Survivor: The History of the Library

By Barbara Krasner-Khait

艺坛

Survivor: The History of the Library

By Barbara Krasner-Khait

The collection of written knowledge in some sort of repository is a practice as old as civilization itself. About 30,000 clay tablets found in ancient Mesopotamia date back more than 5,000 years. Archaelogists have uncovered papyrus scrolls from 1300–1200bc in the ancient Egyptian cities of Amarna and Thebes and thousands of clay tablets in the palace of King Sennacherib, Assyrian ruler from 704–681bc, at Nineveh, his capital city. More evidence turned up with the discovery of the personal collection of Sennacherib’s grandson, King Ashurbanipal.

[2] The name for the repository eventually became the library. Whether private or public, the library has been founded, built, destroyed and rebuilt. The library, often championed1champion捍卫；声援。, has been a survivor throughout its long history and serves as a testament to the thirst for knowledge.

将书面知识汇集于某种形式的库藏，这种做法和文明本身一样古老。在美索不达米亚发现的约30,000块泥板可追溯至5,000年前。考古学家已经在古埃及城市阿玛纳和底比斯发现公元前1300年到前1200年间的纸草书卷，又在亚述王西拿基立位于都城尼尼微的宫殿里发掘出数千片泥板，他曾于公元前704年到前681年统治亚述。此外，西拿基立之孙、亚述王亚述巴尼拔个人收藏被发现后，更多证据随之浮现。

[2]这种库藏最终得名“图书馆”。无论公共还是私人，图书馆奠基、建设、毁灭和重建自此不息。作为一项常获襄助的事业，图书馆在其自身漫长的历史中幸存下来，并成为渴求知识的明证。

Literacy Builds Libraries

[3] Early collections may have surfaced from the Near East, but the ancient Greeks propelled the idea through their heightened interest in literacy and intellectual life. Public and private libraries flourished through a well-established process: authors wrote on a variety of subjects, scriptoria or copy shops produced the books, and book dealers sold them. Copying books was an exacting business and one in high demand, because a book’s“trustworthiness” translated into quality. An Athenian decree called for a repository of “trustworthy” copies. Though the public library first appeared by the fourth century bc, the private library was more prevalent. Aristotle, for instance, amassed a large private collection. Ancient geographer Strabo said Aristotle “was the first to have put together a collection of books and to have taught the kings in Egypt how to arrange a library.”

The Great Library

[4] That library, of course, was the Great Library of Alexandria, a public library open to those with the proper scholarly and literary qualifications, founded about 300bc. When Egypt’s King Ptolemy I (305–282bc) asked,“How many scrolls do we have?”, Aristotle’s disciple Demetrius of Phalerum was on hand to answer with the latest count. After all, it was Demetrius who suggested setting up a universal library to hold copies of all the books in the world. Ptolemy and his successors wanted to understand the people under their rule and house Latin, Buddhist, Persian, Hebrew, and Egyptian works—translated into Greek.

读写能力造就图书馆

[3]图书收藏可能最早出现在近东地区，然而将图书馆发扬光大的是热衷于读写和知性生活的古希腊人。公共和私人图书馆流程完善，蓬勃兴起：作家创作各种题材的作品，复写店抄文整理出书，再经书商对外销售。书籍复写是一份要求甚严、需求甚高的职业，因为书的“可信度”决定了质量。雅典曾颁布一条法令，将“可信的”书籍复写本汇于一室。第一座公共图书馆建于公元前4世纪，而私人图书馆则更为普遍。比如亚里士多德就有私人藏书，且规制浩瀚。古罗马地理学家斯特拉波如此评论，亚里士多德“是第一个将图书集纳归整的人，也是第一个指导埃及诸王如何兴建图书馆的人”。

至尊图书馆

[4]无疑，那座图书馆就是亚历山大至尊图书馆，设立于约公元前300年，向具有适当学术和读写能力的人开放。埃及国王托勒密一世（公元前305年－前282年）曾问道：“我们有多少卷轴？”亚里士多德的门徒、法勒鲁姆人德米特里刚好在场，回答了最近清点的数目。毕竟，是德米特里建议设立一座通用图书馆，用以收藏世界上所有图书的副本。托勒密及其继承人想理解其治下的人民，馆藏了拉丁、佛教、波斯、希伯莱以及埃及文献——当然都翻译成了希腊文。

[5] The library’s lofty goal was to collect a half-million scrolls and the Ptolemies took serious steps to accomplish it. Ptolemy I, for example, composed a letter to all the sovereigns and governors he knew, imploring them“not to hesitate to send him” works by authors of every kind.

