our understanding of physical aspects of the ancient Greek book are
Turner 1980 (1st ed. 1968),Greek Papyri, and Turner and Parsons 1987
(1st ed. Turner 1971),Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World.More
recent book-length studies include Cavallo 1983,Libri scritture scribi
a Ercolano, Capasso (ed.) 1994,Il rotolo librario, and Capasso 1995,
Volumen. Johnson 2004,Bookrolls and Scribes in Oxyrhynchus, recon-
structs the typology of the papyrus bookroll by examining the literary
papyri from Oxyrhynchus that contain works preserved in fuller form in
the medieval manuscript tradition. On the codex, Turner 1977, The
Typology of the Early Codex, and Roberts and Skeat 1983,The Birth of
the Codex, were followed byLes de ́buts du codex, edited by Blanchard
- The collection by Martin and Vezin (eds.) 1990,Mise en page et
mise en texte du livre manuscript, surveys page layout in both bookrolls and
codices from Mediterranean antiquity through the Middle Ages. Willy
Clarysse’s impressive Leuven Database of Ancient Books at http://www.
trismegistos.org/ldab/index.php ‘‘attempts to collect the basic informa-
tion on [the oldest preserved copies of] all ancient literary texts’’ from
which the user may ‘‘get a view of the reception of ancient literature
throughout the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine period: which author
was read when, where and by whom throughout Antiquity.’’
Book production, publication, and circulation receive comprehensive
and/or general treatment in Cambiano, Canfora, and Lanza (eds.) 1992–
1996,Lo spazio letterario della Grecia antica, Cavallo, Fedeli, and Giardina
(eds.) 1989–1994,Lo spazio letterario di Roma antica, and Cavallo 1989a
(ed.),Libri, editori e pubblico nel mondo antico. Dorandi 2000,Le stylet et la
tablette(revised and translated 2007), attempts to reconstruct the work-
ing methods of ancient authors (cf. Dorandi 1991, 1993). On other
aspects of publication in Rome, see the articles by Starr 1987 on the
circulation of literary texts, and McDonnell 1996 on writing, copying,
and autograph manuscripts. Dortmund 2001,Ro ̈misches Buchwesen um
die Zeitenwende, poses the question of whether Atticus was a publisher.
The publication and dissemination of individual authors’ works have been
examined in many studies, only a few of which can be included here (e.g.,
Murphy 1998 [on Cicero], Fowler 1995 and White 1996 [on Martial]).
On bookselling and book buying in Rome, see J. Phillips 1985, Starr 1990,
Fedeli 1992. Studies on publication in the Greek world seem to be fewer
(but see Porciani 2005 [on Herodotus]; Cerri 1991 [on Theognis]); a
significant exception is Finkelberg 2006, who ambitiously tries to dem-
onstrate that in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods the pro-
duction, circulation, and transmission of books concentrated around
four self-contained regional centers, one for each of the major Hellenistic
kingdoms.
The structures and purposes of ancient libraries, the nature and extent
of private book collections, the availability of books, and similar questions
seem always to inspire interest. Book-length studies of libraries often
cover a wide chronological and geographical sweep: see Baratin and
336 Bibliographical Essay