James Logan, Colonial Bibliophile and Bookman for the Library Company of Philadelphia

James Logan (1674-1751), a Scottish Quaker, was a scholar, scientist, entrepreneur, and public servant.  In 1699, Logan left England as an agent for William Penn and eventually settled in Philadelphia.  Logan would eventually become mayor of Philadelphia, chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, lieutenant governor, and acting governor.  He is perhaps best known, however, for being a bibliophile, confessing once that “Books are my disease” (Basbanes, 1995, p. 130).  Some commentators consider Logan’s library to be the largest and best collection of classical writings in America (Wolf, 1955; Farren, 1976).

 

Logan would in time become known to Benjamin Franklin and his “Junto”, an influential group of friends that would meet weekly and discuss scholarly and political issues.  Eventually, the Junto decided to establish a subscription library, a cooperative endeavor where members would pay a fee for use of the library (Sable, 1987).  Franklin and the other members of the Junto considered Logan the “best Judge of Books in these parts” (Wolf, 1967, p. 33) and chose him to select the first 43 titles for the library (Sable, 1987, p. 32). 

At the same time Logan was helping to build the collection for the Library Company of Philadelphia, he was adding to his own personal library which was considered substantial in number and breadth (Wolf, 1967, p. 33; Sable, 1987, p. 32).  He planned on donating his library for public use after his death and to this end he had a building constructed on Sixth Street in Philadelphia (Sable, 1987, p. 32). Upon Logan’s death, and after a lengthy delay due to some confusion in his will, through an act of the Pennsylvania Assembly and the governor on Mar. 31, I792, the 3,953 volumes and other property of the Loganian Library were "vested in the Library Company of Philadelphia, their successors and assigns, for ever, in trust for the support and increase of the said Loganian Library." (Wolf, 1956, p. 349, fn. 32). 

The Loganian Library, as he wished it to be called (Basbanes, 1995, p. 135), was diverse.  The catalog of its final holdings is now lost but a partial inventory done in 1760 reveals a wide selection of books (Wolf, 1967, p. 35). The book distribution by date reveals nothing out of the ordinary.  Most were from the seventeenth century with 57 percent. Next came those from the eighteenth century at 27 percent.  Finally, there was a good number from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries at 16 percent. The collection was mostly British and northern European with 33 percent from Britain; the Netherlands, 24 percent; Germany, 17 percent; France, 13 percent; Switzerland, 9 percent; Italy, 2 percent; and others (Scandinavia, Spain, Poland, Russia, America) at 2 percent (Farren, 1976). 

The distribution of the books by subject in the 1760 catalog is equally diverse with history, antiquities, geography, chronology, etc. at 22 percent. Religious subjects of divinity and ecclesiastical history constituted 15 percent.  Scientific subjects such as “physick,” “mathematicks”, and natural history was at 16 percent. Literary subjects such as orators, poets, fables, romances, etc. at 14 percent with philology at 13 percent. Philosophy, surprisingly, was only 6 percent while arts, liberal and mechanical, “magick,” etc. was 3 percent. The remaining subjects were as follows: medicine, surgery, and “chymistry,” 2 percent; law, 2 percent; voyages and travels, 1 percent; philosophical history, 1 percent, and miscellaneous, 5 percent (Farren, 1976). 

Logan’s library contained many 17^th and 16^th century classical works such as a 1615 edition of Archimedes’ works, the mathematical treatise of Pappus of Alexandria printed in 1660, an Aratus of Soles from 1672, Elzevir’s architecture publication of 1649 from Amsterdam, Johann Vossius’ De Quatuar Artibus Popularibus published in 1650, and a 1599 edition of astronomy edited by Barthelemy Pitiscus (Wolf, 1967, pp. 35-37).  In one famous episode, Logan was reading a treatise on early astronomy by Johann Fabricius and read that the first printed edition of Greek astronomer Ptolemy’s Almagest was printed in Greek in1538.  Logan was certain that it was released in an earlier Latin version, having sold it and his other books in Dublin before he left in 1699.  Logan wrote Fabricius and politely explained his conviction. In reply, Fabricius reaffirmed his contention and sent his own 1538 copy as proof.  Unconvinced, Logan wrote his agent in London, explaining that he had sold his library to a bookseller who lived on Castle Street and to see if he knew of the book’s location.  His agent was successful in finding the book and sent to Logan where it was confirmed that it was a Latin edition of the Almagest published in 1515 (Basbanes, 1995, pp. 132-133).  Such was the strength of Logan’s bibliographic mind as professed by Benjamin Franklin. 

