History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Together With the Process of Historical ProofBy Isaac Taylor
Length12h 17m
About this audiobook
Isaac Taylor's History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times is a learned survey of the material and intellectual history by which the literature of antiquity survived. Moving from early writing materials, scribal practice, and manuscript preservation to the libraries, religious institutions, and scholarly traditions that safeguarded texts, Taylor illuminates the precarious routes through which ancient works reached the modern reader. Its expository style is systematic and accessible, combining antiquarian detail with a broad narrative of cultural continuity. The book belongs to the Victorian tradition of literary history that treated books not merely as vessels of ideas, but as physical artifacts shaped by technologies, institutions, and historical accident. Taylor, a prolific English author and commentator on language, literature, and education, approached the subject with the interdisciplinary curiosity characteristic of nineteenth-century scholarship. His interests in the history of writing and the development of civilization led him to investigate the conditions that enable knowledge to endure across political upheaval, religious change, and the loss of successive generations of manuscripts. The work reflects both traditional humanist reverence for classical and sacred texts and the period's growing concern with documentary evidence and historical method. This book will reward students of book history, manuscript culture, classical reception, and the history of scholarship. It offers an especially valuable foundation for readers seeking to understand why the survival of ancient literature is never inevitable, and how transmission itself becomes an essential part of literary meaning.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.1 (23)
Includes Amazon, Goodreads
GenreHistory
Length12 hrs 17 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 18, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Theory & History of Historiography
2PREFACE.
3CHAPTER I. INTENTION OF THE PRESENT ARGUMENT.
4CHAPTER II. STATEMENT OF THE CASE, AS TO THE AUTHENTICITY OF ANCIENT BOOKS.
5CHAPTER III. THE DATE OF ANCIENT WORKS, INFERRED FROM THE QUOTATIONS AND REFERENCES OF CONTEMPORARY AND SUCCEEDING WRITERS.
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6CHAPTER IV. THE ANTIQUITY AND GENUINENESS OF ANCIENT BOOKS MAY BE INFERRED FROM THE HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGES IN WHICH THEY ARE EXTANT.
7CHAPTER V. ANCIENT METHODS OF WRITING, AND THE MATERIALS OF BOOKS.
8MATERIALS OF ANCIENT BOOKS.
9THE INSTRUMENTS OF WRITING, AND INKS.
10CHAPTER VI. CHANGES INTRODUCED IN THE COURSE OF TIME IN THE FORMS OF LETTERS, AND IN THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF WRITING.
11FORM OF ANCIENT BOOKS, AND THEIR ILLUMINATIONS.
12CHAPTER VII. THE COPYISTS; AND THE PRINCIPAL CENTRES OF THE COPYING BUSINESS.
13CHAPTER VIII. INDICATIONS OF THE SURVIVANCE OF ANCIENT LITERATURE, THROUGH A PERIOD EXTENDING FROM THE DECLINE OF LEARNING IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY, TO ITS RESTORATION IN THE FIFTEENTH.
14CHAPTER IX. THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
15CHAPTER X. SEVERAL METHODS AVAILABLE FOR ASCERTAINING THE CREDIBILITY OF ANCIENT HISTORICAL WORKS.
16CHAPTER XI. EXCEPTIONS TO WHICH THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORIANS, ON PARTICULAR POINTS, MAY BE LIABLE.
17CHAPTER XII. CONFIRMATIONS OF THE EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT HISTORIANS, DERIVABLE FROM INDEPENDENT SOURCES.
18CHAPTER XIII. GENERAL PRINCIPLES, APPLICABLE TO QUESTIONS OF THE GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF ANCIENT RECORDS.
19CHAPTER XIV. RELATIVE STRENGTH OF THE EVIDENCE WHICH SUPPORTS THE GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
20CHAPTER XV. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PRECEDING STATEMENTS:—A MORNING AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
21CHAPTER XVI. FACTS RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION, AND LATE RECOVERY, OF SOME ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS.
22CHAPTER XVII. THE PROCESS OF HISTORIC EVIDENCE EXEMPLIFIED IN THE INSTANCE OF HERODOTUS.
23CHAPTER XVIII. METHOD OF ARGUING FROM THE GENUINENESS, TO THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS.
24CHAPTER XIX. EXAMPLES OF IMPERFECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE:—HERODOTUS.
25CHAPTER XX. RECENT EXPLORATIONS, CONFIRMATORY OF THE TRUTH OF ANCIENT HISTORY: HERODOTUS AND BEROSUS.
26CHAPTER XXI. INFERENTIAL HISTORIC MATERIALS.
27CHAPTER XXII. THE MODERN JERUSALEM—A VOUCHER FOR THE LITERATURE OF ITS ANCIENT OCCUPANTS.
28Memorable Quotes
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