On the History of the Archival Library and Scholarship in the West since the Alexandrian Library: An Overview
Ian Willison
We might approach the history of textual archive, archival research library, and humanities in West light three major cultural/political turning points associated with substantial changes – so-called ‘revolutions’ condition. These are: first, ‘Literate Revolution’ Ancient Greece, eventual founding encyclopaedic Library Museum Ptolemaic Alexandria, based on Aristotelian doxography text-critical editing ( ekdosis), bibliographically controlled by Pinakes Callimachus, its reincarnations Late Antiquity as Christian Caesarea Bayt al-Hikma Baghdad. Second, following introduction spread printing ‘first revolution printed book’ cultural nationalism search for prestige/‘glory’ Europe, we have autarchic national library base principle legal deposit texts, initiated France Alexandrian state humanism Guillaume Budé, theorizing Gabriel Naudé an universal doxographical concept historia literaria, a Callimachean Catalogue Méthodique. But then, ‘second industrial book’, imperial climax Panizzi at British Museum, his realistically ‘unmethodical’, alphabetical General Catalogue, iconic circular, Reading Room; itself to be followed eventually overtaken more ecumenical United States Congress. Third, ‘revolution information technology’ during after Second World War process global, cooperative, potentially total digitization unmediated well mediated libraries ‘leading hubs’ unified, network, idea ‘the new Alexandria’.
Alexandria: The Journal of National and International Library and Information Issues