complex of Baroque buildings of the Jesuit Collegium, covering an area of 20 thousand square meters. In one year, this library serves about one million readers. It contains more than 6 million books and ancient documents. It is worth noting that the National Library of the Czech Republic was one of the first in Europe to start digitizing books back in 1992. On average, the collection of this library is replenished with 70 thousand new items.
Bavarian State Library in Munich was founded in 1558 by Duke Albrecht of Wittelsbach. It contains the manuscripts of the largest collection of incanubula in Europe. In addition, the funds of this library store more than 9 million books, more than 50 thousand printed publications and about 90 thousand manuscripts. To date, the Bavarian State Library has managed to digitize 35 thousand books, which is about 103 terabytes. About 3,000 visitors visit the reading rooms every day. 130 volumes provided for their use reference literature. During the Second World War, the building of the Bavarian State Library was destroyed by 80%, and about half a million books were lost forever.
Royal Library of Belgium located in Brussels on the Mount des Arts, dates back to the 15th century, when the Burgundian nobility began to collect manuscripts. In 1559, by order of Philip II, they were taken to Brussels. Since then, book stocks have been replenished, but they were able to find their place only in 1837, when the Royal Library was formed. In 1969, the library moved to a new building, 67 thousand square meters. About 8 million books, periodicals and 6 special collections are stored on 150 kilometer shelves.
Seventh place in the ranking of the Top 10 oldest libraries in the world is Austrian National Library. It was founded in 1368 in Vienna at the Hofbug Palace, the former residence of the Habsburg imperial family. More than 7.5 million copies of books are stored here, about 200 thousand papyri dated to the 15th century BC, books of the 6th century, as well as paintings, globes and musical scores. famous composers Bruckner and Strauss.
The oldest library in the world is located in British museums London. Library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal was founded in the 7th century BC and discovered in 1851 by archaeologist Austin Henry during excavations on the banks of the Euphrates. The king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal, spoke several languages, was an excellent astronomer, mathematician and managed to create a library with more than 30 thousand clay tablets. 25,000 clay tablets have survived to this day. Preserved ancient artifacts due to the fact that during the raid of the Medes, the library was under the ruins of the palace. Among the records in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal there is a description of the political events of that time, legislative documents, prophecies, descriptions of religious rituals, as well as songs and prayers.
In ninth place in the ranking of the Top 10 oldest libraries in the world is library of the monastery of St. Catherine, dating back to 565. It is located in Egypt at the foot of Mount Sinai. Officially, the library was founded in 1734 by Archbishop Nikifor. Due to the fact that since its foundation the monastery has never been conquered and ruined, it has a huge collection of manuscripts and icons. There are more than 3 thousand manuscripts, 1700 scrolls, more than five thousand books, among which there are the first copies of book printing, in the funds of the library of the monastery of St. Catherine. special value present manuscripts - the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century and the Codex Syriac of the 5th century with quotations from the Bible. In addition to books, the library of the monastery of St. Catherine contains historical documents, golden seals and certificates Byzantine emperors and twelve sheets of one of the oldest texts of the Bible.
Closes the ranking of the TOP 10 oldest libraries in the world National Library in France. Today, this library has the largest collection of French-language literature in the world and is one of the largest in the world. At first, the building of the National Library of France was located in the center of Paris. Today, the old building houses ancient manuscripts and a hall with medals. The main books are in the library located on the left bank of the river Seine. Vault erected in the form open books, stores 14 million books, 12 million engravings and drawings, 530 thousand coins, as well as about 900 thousand maps and plans. Every year in National Library France gets 1.4 million readers. The budget of this institution is 254 million euros per year. The library has 2,651 employees. The total length of the shelves is 395 kilometers.
For several centuries now, the present calling card Berlin is considered a boulevard called Unter den Linden. This is a place where architectural monuments are concentrated, impressive in their size and majestic view. One of them is the Old Library, which houses over seven million books.
The baroque building was built between 1775 and 1780. Its design was designed by architects Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach from Austria and Georg Christian Unger from Prussia. The old library was commissioned by Frederick the Great, who sought to make literature accessible to the bourgeoisie, for a long time considered a privilege of the nobility, government officials and ministers. On the portal of the building to this day you can see a Latin inscription meaning "food for the soul."
In 1784, about 150 thousand volumes were stored in the Old Library, as well as the manuscripts of many prominent personalities of the Enlightenment, including Kant, Voltaire, Diderot, Leibniz and Rousseau.
The appearance of the library building is very similar to the Mikhailovsky building of the Hofburg, where the winter residence of the monarchs from Austria of the Habsburg dynasty was located. This is due to the fact that Friedrich ordered to copy it completely when creating the Old Library project. But, given the fact that the construction of the residence was delayed, its copy was presented to the public almost 110 years earlier than the original itself.
In 1914 there was placed Faculty of Law famous German Humboldt University. During the war, this building was significantly damaged, but it was completely restored, so now everyone can enjoy the majestic view of the library, as well as the exhibition taking place inside it, which tells about King Frederick and his life, as well as various documents of the past.
