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Engraving of Cornelius Tacitus from a drawing by Brooke. Source: Public domain

Tacitus: The Master Chronicler of Ancient Rome

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, better known as just Tacitus, is arguably one of the most illustrious figures in Roman historiography. His writings cast a profound light on the intricacies and nuances of...
Etching by Francisco Heylan depicting the discover of the Lead Books of Sacromonte. Source: Public domain

The Lead Books of Sacromonte: Historic Forgery or a True Christian Relic?

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...
Forbidden books were burned. Their authors exiled, imprisoned and even killed throughout history. Source: de Art/Adobe Stock

8 Forbidden Books That Still Rewrote History

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...
The Belles Herues of Jean de France, duc de Berry. The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain.

The Teen Prodigies Behind This 15th Century French Picture Book (Video)

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...
Imperial national library of Vienna, Austria. Source: Davidzfr / Adobe Stock.

The World’s Most Magnificent Libraries (Video)

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...
Traditional Korean printing press. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Great Big Story.

The Hidden History of Korea's Printing Innovation (Video)

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...
Trinity library, Dublin, Ireland. Source: jon_chica / Adobe Stock.

This Magnificent Library Holds Treasured Irish History (Video)

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...
The history of true crime consumption can be traced all the way back to the early 1500s. Source:  Sved Oliver/ Adobe Stock

Morbid Fascination: The Birth of the True Crime Genre

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...
Baroque library hall in the National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague. A collection of 13,000 occult and witchcraft books that were once part of Himmler’s “witch library” were found in the library.

Was Heinrich Himmler’s 'Nazi Witch Library' Discovered in a Czech Library?

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: A Kindle Of The Middle Ages

The Bodleian Book Coffer: A Kindle Of The Middle Ages

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...
Person holding an ancient grimoire filled with spells, curses, and incantations

Magic of the Ancients: Five Incredible Texts of Spells, Curses, and Incantations

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 Exceptional Medieval Irish Book Returns to Ireland

An Exceptional Medieval Irish Book Returns to Ireland

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 Search for the Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible

The Search for the Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible

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...
Scholarly tools from left: quills, styluses and book clasps.

Tools of Medieval Wisdom Unearthed Beneath England’s Ancient Academic Hub

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,...
Old books

A Masterful $2.5 Million Dollar Rare-Book Heist Stuns Community

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...
One of the first cultures to have books were the Maya codices written on doubled-over pages and covered by a layer of "stucco".

The Maya Codices: The Precious Remaining History of an Eradicated Civilization

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...
The Library of Pergamum: A Contender for the Greatest Library of the Ancient World

The Library of Pergamum: A Contender for the Greatest Library of the Ancient World

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...
Drawing of the house of wisdom

The House of Wisdom: One of the Greatest Libraries in History

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...
Seers, Women of Action: The Sibyls of the Ancient World

Seers, Women of Action: The Sibyls of the Ancient World

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 Secret Tunnels and Missing Manuscripts of Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey

The Secret Tunnels and Missing Manuscripts of Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey

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...
The Icelandic Kvöldvaka: Cultural Phenomenon in the Twilight Hours

The Icelandic Kvöldvaka: Cultural Phenomenon in the Twilight Hours

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...
Deriv; Unidentified ancient manuscript

The Hidden Origins of Il Separatio: Manuscripts Deemed Dangerous and Banned

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...
A five-volume treatise concerning medical matters, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century.

Could ancient textbooks be the source of the next medical breakthrough?

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...
Mixtec Zouche-Nuttall Codex

Treasures of Mexico: The Mixtec, Aztec & Maya Codices that Survived the Conquistadors

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...

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