References

Basbanes, N. (1995). A gentle madness. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 

Farren, D. (1976). The library of James Logan of Philadelphia, 1674-1751 by Edwin Wolf [book review]. The library quarterly, 46:65-69. 

Sable, M. H. (1987). The Library Company of Philadelphia: Historical survey, bibliography, chronology. International library review, 18:29-46. 

Wolf, E. (1955). The early buying policy of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Wilson library quarterly, 55: 316-318. 

Wolf, E. (1956). The romance of James Logan's Books. The William and Mary quarterly, 3: 342-353. 

Wolf, E. (1967). James Logan, Bookman Extraordinary. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 79:33-46 

Books for a Use

With the rapid spread of the printing press, printed books began to replace tediously hand-copied texts (Harrison and Laslett, 1965).  This proliferation gave rise to the Golden Age of Libraries (Murray, 2009, pp. 116-118).  Both private and institutional libraries grew as a result of increased trading revenues and spoils of war (Murray, 2009, pp.116-118). 

Harkening back to the days of the Roman libraries, private libraries were seen as a status symbol.  Men such as Medici, Montefeltro, Richard de Bury, and Lord Spencer amassed huge collections, some of which would become the genesis for national libraries (Murray, 2009, pp. 69, 74-75).  Not all libraries, however, served such purposes.  As books became cheaper and more attainable, scholars began to create personal libraries for their own personal use (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p.1). 

The personal libraries of John Locke and Isaac Newton were not ornamental but utilitarian.  Their books were not for pleasure but for use (Harrison, 1978, p. 1).  Neither library would be considered grand.  Locke had 3,641 and Newton had around 2,100 (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p. 1; Harrison, 1978, pp. 11-12).  Though small compared to the likes of Huber, de Bury, and Lord Spencer, nobody could argue that they did more with less. 

These two polymaths had the one main ingredient to building a library: income.  By no means wealthy, Newton did have a considerable income which allowed him to purchase books (Harrison, 1978, p. 7).  He liked to purchase books for a discount and even noted such occasions in the book itself with pleasure (Harrison, 1978, p. 4).  Newton would also get his books as gifts, presentations from other authors due to his scientific eminence (Harrison, 1978, p.12).  Even though Newton rarely ventured far from Trinity College at Cambridge, Newton never cataloged his library.  Surprisingly, for a man who helped organize the universe and how it operates, Newton’s library was in a “regulated state of apparent disorder” (Harrison, 1978, p. 1).  Newton died without a will and his library was subsequently bought by the Warden of the Fleet Prison for next to nothing (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p.13). 

Locke, on the other hand, was meticulous in his record keeping, consistent with his training as a physician (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p. 13).  In fact it is possible to see the growth of his library from his first year of school at Christ Church in 1652 to the year of his death in 1704 (Harrison, 1965, p. 13-14).  Unlike Newton, however, Locke never had the whole of his library with him until the last years of his life (Harrison and Laslett, 1965 p. 18).  This was because he spent a considerable amount of time overseas in political exile due to the religious wars that were ravaging the country.  In fact, Locke witnessed the last general burning of books in England before fleeing to Rotterdam (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p.3). 

As Locke travelled, he spent his money freely on books.  Before his exile, Locke travelled extensively in France, collecting books along the way.  Eventually he ran out of room and was forced to send some home.  Like the philosopher, his books did a great deal of travelling as they were often spread throughout England (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, pp. 2-3).  Locke never stayed at the family estate he inherited, and thus, never had a permanent place for his books until the last fourteen years of his life.  When he was forced into exile, his books at Oxford were barely rescued by his friend James Tyrell (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p.3). Like his friend Newton, Locke’s library was built by purchases and gifts as presentations.  Others made his way to his library as either defenses or criticisms of his works (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p.5).  During the last years of his life, he continued to increase his holdings, becoming more of a bibliophile than a philosopher in need of books.  When he died, he had no children. He divided his books between his cousin and the young boy of his patrons (Harrison and Laslett, 1965, p. 8-9). 

