ABSTRACT
Early public writings were exceedingly practical. The first recorded book, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written about 4500 bc, gave explicit directions about how to prepare for one’s death and afterlife. In 2100 bc, the Sumerians publicly recorded financial accounts, purchases, receipts for goods and slaves, and official correspondence. The first fictional novel, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, written about 2000 bc, became an “Oprah” book-of-the-millennium bestseller, read for over 1,000 years. By 47 bc, the great library of Alexandria contained about 400,000 scrolls, which were tragically destroyed by Caesar’s troops. Caesar, perhaps in self-redemption, founded a Roman public library, and by the fourth century, Rome had twenty-eight public libraries.
