The library of the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum

"The recovery in the 1750s of more than a thousand scorched papyrus rolls from the Villa dei Papiri in ancient Herculaneum caused great excitement among contemporaries. The find held the tantalizing possibility of the rediscovery of lost masterpieces by classical writers. Although the papyrus rolls were charred, some quite severely, much of their contents could be read."

"David Sider describes the long and difficult history of attempts to unwind the damaged rolls, a task made more frustrating because the hoped-for lost masterpieces have yet to emerge. He discusses the fragmentary Greek and Latin texts in those papyri that have been opened and deciphered, putting them in the context of writing and literacy in antiquity. Sider also describes the form of ancient Greek books and of the papyrus sheets on which they were written. He provides an account of attitudes toward books in Greece and Rome and surveys other libraries in the ancient world, both private and civic." "Written for the general reader, the book provides an overview of the only library to have come down to us from antiquity."--Jacket.