In conclusion, these are two examples of private libraries assembled for a specific purpose.  No thought was given during their creation for bestowing them to a university as a seed for a larger library or having them live on as part of an institution.  As utilitarian creations, their existence ceased when their creators died, having served their purpose for their masters and, in a larger sense, humanity.

References 

Harrison, J. (1978). The library of Isaac Newton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Harrison, J., & Laslett, P. (1965). The library of John Locke. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Murray, S.A.P., (2009). The library: An illustrated history. Chicago: Sky Horse Publishing.

Bibliomania

As the Renaissance world emerged from the dark tapestry of the Middle Ages, the rise of private libraries replaced the public institutions that once had the financial resources to collect books (Dibdin, 2006, p. ix).  This gave rise to what some would call an affliction:  bibliomania (Robinson, 2011, p. 686).  This compulsive book collecting habit created a frenzied atmosphere, a virtual boom in the book buying business for several decades (Robinson, 2011, p. 686; Dibdin, 2006, p.ix). 

Thomas Frognall Dibdin was a chronicler and participant in this book buying craze.  Librarian to George John, the second Earl Spencer, Dibdin was an accomplished writer and bibliographer (Dibdin, 2006, pp. xxi-xxiii).  His lasting claim to fame, however, came as a result of his immensely popular, yet highly-criticized, work entitled Bibliomania or Book Madness published in 1809. As a semi-chronicle of this disease, it is laid out in a series of imaginary conversations with different collectors (Connell, 200, p. 31).  While it is a fictional work, many of the characters are modeled after Dibdin’s own friends and acquaintences (Ferris, 2009, p.36).  Later editions are “dedicated” to Richard Heber, one of the age’s most incurable bibliophiles (Gawthrop, 2002). 

Bibliomania was spreading as private collectors sparred in auction houses like “Book-Knights” (Basbanes, 1995, p.115).  One such famous duel was witnessed by Dibdin in 1817 at the Roxburghe sale.  This auction lasted for forty-two consecutive days (excluding Sundays) as a trio of collectors vied for choice selections and one unique book, a Valdarfer Boccacio, a book once thought not to exist and wanted even by the Emporer Napoleon himself.  Silence filled the room as each of the collectors upped the price in an aristocratic bidding war.  Finally it was down to two: Lord Spencer, Dibdin’s employer, and the marquis of Blandford.  The price stood at two thousand pounds when Lord Spencer bid an additional £250.  As was his strategy throughout the contest, Blandford raised it an addition ten pounds which put the contest to an end.  This would be the highest price ever paid for a book until J.P. Morgan purchased Mainz Psalter for $24,750 in 1884.  While Lord Spencer may have lost on that day, he would soon have the last laugh when a bankrupt Blandford would be forced to sell Lord Spencer the book for a mere £918 (Basbanes, 1995, 115-116). 

(The Book Fool, a woodcut used in Dibdin's 1809 edition of Bibliomania)

References

Basbanes, N. (1995). A gentle madness. New York: Henry Holt. 

Connell, P. (2000). Bibliomania: Book Collecting, Cultural Politics, and the Rise of Literary Heritage in Romantic Britain. Representations, (71), 24. doi:10.2307/2902924 

Dibdin, T. (2006). Bibliomania, or, Book-madness; a bibliographical romance. Richmond : Tiger of the Stripe. 

Ferris, I. (2009). Book Fancy: Bibliomania and the Literary Word. Keats-Shelley Journal, 33. doi:10.2307/25735166 

Gawthrop, H. (2002). Frances-Mary Richardson Currer and Richard Heber: Two Unwearied Bibliophiles on the Fringe of the Brontë World. Brontë Studies: The Journal of The Brontë Society, 27: 225-234. 

Robinson, M. (2011). Ornamental Gentlemen: Thomas F. Dibdin, Romantic Bibliomania, and Romantic Sexualities. European Romantic Review, 22(5), 685-706. doi:10.1080/10509585.2011.601684

Richard de Bury: The Greatest Bibliophile of the Middle Ages

Richard de Bury, former priest, Bishop of Durham and Lord Palatine, tutor to the royal prince, ambassador for peace, High Chancellor, and Treasurer to the English Crown under Edward III, would eventually die penniless. He would be buried wearing a plain linen undershirt and laid to rest in a cheap, wooden coffin. This tragic end is partly attributable to his charitable disposition but mostly to his love of books (Thompson, 1949, p.265; de Bury, 1970, p. xxii).

De Bury is considered the greatest bibliophile of the Middle Ages (Martin, 1986, p.2). Born Richard Aungervilles (d’Aungervilles by some accounts) in c.1286 to a lord knight, de Bury can claim his lineage to those who fought under the flag of William the Conquerer (Martin, 1986, p.7). As was the custom of the time, Richard took the place of his birth as his last name, thus he is known as “de Bury” (Martin, 1986, p. 9).

It is often reported that de Bury was a Benedictine monk (see Murray, 2009; p. 70) although several respected sources dispute this as there is no evidence of him joining the Order (de Bury, 1970, xii; Martin, 1986, p.9 fn.8). In fact, both entries for de Bury in Wikipedia and Britannica Online have him as a Benedictine monk (seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_De_Bury and http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/85991/Richard-de-Bury).

De Bury received his M.A. and B.D. from Oxford in 1312. It has been debated whether he was an intellect of the first order or just an avid supporter of the academics (de Bury, 1970, p. xxix; Martin, 1986, p.11). The issue seems to have confused even the great Petrarch who met the bishop and formed a lasting relationship with him due to their shared love of books (de Bury, 1970, p.xxxi; Martin, 1986, p. 11).

De Bury was an ardent supporter of learning. In the Philobon, the bishop states that one of his goals is

to found in perpetual charity a Hall in the reverend university of Oxford…for the maintenance of a number of scholars; and moreover to enrich the Hall with the treasures of our books, that all and every of them should be in common as regards their use and study[.](de Bury, 1970, p.165)
 

Unfortunately, and contrary to Murray (2009, p. 70), de Bury did not have the funds to found Durham College. This was done by his successor, Bishop Hatfield, and Durham College would eventually become Trinity College (Martin, 1986, p. 14).

Book Collecting In his introduction to his translation of Philobiblon, E.C. Thomas, states that “[n]o man has ever carried to a higher pitch of enthusiasm the passion for collecting books” (de Bury, 1970, p. xxxi). He had an immense amount of books. According Brown-Syed (2004) his biographer Chambré wrote that:

[H]e had more books, as was commonly reported, than all the other English bishops put together. He had a separate library in each of his residences, and wherever he was residing, so many books lay about his bed-chamber, that it was hardly possible to stand or move without treading upon them. (p.77)

De Bury was an accomplished politician and diplomat. This enabled him to travel throughout Europe, searching for old manuscripts and books (Murray, 2009, p. 70). As a priest and powerful member of the clergy, de Bury was given access to convents and monasteries with their trove of forgotten books (Murray, 2009, p.70). However, this was not the only way the bishop acquired books. Brown-Syed (2004) states:

Richard de Wallingford, bribed de Bury with four books by Terence, Vergil, Quintilian, and Jerome, and sold him 32 more for £50 (p. 377). In fact, de Bury admits that he was more easily swayed by books than by money, and that he was quite willing to lobby at court for those who gave them to him, though he claims to have acted within ethical bounds. (p. 76)

As a bishop, however, this “sale” was even too much for his conscience to bear and he eventually gave some of the books back (Cheney, 1973, p. 325).

De Bury was not shy about how he sometimes obtained his books by virtue of his offices and influence with the royal court. In Chapter VIII of the Philobiblon entitled “Of the numerous Opportunities we have had of collecting a store of books” he writes:

And indeed while we filled various offices to the victorious Prince and splendidly triumphant King of England, Edward the Third from the Conquest—whose reign may the Almighty long and peacefully continue—first those about his court, but then those concerning the public affairs of his kingdom, namely the offices of Chancellor and Treasurer, there was afforded to us, in consideration of the royal favour, easy access for the purpose of freely searching the retreats of books. In fact, the fame of our love of them had been soon winged abroad everywhere, and we were reported to burn with such desire for books, and especially old ones, that it was more easy for any man to gain our favour by means of books than of money. (de Bury, 1970, pp. 81-82)

Whether one agrees or disagrees with his methods, there is a special quality to a clergyman who accepts books as bribes in lieu of money.

