The Lead Books of Sacromonte, also known as the Libros Plúmbeos or the Sacromonte manuscripts, are a collection of purportedly ancient religious texts that were supposedly discovered in the 16th...
We hear a lot about censorship in the news today but it’s nothing new. In fact, the word comes from the Latin word censeo , which means to assess. Almost as soon as the printing press was introduced...
Within the realm of 15th-century French artistry , the Belles Heures emerges as a striking showcase of the Limbourg Brothers' talents. This exquisitely crafted manuscript, commissioned by Jean de...
Discover the allure of the world’s most magnificent libraries, where centuries of knowledge are housed in enchanting spaces. From the historic Trinity Library in Dublin to the sprawling Library of...
Situated just 30 miles northwest of Seoul, a narrative unfolds that underscores Korea's devotion to the written word. Even before Johannes Gutenberg introduced movable type to Europe in 1440 , Korea...
The Library of Trinity College Dublin stands as an unparalleled repository of Ireland's rich history. With its grandeur and significance, it is not merely a collection of books but a sanctuary of...
For many true crime junkies, podcasts are the way to go to get your next fix. But before podcasts and streaming documentaries, what did people do to get their true crime docs? When did true crime...
In 2016, along with a vast array of international publications, the Daily Mail picked up a story that had been published by a Norwegian-based paper prior to a conference about the confiscation of...
The Bodleian Book Coffer is a rare artifact from the Middle Ages which is believed to have been used for the transport of important books. The Bodleian Book Coffer was purchased by the University of...
As long as humanity has had beliefs in a higher power, the use of magic, spells, curses, and incantations have featured widely across cultures. A number of influential texts or ‘grimoires’ (textbooks...
An incredibly significant medieval book of manuscripts has been returned to Ireland . The Book of Lismore is a collection of hand-written texts that was donated by an aristocratic English family to...
The thought of a lost library is a tantalizing one, as one can speculate and imagine the kind of knowledge it might provide to the person who finds it. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that there...
Archaeologists in England have unearthed in excess of 10,000 medieval artifacts in central Oxford and every single one of them is providing a clearer picture of day to day life at Oxford University,...
In an unprecedented incident in 2017, a group of unknown thieves rappelled down into a specially secured warehouse in Feltham, Middlesex in the early hours of January 30 th and made off with 160 rare...
The Maya were a powerful pre-Columbian civilization who thrived between AD 600 – AD 800. They were literate, had a complex language including pictograms, glyphs, and phonetic representations. They...
Pergamum, Anatolia, now the modern Turkish town of Bergama, was one of the most important cities in the Hellenistic Greek age. It was culturally rich, with an extensive library at its heart. The city...
Adding to the list of names among the greatest libraries of the past, the Bayt al-Hikmah (translated as ‘The House of Wisdom’) was established in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire, around...
Virgil, in his Aeneid , describes Deiphobe, better known as the Sibyl of Cumae, as coming from “a hundred perforations in the rock, a hundred mouths from which the many utterances rush” (43-5, 163)...
The ancient monastery of Mont Sainte-Odile in the French region of Alsace is steeped in mystery. From secret tunnels to the strange disappearance of more than 1,000 ancient books, it has many a story...
Iceland’s strong love of literature is a source of amazement to many people. In an era of declining book sales around the world, this small North Atlantic island continues to publish and sell more...
Throughout history a large number of books have been banned only because they contained various uncomfortable truths or tales. Such books have been systematically hunted down and destroyed by...
The discovery that won the latest Nobel Prize for Medicine wouldn’t have been much of a revelation to doctors in ancient China. Pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou established that the compound...
When Europeans arrived in the New World, they did not only kill people with war, slavery and disease, they also attempted to destroy the cultures of the native peoples. Among so many cultural...
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , also known as the False Hierarchy of Demons , is a great compendium from the 16 th century dictating the names of sixty-nine demons. The title itself indicates that the...