Paperback: The Library: A Fragile History (2022) is longlisted for the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown Awards 2022 and a Sunday Times Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2021.
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 The Library: A Fragile History, 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.
The Library: A Fragile History is essential reading for booklovers, collectors, and anyone who has ever gotten blissfully lost in the stacks.
About the authors: Arthur der Weduwen (b 1993) is a Dutch historian and writer. His work primarily focuses on the Dutch Republic, the history of the book and the emergence of the newspaper. Educated at the University of Exeter, der Weduwen took his doctoral degree at St Andrews University, where he currently works on the Universal Short Title Catalogue Project. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Professor Andrew Pettegree (b 1957) is a British historian and an expert on the European Reformation, the history of the book and media transformations. As of 2022 he holds a professorship at St Andrews University, where he is the director of the Universal Short Title Catalogue Project. He is the founding director of the St Andrews Reformation Studies Institute.
Der Weduwen has collaborated with Andrew Pettegree on a number of books about the publishing industry in the Netherlands in the Dutch Golden Age. These include The Bookshop of the World. Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age (2019) in English and Dutch, and studies of the origins of advertising, The Dutch Republic and the Birth of Modern Advertising and News and Business and Public Information. Advertisements and Public Announcements in Dutch and Flemish Newspapers, 1620-1675.
They also co-wrote The Library: a Fragile History (2021) which charts the history of the library from the ancient world to the modern era.
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