The Philobiblon Before his death in 1345, de Bury wrote a book of essays that he compiled in a work entitled Philobiblon. This was a word he created from the Greek meaning “love of books”. Written in Latin, as was the custom of the day, it is separated into twenty chapters (de Bury, 1970, p. 3,5). These essays discuss book collecting, the care of books, the “advantages of the love of books”, and the vagaries of wars and how they destroy books. In Chapter VII entitled “The Complaint of Books against Wars” de Bury writes:

ALMIGHTY AUTHOR AND LOVER OF PEACE, scatter the nations that delight in war, which is above all plagues injurious to books. For wars being without the control of reason make a wild assault on everything they come across, and, lacking the check of reason they push on without discretion or distinction to destroy the vessels of reason. (de Bury, 1970, p.71)

Fortunately, these were not idol words of an academic and bibliophile. As a diplomat, de Bury sought to seek peace throughout the realm, sometimes successfully as was the case with Scotland to the north, sometimes unsuccessfully, as was the case with France and the start of the 100 Years War (de Bury, 1970, p.xvii).

One of the most interesting sections in the Philobiblon is Chapter XIX entitled “Of the Manner of lending all our Books to Students”. According to Brown-Syed (2004), thePhilobiblon is “one of the longest extant medieval texts on the subject of library management” (p. 77). Here, de Bury describes the practices for circulation control among the students of the college, utilizing at times an open-stack rather than the dominant closed-stack system (Brown-Syed, 2004, p.79).

As to de Bury’s legacy, it was said about the Philobiblon: “it is the sole memorial of one who loved books so much in an age and country that loved them so little” (Martin, 1986, p.24).

Illness and Death Richard de Bury became ill at some point near the end of his life and withdrew from his public duties. It is at this time it is believed that he wrote thePhilobiblon (de Bury, 1970, p. xxi). While he sought to create a library from his books, this never came to fruition due to his debts. Instead, his library was sold off by his creditors, scattering his books across the realm (Martin, 1986, pp.15-16).

References
Brown-Syed, C. C. (2004). The love of books: The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury, translated by E. C. Thomas. Library And Archival Security, 19(1), 76-81.
Cheney, C. R. (1973). Richard de Bury, borrower of books. Speculum: A Journal Of Medieval Studies, 48(2), 325-328.
De Bury, R. (1970). Philobiblon [by] Richard de Bury. The text and translation of E. C. Thomas, edited with a foreword by Michael MacLagan. New York, Barnes & Noble.
Martin, S. S. (1986). Richard D'aungerville de bury, 1287-1345 (England, Bishop of Durham). Emory University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 286 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/303446130?accountid=14745. (303446130).
Murray, S.A.P.(2009). The Library: An illustrated history. New York: Sky Horse Publishing.
Thompson, L. (1949). The Philobiblon by Richard de Bury. Speculum: A Journal Of Medieval Studies, 24:2, 265-266.

The Wicked Bible

 

This is from www.greatsite.com, an online seller of rare Bibles.

 

1631 "Wicked Bible"

"This King James Version Bible is an unspeakably rare collector’s item. The printers were fined 300 pounds sterling for their terrible typographical error in printing the Ten Commandments, omitting the all-important word “not” and rendering the verse as, “Thou shalt commit adultery”! The lot of 1,000 copies were ordered destroyed, but only a handful escaped destruction, making them the rarest of rare. This is the only one for sale in the world."

Nalanda University Library in India

India Literary History
It is believed that the ancient Harappan civilization of India living in the Indus valley region was literate, using a logo-alphabetic script. They lived from 2,300 to 1,750 B.C. until the Aryans invaded Northern India, supplanting their Indo-European language. This new literary tradition was oral in nature and did not require a system of written symbols to pass on knowledge from one generation to the next. As a result, written texts did not flourish in India until later than other parts of the world. (Lerner, 1998; see also Murray, 2009, p.46). Two religions emerged in India, however, that would require the transmission of sacred texts through written word: Jainism and Buddhism. Monasteries were established throughout India which created large amounts of hand-made manuscripts (Misra, 1965).
Nalanda University
In 400 A.D. a Buddhist monastery established Nalanda University near Patna in northern India (Bhatt, 1995) reportedly by Silabhadra from a grant given to him by the Gupta King Sakraditya (Dutt, 2008, pp. 291, 329). Around 675 A.D., the ancient traveler and diarist from China, Hiuen-Tsang, estimated that the university had about 5,000 students and 3,000 monks (Datta, 1979, p.27). Other estimates place the number of monks residing at Nalanda near 10,000 (Lerner, 1998, p. 64).
Nalanda was a residential university, attracting pilgrims from all over the East including Tibet, Japan, and Korea (Taher & Davis, 1994, p.31). It is considered the oldest residential university in the world. It had strict admission standards, allowing in only 20-30% of all applicants (Taher & Davis, 1994, p. 23).