[6] The Ptolemies engaged in some unorthodox acquisition methods. Some stories relate that they confiscated any book not already in the library from passengers arriving in Alexandria. Another story tells how Ptolemy III (246–222bc) deceived Athenian authorities when they let him borrow original manuscripts of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, using silver as collateral2collateral抵押物；担保品。. Ptolemy kept the originals and sent the copies back, letting the authorities keep the silver. More traditional means included book purchases from the markets of Athens, Rhodes and other Mediterranean cities. Older copies were the favored acquisitions; the older the better, since they would be considered more trustworthy. At its height, the library held nearly 750,000 scrolls. There must have been duplicates since there weren’t that many works.

[5]图书馆的宏伟目标是囊括50万卷轴，为了实现这个理想，托勒密家族不辞劳苦。比如，托勒密一世曾向世界上所有其知悉的君主和总督修书，恳请他们“不吝寄送”各类作者的著作。

[6]托勒密家族还采取了一些不同寻常的巧取手段。据传，托勒密家族曾向抵达亚历山大的旅人强征图书馆未收的任何书册。还有传闻说，雅典政府曾许可托勒密三世（公元前246年－前222年）外借埃斯库罗斯、索福克勒斯及欧里庇得斯手稿原件，且以银子作抵押。但托勒密三世却扣下原稿，奉还复写稿，任由希腊政府留存抵押的银子。当然，托勒密家族更常用的方式还是从雅典、罗德岛及其他地中海城市的集市买书。他们倾向于买古书，且越古越好，因为他们认为这些书更可信。图书馆鼎盛时期藏书近750,000卷。有的书肯定重复收录了，因为当时没那么多书。

[7] Much of what is now considered to be literary scholarship began in the Alexandria Library. Funds from the royal treasury paid the chief librarian and his scholarly staff. Physically, books were not what we think of today, but rather scrolls, mostly made of papyrus, but sometimes of leather. They were kept in pigeonholes with titles written on wooden tags hung from their outer ends.

[8] Fires and depredations during the Roman period gradually destroyed the Library. When Julius Caesar occupied Alexandria in 48bc, Cleopatra urged him to help himself to the books. Obliging, he shipped tens of thousands to Rome. Marc Antony was rumored to have given Cleopatra the 200,000-scroll collection of rival library Pergamum to replace Alexandria’s losses.

[9] Thanks to the Great Library, Alexandria assumed its position as the intellectual capital of the world and provided a model for other libraries to follow.

When in Rome

[10] By the middle of the second century bc, Rome also boasted rich library resources. Initially comprised of some scattered private collections,holdings eventually expanded through the spoils of war. Even Aristotle’s famed collection was among the bounty.

[7]许多当代认定的文学研究均始于亚历山大图书馆。馆长及其学术团队的薪资由王室内帑给付。从形态上来说，当时的书不是我们今人认为的“书本”，而是“书卷”，材质多为羊皮纸，有时也用皮革。这些书卷分门别类存放，书名写在木牌上，挂在书卷外端。

[8]罗马帝国时期，几场大火和几次劫掠让图书馆逐步衰败。公元前48年，尤里乌斯·恺撒征服亚历山大。对那些书，克娄巴特拉敦促恺撒自便。恺撒自然乐于遵命，于是乎将数以万计的书运往罗马。后来，相传马克·安东尼为弥补亚历山大图书馆的损失，将其竞争对手帕加马图书馆的200,000卷藏书赠予克娄巴特拉。

[9]至尊图书馆让亚历山大一举成为世界知识之都，也成为其他图书馆模仿的标杆。

罗马时期

[10]到公元前2世纪中叶，罗马的图书馆资源也十分丰富。起初，只包括零星私人藏书，但战争所得逐渐扩大了藏品规模，甚至包括亚里士多德的著名藏书。

[11] Julius Caesar dreamed of establishing a public library in Rome, but his vision was cut short by his assassination. After Caesar’s death, Asinius Pollio acquired the requisite funds to make the dream a reality. The library was divided into two sections—one for Greek and one for Latin, serving as a model for subsequent Roman libraries. Great statues adorned the walls. Books, typically acquired through donations by authors and others, as well as through copying, were placed along the walls and readers consulted them in the middle of the room. This marked a distinct departure from the Greek model, where readers could only consult their books in an atrium away from the rest of the collection.

[12] To serve as director of a library was a great honor. The role became a stepping stone for the ambitious government servant. Staffs consisted of slaves and freedmen, who were assigned to either the Greek or the Latin section. Pages fetched rolls from the systematically arranged and tagged bookcases and returned them. They usually transported the rolls in leather or wood buckets. Scribes made copies to be added to the collection and recopied damaged rolls, while keeping the catalog up to date. Libraries were typically open during standard business hours—sunrise to midday.

