Bibliotheca (Photius)

Bibliotheca (Photius)
Cover of Bibliotheca

The Bibliotheca or Myriobiblon was a 9th century work of Byzantine Patriarch Photius, dedicated to his brother and composed of 279 reviews of books which he had read. It was not meant to be used as a reference work, but was widely used as such in the 9th century, and is generally seen as the first Byzantine work that could be called an Encyclopedia. The works he notes are mainly Christian and pagan authors from the 5th century BC to his own time in the 9th century AD. Almost half the books mentioned no longer survive.

There has been discussions on whether the Bibliotheca had been compiled in Baghdad at the time of Photius' embassy to the Abbasid court in Samarra in June 845, since many of the mentioned works - the majority by secular authors - seems to have been virtually nonexistent in both contemporary and later Byzantium. The Abbasids showed great interest in translating classical Greek works to Arabic and Photius might have studied them during his years in exile in Baghdad.[1]

Reynolds and Wilson call it "a fascinating production, in which Photius shows himself the inventor of the book-review"[2].and say its "280 sections... vary in length from a single sentence to several pages"[2].

Editio princeps (in Greek): David Hoeschel, Augsburg, 1601. Modern critical edition by R. Henry.

References

  1. ^ Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture; Jokisch, Islamic Imperial Law (2007), with discussions on the earlier standpoints of Threadgold and Lemerle (pp. 364-386)
  2. ^ a b Reynolds, L. D and N.G. Wilson (1991). Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature (3rd ed ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 321. ISBN 0198721455. 

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