The versatility of private libraries could be discussed through how they saved works that were lost during the Library of Alexandria decline, and how they made the works in them vulnerable to destruction during the reign of Shi Huangdi.
Private libraries saving literature that was destroyed during the Library of Alexandria’s decline shows that small libraries can save literature because of their decentralized nature.
Much of what comes down to us from antiquity survived because it was held in small private libraries tucked away in obscure backwaters of the ancient world, where it was more likely to escape the notice of zealots as well as princes (Battles 31).
Private libraries could protect literature from destruction since they could be in hard to reach or unexpected locations. And even if a private library were destroyed, it’d be less likely that more works would be lost than if a great library were destroyed.
Shi Huangdi’s targeted crackdown on private libraries shows however that works in private libraries could be just as susceptible to destruction as works in great libraries. On page 37, Battles notes that the books burned in the fengshu kengru “…were likely those held by private scholars unwilling to submit to Qing authority over intellectual matters…” Here, works being in a private collection was a liability, because the Qin sought to destroy them. So, private libraries seized by Shi Huangdi’s forces would’ve been destroyed because their possession in a private library, while books in the Qin great libraries would’ve survived.
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