[11]尤里乌斯·恺撒梦想在罗马建造一座公共图书馆，但他的宏图却因其惨遭暗杀而未得施展。恺撒死后，阿西纽斯·波利奥筹措了必要的资金，终使梦想成真。该图书馆分为希腊语和拉丁语两大馆藏，奠定了后世罗马图书馆的基本结构。精美的雕塑装饰馆内墙面。书籍主要来源于作家等捐赠，当然也包括复写图书。所有书籍沿墙摆放，读者在屋内即可翻阅，而希腊图书馆里，读者必须在与其他藏书分隔开的中厅里阅读。这是希腊和罗马图书馆的主要差异所在。

[12]图书馆馆长是显耀之职，后为抱负不凡的政府官吏进身之阶。图书馆工作人员包括奴隶和自由民，他们受命管理希腊语馆藏或拉丁语馆藏。侍从负责将书卷从整齐排布并做好标记的书架上取下，再将之归还。书卷运送通常使用皮桶或木桶。抄写员抄写新添书籍，或重新抄写破损书卷，同时更新目录。图书馆一般在常规营业时间对外开放，即从日出到正午。

[13] Rome had only three public libraries at the time of Augustus’ death in 14ad: Pollio’s, one in the Porticus of Octavia, and Augustus’ on the Palatine Hill. When Trajan (98–117ad) dedicated his monumental column in 112–113, a library (sectioned into the traditional Greek and Latin chambers) was part of it. Much of the interior still exists today. The collection there grew to include some 20,000 volumes. Still, libraries remained the domain of the learned: teachers, scientists, scholars. Where were the masses to go? To the imperial baths, of course! At the baths, men and women, rich and poor could take a bath, meet with friends, play ball—and read a book. Libraries were added to the baths until the third century. A catalog of Rome’s buildings from about 350ad enumerated 29 libraries in the city. But in 378, the historian Ammianus Marcellinus commented, “The libraries are closing forever, like tombs.” As the Roman Empire fell, libraries seemed doomed to extinction.

Monasticism transforms the library

[14] In the early 300s in Egypt, a man named Pachomius established a monastery and insisted on literacy among his monks. This was to have a long-lasting effect even after the Roman Empire split in two about 100 years later. Throughout the rest of the eastern empire, monastic communities emerged with small and mostly theological libraries.

[13]公元14年奥古斯都去世时，罗马仅有三座公共图书馆：一座由波利奥所建，位于屋大维柱廊内；一座由奥古斯都建立，位于帕拉蒂尼山顶；还有一座由图拉真（公元98－117）建立（依据传统分为希腊语和拉丁语两区），是公元112－113年落成的图拉真记功柱的一部分。图拉真图书馆大部分内饰留存至今，藏书多达20,000册。然而，当时的图书馆仍然只是有学问之人的领域，比如教师、科学家、学者。大众呢？当然是去皇家浴场。在那里，男男女女，无论贫富，都可洗浴、会友、戏球，或者看书。3世纪前，浴场大多配有图书馆。一份来自大约公元350年的罗马建筑目录表明，当时城内共有29座图书馆。然而，公元378年，历史学家阿米阿努斯·马尔切利奴斯评论道：“图书馆正关上大门，如同坟墓，永不再开。”随着罗马帝国衰落，图书馆似乎也在劫难逃。

修道院生活改变图书馆

[14]在4世纪初的埃及，一位名叫帕科缪的男子建立了一所修道院，并要求僧侣识字读书。这一举措意义深远，即便约百年后罗马帝国一分为二，仍见其影响力。东罗马帝国地区，僧侣团体出现，随之产生的便是规模不大、以神学为主的图书馆。

[15] Sparked by the spread of Christianity, the eastern half of the empire did much to foster the use of libraries. The capital city of Constantinople had three major libraries: the university library, the library for the royal family and civil service and a theological collection.

[16] Even though libraries disappeared in the western empire due to invasion, lack of funds, and lack of interest, monasticism gave rise to an explosion of learning. In 529ad, Benedict established a monastery in Monte Cassino and established a rule by which the monks would live. Chapter 48 of this rule mandated: “Between Easter and the calends of October let them apply themselves to reading from the fourth hour until the sixth hour... From the calends of October to the beginning of Lent, let them apply themselves to reading until the second hour. During Lent, let them apply themselves to reading from morning until the end of the third hour, and in these days of Lent, let them receive a book apiece from the library and read it straight through. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent.”

