Explore "A Brief Outline of the History of Libraries" by Justus Lipsius on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Bibliotheca _and_ Libraria -- _what do these words signify? The Kings of old had Libraries, especially those of Egypt._
The word _bibliotheca_ is used to signify any one of three things: a place in which books are kept, a bookcase, or books themselves. The Greek word, _bibliotheca_, came into use among the Romans. They also used the word _libraria_; but it is more exact to understand by that word a shop where books are kept for sale. Collections of books, _bibliothecae_, date from the earliest days, and, if I am not mistaken, were established as soon as letters were invented. The art of writing must have arisen almost as soon as man began to learn and to think; and this art would not have been profitable if books had not been preserved and arranged for present and future use.