A Brief Outline of the History of Libraries

_The Alexandrian Library, of which Philadelphus was the founder and the chief benefactor. The variety and number of books in it. Burned, and restored._

Though other libraries of Egypt are little known, we learn that that of Ptolemy Philadelphus was famous and highly renowned. He was the son of Ptolemy Lagus, second of the name and of the line of the Greek kings of Egypt. Being a patron of the arts and sciences he was, of course, a lover of books, and founded the great library of Alexandria, aided by the instruction and example, perhaps even by the very books themselves, of Aristotle. For Aristotle, as I shall note later, had a library which was remarkable for the number and excellence of its books. Speaking of this library, Strabo says that Aristotle was the first private collector of books of whom we have any knowledge, and that he taught the kings of Egypt the principles of classification. This passage from Strabo, however, must be read with care and be properly interpreted; for Aristotle was by no means the first to form a library, and as he lived before the time of Philadelphus, he could not have taught him, save as I have said, by example. Perhaps what Athenaeus says is true, that Aristotle left his books to Theophrastus, he to Neleus, and that from the latter Ptolemy bought them, and transferred them, with others which he purchased in Athens and Rhodes, to fair Alexandria. Other writers, however, do not assent to this statement, as I shall show presently. This much is admitted, however, that he founded a library and collected for it books of every kind from all parts of the world, even seeking out the sacred books of the Hebrews. As soon as the fame of the wisdom of the Hebrews reached his ears, he sent and demanded the books which contained it, and employed men skilled in such matters to translate them into Greek for the common use of all. This translation was called the Septuagint from the number of persons who were engaged in making it. It was made, according to Epiphanius, in the seventeenth year of the reign of Philadelphus, in the one hundred and twenty-seventh Olympiad. Demetrius Phalereus had charge of this library. He was an exile from his native Athens, and was renowned both for his writings and his works. The King held him in high esteem and entrusted to his care the library, and other matters of even greater importance.