[17] The Benedictines created libraries and the scriptorium became sacred. It soon became customary for monasteries to lend to other monasteries, giving birth to the interlibrary loan. Charlemagne, who owned a robust library in Aachen in the eighth century, ordered every school to have a scriptorium. The road was well paved to invite the Renaissance and a new age for libraries.

[15]由于基督教的传播，图书馆在东半区兴起。首都君士坦丁堡当时拥有三大图书馆：大学图书馆、供皇室和政府成员使用的图书馆以及神学图书馆。

[16]由于外敌入侵，资金缺乏，加之无人关注，图书馆逐渐在西罗马帝国消失。尽管如此，修道院生活仍催生了一股学习热。公元529年，本笃在卡西诺山创建修道院，并为僧侣订立了生活规定。第48条规定说：“复活节至十月一日，僧侣当从四时阅读至六时……十月一日至大斋期开始，当阅读至二时。大斋期内，当从清晨阅读至三时结束，每人从图书馆借阅一本书，并通读。大斋期开始时，应分发图书。”

[17]本笃会创建了图书馆，缮写室也因而变得神圣。不久，修道院间互相借书已成惯例，这就产生了馆际借阅。8世纪时，查理曼在亚琛拥有一座伟大的图书馆，他要求所有学校都必须设立缮写室。至此，通向文艺复兴的康庄大道已铺就，图书馆迎来新纪元。

Renaissance of learning

[18] As Europe emerged from the depths of darkness into the light of learning, its people began to look to the Greek and Roman artistic and literary classics for inspiration. Many aristocrats of the period were dedicated to developing their private libraries. Cosimo de Medici of the famous Florentine family established his own collection, which formed the basis of the Laurentian Library. Also in Italy, the Vatican Library opened in the 1400s. Accompanying the growth of universities was the development of university libraries, which, in some cases, were founded on the basis of a personal donation. For example, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, donated his large collection to Oxford University in the early 1400s.

[19] Gutenberg’s movable type innovation in the 1400s revolutionized bookmaking. Printed books replaced handwritten manuscripts and were placed on open shelves.

学问的复兴

[18]当欧洲从黑暗的深渊向着学问的光明崛起时，欧洲人开始向希腊和罗马的文学艺术经典寻求灵感。当时，诸多贵族热衷建立私人图书馆。佛罗伦萨望族美第奇家族成员科西·莫德·美第奇所设立的私人馆藏，构成了劳伦先图书馆的基础。同样在意大利，梵蒂冈图书馆于15世纪落成。与大学同步增长的是大学图书馆，其中一些同样基于个人捐赠。例如，15世纪初，格洛斯特公爵汉弗里曾向牛津大学捐赠大批个人藏书。

[19] 15世纪，谷登堡活字印刷使出版业产生革命性改变。印刷图书由此取代了人工誊抄的手稿，并陈列于开放书架上。

The golden age

[20] Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, libraries surged in popularity. They grew as universities developed and as national, state-supported collections began to appear. Many of these became national libraries.

[21] In Britain, Sir Thomas Bodley rebuilt Humphrey’s library at Oxford in the late 1500s. It was renamed the Bodlean Library and today ranks as the second largest in the country. The largest, of course, is the British Library, founded in 1759 as part of the British Museum. The earliest public library in the UK was associated with London’s Guild Hall in 1425. A second opened in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1580. Neither of these still exists, but one established in 1653 in Manchester, England does. Once Parliament passed the Public Library Act in 1850, libraries began to spread throughout the nation.

[22] In France, the national library in Paris known as Bibliotheque Nationale de France began in 1367 as the Royal Library of Charles V. Another significant library, famous for its influence on library management, is the Mazarine Library, also in Paris. Cardinal Jules Mazarin, chief minister of France during Louis XIV’s minority, founded it in 1643.

[23] Building on its Roman heritage,Italy boasted several renowned libraries, including Laurentian Library in Florence, Vatican Library in Vatican City, Ambrosian Library in Milan and National Central Library in Florence, based on the collection of Antonio Magliabechi, a scholar of the 1600s and 1700s.

