Ancient Writing and Rare Books

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Here you will find coverage of ancient writing and rare books.

  • Codex Gigas - learn about this huge medieval manuscript known as The Devil's Bible.


  • Dan Brown Pays to Digitize Rare Mystical Texts at Ritman Library (2016-06-23): Dan Brown has donated $340,000 to help the Ritman Library in Amsterdam digitize its core texts on mysticism, Hermetica and Kabbala. The texts will be available online.

  • ISIS Ransacking Libraries in Iraq, Destroying Priceless Literary Treasures (2015-02-05): ISIS is ransacking libraries, museums and universities in Northern Iraq. All non-Islamic texts are being burned as being blasphemous. The damage is devastating.

  • The Vatican to Digitize 82,000 Rare Manuscripts and Make Them Available for Viewing Online (2014-03-21): The Vatican Apostolic Library announced that it has hired a Japanese IT firm to digitize 82,000 rare manuscripts. The documents will be available for viewing online.

  • Rare Book of Psalms Sells for $14.16 Million at Auction (2013-12-01): A rare 1640 Book of Psalms is now the most expensive printed book: it sold at auction for $14.16 million to a collector.

  • Bay Psalm Book Could Sell for $30 Million at Sotheby's Auction (2013-04-23): The Bay Psalm Book is known as the first book printed in America.

  • Five Hundred New Fairy Tales Found in Germany (2012-03-07): A huge collection of 500 new fairy tales has been discovered in Germany.

  • Protesters Torch Famed Institute of Egypt: Rare Books, Manuscripts and Maps All Destroyed (2011-12-20): The continued protests in Egypt are wreaking havoc on the country's rich cultural heritage.

  • Bram Stoker's Secret Journal Found on Great Grandson's Bookshelf (2011-10-29): A never before seen personal journal by Dracula author Bram Stoker has been found, sitting a bookshelf in the home of Stoker's great-grandson Noel Dobbs, who lives on Isle of Wight.

  • Dead Sea Scrolls Are Being Digitized and Made Available Online (2011-09-29): They were written two thousand years ago and discovered decades ago.

  • Archivist Seeks to Preserve One Copy of Every Book Ever Written (2011-08-01): Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, has launched an ambitious project to save one copy of every book ever written.

  • The World's Smallest Books (2011-05-28): The world's smallest book according to Guinness World Records is a tiny copy of Anton Chekov's short story, "The Chameleon.

  • Rare First Edition of Kipling's The Jungle Book Discovered (2010-04-15): The BBC reports that a rare first edition of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book has been discovered.

  • Fairy Tales Have Ancient Origins (2009-09-09): A new study reveals that fairytales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, are actually much older than anyone thought.

  • British Library to Display Medieval Alphabet Book (2009-07-28): The British Library has succeeded in keeping a national treasure in Great Britain after bidding $600,000 for a medieval alphabet book which displays a collection of both beautiful and bizarre fonts.

  • Egypt Wants Loan of Rosetta Stone (2007-06-25): Egypt wants the Rosetta Stone loaned to it from the British Museum.

  • Robot to Scan Oldest Copy of Homer's Illiad (2007-06-06): The oldest copy of Homer's The Iliad is being scanned in 3-D by a special robot so that anyone will be able to get a glimpse of this rare manuscript that has never been available to the public.

  • Latin: The Dead Language to Rise Again? (2005-04-22): According to the BBC, Latin is about to make a big comeback.