Current Events > Documentary about lost books of history

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://youtu.be/Fcb2oLSb7Cs

Did you know there used to be other Homer epics? The Oddyssey isn't even the last part. But the sequel got lost. And the Illiad wasn't the first part

I've always wondered how they would determine if a book was completely gone from history. In my mind some billionaire has one of those books hidden away in their private collection and never told anyone about it. If no one knows that person has the book, people will just assume it's gone from history. Or another theory is that some random family has been passing the book down throughout their history and never told anyone they had it.

Gamingsince1989 posted...

I've always wondered how they would determine if a book was completely gone from history. In my mind some billionaire has one of those books hidden away in their private collection and never told anyone about it. If no one knows that person has the book, people will just assume it's gone from history. Or another theory is that some random family has been passing the book down throughout their history and never told anyone they had it.

Its possible stuff like that happens. But most of the time, the books probably are gone. Until recent time, books were always in peril of destruction on purpose or accident

Zikten posted...

Its possible stuff like that happens. But most of the time, the books probably are gone. Until recent time, books were always in peril of destruction on purpose or accident

The paper used way back in history wasn't made to last. Water damage or exposure to other elements can cause it to just crumble and fall apart. Also, you're right about books being destroyed on purpose. There was the issue where certain religions would see certain content as sacrilege and would just destroy all copies at the time.

Gamingsince1989 posted...

The paper used way back in history wasn't made to last. Water damage or exposure to other elements can cause it to just crumble and fall apart. Also, you're right about books being destroyed on purpose. There was the issue where certain religions would see certain content as sacrilege and would just destroy all copies at the time.

Outside of China and Egypt, most ancient texts were written in stone or parchment, but yeah, destroying access to knowledge has always been a thing ( -_-)

Thanks, I'm gonna watch this when I get home in the morning. I'm a documentary hound, this seems interesting.

indica posted...

Outside of China and Egypt, most ancient texts were written in stone or parchment, but yeah, destroying access to knowledge has always been a thing ( -_-)

I've always been interested in collecting rare books, but I don't want them enough to pay high prices for them. My oldest book is 126 years old. It's a 2nd run of the first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula