The De Bibliothecis of Justus Lipsius was the first monograph on library history. In Ancient Libraries and Renaissance Humanism, Hendrickson presents a critical edition with introductory studies, a Latin text, English translation, and a substantial historical commentary.

Beginning with the clay-tablet libraries of the ancient Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian empires, to those inspired by the Italian Renaissance, Mr. Staikos reveals the majesty of western literature within these great depositories of human knowledge. Using over 400 illustrations [200 in full color] the reader is treated to hundreds of beautifully photographed interiors of these legendary libraries and their rare treasures. Chapter by chapter the stories of the fabled libraries of Alexandria, Greece and Rome unfold like an unbroken chain, connecting the wisdom of the ancients to the magnificent libraries of the European Renaissance. The author also shares with us the very personal stories of the founders and the unsung librarians, who struggled during wars and countless disasters to preserve and protect their precious holdings. The chapters on the contributions of the Byzantine and Greek monastic libraries, the foundation of the Western Renaissance, are especially revealing. Mr. Staikos' original scholarship and well-written prose makes a very readable work of surprising originality. He has created a literary masterpiece that captures the rich heritage of one of man's greatest achievements. This is a very special, large format volume no bibliophile will want to be without. Co-published with The British Library. - Publisher.

Beyond Reception applies a new concept for analyzing cultural change, known as ‘transformation', the study of Renaissance humanism. Traditional scholarship takes the Renaissance humanists at their word, that they were simply viewing the ancient world as it actually was and recreating its key features within their own culture. Initially modern studies in the classical tradition accepted this claim and saw this process as largely passive. 'Transformation theory' emphasizes the active role played by the receiving culture both in constructing a vision of the past and in transforming that vision into something that was a meaningful part of the later culture. A chapter than explains the terminology and workings of 'transformation theory' is followed by essays by nine established experts that suggest how the key disciplines of grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and philosophy in the Renaissance represent transformations of what went on in these fields in ancient Greece and Rome. The picture that emerges suggests that Renaissance humanism as it was actually practiced both received and transformed the classical past, at the same time as it constructed a vision of that past that still resonates today.

By far the best collection of sources to introduce readers to Renaissance humanism in all its many guises. What distinguishes this stimulating and useful anthology is the vision behind it: King shows that Renaissance thinkers had a lot to say, not only about the ancient world--one of their habitual passions--but also about the self, how civic experience was configured, the arts, the roles and contributions of women, the new science, the 'new' world, and so much more. --Christopher S. Celenza, Johns Hopkins University

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A sweeping, absorbing history, deeply researched, of that extraordinary and enduring phenomenon: the library' Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge under Attack 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 this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library, from the famous collections of the ancient world to the embattled public resources we cherish today. Along the way, they introduce us to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world's great collections, trace the rise and fall of fashions and tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanours committed in pursuit of rare and valuable manuscripts.

This collection of essays, commissioned in honour of Andrew Pettegree, presents original contributions on the Reformation, communication and the book in early modern Europe. Together, the essays reflect on Pettegree’s ground-breaking influence on these fields, and offer a comprehensive survey of the state of current scholarship.