黄金时代

[20]到了17、18世纪，图书馆骤然广受欢迎。随着大学兴起以及国家、国立藏书涌现，图书馆日益增多，其中很多成为了国家图书馆。

[21]在英国，牛津的汉弗莱公爵图书馆由托马斯·博德利爵士于16世纪末重建，并更名为博德利3钱锺书称之为“饱蠹楼”。图书馆。如今它是英国第二大图书馆。最大的当然是大英图书馆，建立于1759年，时为大英博物馆的一部分。英国最早的公共图书馆建立于1425年，与伦敦市政厅相关。第二所建立于1580年，位于苏格兰爱丁堡。此二者均已不复存在，但1653年在英格兰曼彻斯特市建立的一所公共图书馆存留至今。英国议会在1850年通过《公共图书馆法案》后，图书馆便在英国遍地开花。

[22]在法国，位于巴黎的国家图书馆全称法国国家图书馆，建立于1367年，原为查理五世的皇家图书馆。法国另一座重要的图书馆是马扎然图书馆，1643年由路易十四年幼时期的宰相儒勒·马扎然枢机建立，同在巴黎，以其对图书管理的影响闻名。

[24] On the Iberian peninsula, King Philip V established the National Library of Spain, Madrid in 1711. Portugal’s National Library in Lisbon appeared in 1796.

[25] Three libraries form the national repository for Germany. The first, the German State Library in Berlin, was founded in 1661 by Friedrich Wilhelm. The second and third followed much later: the German Library in Leipzig, founded in 1912 and the German Library in Frankfurt, founded in 1946.

[26] Catherine the Great founded the M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library in St. Petersburg in the late 1700s. Russia’s largest library, the Russian State Library in Moscow (formerly the Lenin State Library), was founded in 1862.

[27] The oldest library in America41776年美国建国前的America宜译为“美洲”，而非“美国”，之后则需视情况而定。began with a 400-book donation by a Massachusetts clergyman, John Harvard, to a new university that eventually honored him by adopting his name. Another clergyman, Thomas Bray from England, established the first free lending libraries in the American Colonies in the late 1600s. Subscription libraries—where member dues paid for book purchases and borrowing privileges were free—debuted in the 1700s. In 1731, Ben Franklin and others founded the first such library, the Library Company of Philadelphia. The initial collection of the Library of Congress was in ashes after the British burned it during the War of 1812. The library bought Thomas Jefferson’s vast collection in 1815 and used that as a foundation to rebuild.

[23]意大利继承了罗马时期的遗产，拥有若干著名图书馆，包括佛罗伦萨的劳伦先图书馆、梵蒂冈的梵蒂冈图书馆、米兰的安波罗修图书馆和佛罗伦萨的国家中央图书馆，其藏书基于17、18世纪学者安东尼奥·马利亚贝基的个人收藏。

[24]在伊比利亚半岛，菲利普五世于1711年在马德里创立了西班牙国家图书馆。1796年，葡萄牙国家图书馆于里斯本落成。

[25]在德国，国家图书库由三座图书馆构成。首先是柏林的德国国立图书馆，由腓特烈·威廉在1661年创立。第二、第三座则晚许多年，分别是1912年建立的莱比锡德国图书馆和1946年落成的法兰克福德国图书馆。

[26] 18世纪末，凯瑟琳大帝在圣彼得堡建立了萨尔特科夫·谢德林国立公共图书馆。俄罗斯最大的图书馆——位于莫斯科的俄罗斯国立图书馆（原为列宁国立图书馆）——建立于1862年。

[27]美洲最早的图书馆始自400本由马萨诸塞州牧师约翰·哈佛捐赠给一个新办大学的藏书，这所大学最终以他的名字命名，以作纪念。17世纪末，另一名来自英格兰的牧师托马斯·布雷在美洲殖民地建立了第一座供自由借阅的图书馆。18世纪，订阅图书馆崭露头角，会员交纳会费购书，还可免费借书。1731年，本杰明·富兰克林等人建立了第一所订阅图书馆，名为费城图书俱乐部。1812年美国第二次独立战争期间，国会图书馆的创馆藏书为英军烧毁；1815年，图书馆购入托马斯·杰斐逊的藏书，数量宏富，并以此为基础重建。

[28] It wasn’t until waves of immigration and the philosophy of free public education for children that public libraries spread in the US. The first public library in the country opened in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1833. Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie helped build more than 1,700 public libraries in the US between 1881 and 1919.

[29] Libraries may have changed over the years—no longer do pages carry scrolls in wooden buckets—but the need for a repository of knowledge remains. ■

[28]直到移民潮出现和儿童免费公共教育理念兴起，美国才出现大量公共图书馆。1833年，第一座公共图书馆在新罕布什尔州彼得伯勒落成。1881年至1919年间，慈善家安德鲁·卡内基资助建造了逾1,700座公共图书馆。

[29]岁月流逝，图书馆或许也因之而变迁——卷轴和木质卷筒不复存在——但对知识宝藏的需求，始终未变。 □

幸存者：图书馆发展史

文/芭芭拉·克拉斯纳－海特 译/杨树锋

（译者单位：其礼律师事务所上海办公室）