Library
The library at Nalanda University was an immense complex. Called the Dharmaganja, or Piety Mart, it was separated into three large buildings: the Ratnasagara, the Ratnadadhi, and the Ratnaranjaka. The Ratnadadhi, meaning the Ocean of Gems, was nine stories high and housed the most sacred manuscripts including the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Samajguhya (Datta, 1970, p. 27; Lerner, 1998, p. 64). The towers were supposedly immense, bejeweled and gilded in order to reflect the rays of the sun (Dutt, 2008, pp. 340-341).
According to the Bhaskara Samhita, an ancient text on organizational practices, the library was to be built in a “finely built stone building” and each manuscript would have been placed on iron shelves or stack and covered with cloth and tied up. Furthermore, the librarian in charge, according to the text, was not only responsible for maintaining the materials but also for guiding readers in their studies (Patel & Kumar, 2001, p.4).
The exact number of volumes of the Nulanda University Library is not known but it is estimated to have been in the hundreds of thousands (Khurshid, 1972, p.21). The library not only collected religious manuscripts but also had texts on such subjects as grammar, logic, literature, astrology, astronomy, and medicine (Bhatt, 1995, p. 22).
Book Materials
Accounts of the process and materials used for making books in India vary slightly but a majority of them were written on palm leaves. The leaves were boiled first then laid in the sun to dry. Scribes used reed pens and ink made from lampblack or charcoal. In Nalanda, there was a large inkpot for the numerous scribes to copy books from dictation. The pages were fastened by string through a whole in the middle of each leaf and covered with wood boards which were often painted with bright colors. Finally they were wrapped in cloth (Lerner, 1998, p.64; see also Lyons, 2011).
Classification
It is clear that Nalanda University library had a classification scheme (Datta, 1979) which was possibly based on a text classification scheme developed by the great Sanskrit linguist Panini (Patel & Kumar, 2001, p.4). Buddhists texts were most likely divided in three classes based on the Tripitaka’s three main divisions: the Vinaya, Sutra, and the Abhidamma (Taher & Davis, 1994, p.37). Like most other Indian ancient and medieval period libraries, Nalanda would have used a basic catalog to help patrons find materials. This bibliography, or Anukamanikas, would have listed the books by hymns, authors, form of sutras, Rishi’s name, and the hymnal metre (Taher & Davis, 1994, p.37).
Gupta Empire and Revenue
Nalanda University reached its height during the reign of the Gupta Empire which financed its operation as well as grants from the kings of Java and Sumatra. The neighboring province of Bengal granted five villages to the university for its maintenance in exchange for copying of its manuscripts (Datta, 1970, p. 28).
Destruction 
The library was destroyed in 1197-1203 during the Muslim invasion in which Bakhtiyar Khalji sacked it and set it to flames (Bhatt, 1995, p. 22). According to Tibetan legend, the university and library were reportedly repaired shortly after by Muditabhadra, a Buddhist sage. Unfortunately, the library was again burned by Tirthaka medicants (Datta, 1970, p. 28).

References
Bhatt, R.K. (1995). History and Development of libraries in India. New Delhi: Mittal Publications.
Datta, B. K. (1970). Libraries & librarianship of ancient and medieval India. Delhi: Atma Ram.
Dutt, S. (2008). Buddhist monks and monasteries of India: Their history and their contribution to Indian culture. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Khurshid, A. (1972). Growth of libraries in India. International Library Review. 4:21-65.
Lyons, M. (2011). Books: A living history. London: Thames and Hudson.
Misra, S. (1955). The development of libraries in India. In N.B. Sen (ed.)The development of libraries in new India (pp 37-43). New Delhi: New Book Society of India.
Murray, S.A.P.(2009). The Library: An illustrated history. New York: Sky Horse Publishing.
Patel, J., & Krishan, K. (2001). Libraries and librarianship in India. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Taher, M. & Davis, D.G. (1994). Librarianship and library science in India. New Delhi: Ashok Kumar Mittal.

The Book

Here are some photos of books here in the USF special collections department.