Skip to main content
Home

User menu logged out

  • Subscribe
  • Sign in

Subscription
Offers

Give a Gift

Main menu

  • Home
  • The Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Buy the Current Issue
  • Explore the Digital Archive
  • Institutions
  • Reviews
  • Sign in
Home

Mini header menu

  • Search
  • Magazine
  • Latest
  • Subscribe

Subscribe

Feature

The Death of the Library?

Throughout the centuries countless libraries and carefully curated book collections have been dispersed, destroyed or lost. 

Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen | Published in History Today Volume 71 Issue 11 November 2021

To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.

Start my trial subscription now

If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.

Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.

Literature

Related Articles

Ashburnham House
The Burning of a British Library
rembrandt.jpg
Rembrandt’s Empty Bookshelf

Popular articles

The Camel Express, illustration by Carl Rakeman for the Bureau of Public Roads, 1857. Federal Highway Administration. Public Domain.
The Rise and Fall of the US Army Camel Corps
The interior of a printing house, Dutch, 18th century. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.
The Ambassador, the Spy, and the Chocolatier

Recently published

The interior of a printing house, Dutch, 18th century. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.
The Ambassador, the Spy, and the Chocolatier
The tomb of Mathilda of Flanders, 1839. Catholic University of Leuven. Public Domain.
‘The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders’ by Laura L. Gathagan review
The Camel Express, illustration by Carl Rakeman for the Bureau of Public Roads, 1857. Federal Highway Administration. Public Domain.
The Rise and Fall of the US Army Camel Corps

Most read

  1. The Rise and Fall of the US Army Camel Corps
  2. The Ambassador, the Spy, and the Chocolatier
  3. ‘The Revolution to Come’ and ‘Revolutions: A New History’ review
  4. ‘The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders’ by Laura L. Gathagan review
  5. New Year Readers’ Resolutions
X
Get Miscellanies, our free weekly long read, in your inbox every week

Footer menu

  • About
  • Masthead
  • Contact
  • Jobs
  • Advertising
  • RSS feeds
  • Submit an Article
  • Back Issues
  • Binders
  • Cookie policy
  • Awards
  • Students
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms of Use
  • X
  • Instagram
  • Bluesky
  • Facebook

© Copyright 2026 History Today Ltd. Company no. 1556332.