The Ancient Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. Created by Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian general and the successor of Alexander the Great, it was a center of scholarly research and public debate from its construction, in the 3rd century BC, until its fabled destruction by fire, possibly by the army of Julius Caesar in 48 BC. Most of its holdings consisted of papyrus scrolls, and included works of philosophy, history, natural science, and religion.
It also featured a Children’s and Young Adult Department, in which Alexandrian children and teenagers could obtain and read (or have read to them) the popular stories, poems, dystopian fantasies, and paranormal romances of the day. Below, we present a recently-discovered photograph of a representative shelf of such works.
