If I was to travel back in time to tell people about the
future of books I would want to explain the importance of proper preservation
and conservation. Countless collections have been lost from natural disasters
and war in ancient and medieval times and if by going back in time could help
change that it would be pretty great. My
problem, however, is trying to figure out what time period I would go back to.
Each era has individual and unique circumstances to book
loss and the impact it has had on the history of the book. After thinking about
it for a couple of days I decided the time period I would choose to go back to
is the 3rd century in Alexandria Egypt. It was in this time that the
Royal Library of Alexandria was constructed. This library is well known as a
symbol of the “destruction of cultural knowledge” because the library endured
several fires and acts of destruction over many years.
If I could go back to this time I would explain the
importance of protecting the type of literature within the library from natural
disasters as well as war and why it is essential for the people of the time to
focus on ways to ensure the safety of books. By explaining the importance of
conservation and preservation it could potentially have an impact on the amount
of books that could be saved over the years leading up until the 21st
century.
And here is a little video of Carl Sagan briefly discussing
the library:
Hey Jade, I agree and think that if I could go I'd teach preservation and conservation. I like the Frailty of Knowledge video, I've never seen it before. It's a good survey of the destruction of libraries, which is what I'm focusing on for my final paper.
ReplyDeleteIn my research I came across a Smithsonian article called, The Top 10 Books Lost to Time. It's a quick and interesting read. I'm not sure if I can make a link in the comment box, but here is the url: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-top-10-books-lost-to-time-83373197/?page=2
Some of those books I didn't even know existed. But I'd definitely like to read all them. Although perhaps it's the fact that I can't read them that makes me want to.