Papyrus

The bestselling phenomenon - a 6,000-year adventure through the history of books and reading

A FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Outstanding, universal and unique' NEW YORK TIMES

'A literary phenomenon.' TLS

'Masterly.' ECONOMIST

'Mindboggling' TELEGRAPH

Long before books were mass-produced, scrolls hand copied on reeds pulled from the Nile were the treasures of the ancient world. Emperors and Pharaohs were so determined to possess them that they dispatched emissaries to the edges of the earth to bring them back.

In Papyrus, celebrated classicist Irene Vallejo traces the dramatic history of the book and the fight for its survival. This is the story of the book's journey from oral tradition to scrolls to codices, and how that transition laid the very foundation of Western culture. And it is a story full of heroic adventures, bloodshed and megalomania - from the battlefields of Alexander the Great and the palaces of Cleopatra to the libraries of war-torn Sarajevo and Oxford.

An international bestseller, Papyrus brings the ancient world to life and celebrates the enduring power of the written word.

“An outstanding, universal and unique book. - The New York TimesOne can be a masterful philologist and at the same time write like the angels... a true literary feast. - ABCAn incredible, universal, and unique book which will no doubt become a classic. - El Periodico de AragonIt's a joy to read Irene Vallejo's prose, she is such a brilliant creator and full of sensitivity.'[A] masterpiece . . . I am absolutely sure that it will continue to be read when its readers today are already in the afterlife.'”

A literary phenomenon . . . didactic and daring . . . elegant and richly digressive. Times Literary Supplement
'A very free and very wise and very digressive journey through the world of the book from the creation of the Library of Alexandria to the fall of the Roman Empire; Irene Vallejo has delivered an outstanding, universal and unique book.' -- Jordi Carrión The New York Times
Vallejo enlivens history with imagination and personal anecdote as she traces the book's lineage from scrolls made of aquatic plant pith to codices and tablets, digressing to show how its development is interwoven with the development of western civilisation. Is Papyrus available as an ebook? Yes, but I'll bet any reader drawn to it is going to want to save up for the hardcover.' Observer
'Irene Vallejo has a writer's passion for books and a classicist's fascination with the way they came to be. She is also imaginative, lively and contemporary. In her hands written texts are not only a sensual pleasure, but living and frequently disruptive... Ms Vallejo has a notable talent for evoking ancient scenes. Her description, for example, of the poet Martial returning to Spain from Rome, near the end of the book, is masterly.' Economist
'Papyrus is packed with fascinating insights... Vallejo is a diligent scholar, excelling with her accounts of the human experience of books.' The i review
'One can be a masterful philologist and at the same time write like the angels. Irene Vallejo flips communication upside down until she turns her dialogue with the reader into a true literary feast.' -- Luis Alberto de Cuenca ABC
'Irene Vallejo has written an incredible, universal, and unique book which will no doubt become a classic.' -- Juan Bolea El Periódico de Aragón
'It's a joy to read Irene Vallejo's prose, she is such a brilliant creator and full of sensitivity.' -- Luis Landero
A fascinating and profound, yet delightfully personal take on books in the ancient world, with many illuminating insights into more modern literature and life. Paul Strathern, author of Ten Cities that Led the World
'In this fabulous, anecdote-filled history, award-winning Spanish writer Vallejo charts the fates and fortunes of books and libraries in the ancient world... As well as chronicling the thrills and spills of literary culture, she celebrates those whose heroic efforts ensured the continuity of the written word.' The Bookseller
'A mindboggling history of the earliest books... Vallejo is a novelist and she has a storyteller's ability to animate her subjects... and the story she tells is impressively rip-roaring... She draws a six-thousand-year line from the clay tablets of Mesopotamia to the e-reader tablets of today and leaves her readers inspired, invigorated and sincerely grateful for the invention of the book.' Henry Eliot, Daily Telegraph

Irene Vallejo earned her European Doctorate from the Universities of Zaragoza and Florence. Papyrus was awarded the National Essay Prize, the Critical Eye Prize for Narrative and the Bookstore Recommendation Award, and will be published in more than forty countries. She is a regular columnist for El Pais, and is the author of two children's books, two novels, and three collections of essays, articles, and short fiction.

Best Books of 2022 Financial Times 'A literary phenomenon.' - Times Literary Supplement 'I maginative, lively and contemporary...masterly. ' - Economist 'Vallejo enlivens history with imagination and personal anecdote' - Observer 'A mindboggling history of the earliest books... the story she tells is impressively rip-roaring' - Daily Telegraph 'Packed with fascinating insights.' - The i Review Long before books were mass produced, those made of reeds from along the Nile were worth fighting and dying for. Journeying along the battlefields of Alexander the Great, beneath the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, at Cleopatra's palaces and the scene of Hypatia's murder, award-winning author Irene Vallejo chronicles the excitement of literary culture in the ancient world, and the heroic efforts that ensured this impressive tradition would continue.Weaved throughout are fascinating stories about the spies, scribes, illuminators, librarians, booksellers, authors, and statesmen whose rich and sometimes complicated engagement with the written word bears remarkable similarities to the world today: Aristophanes and the censorship of the humourists, Sappho and the empowerment of women's voices, Seneca and the problem of a post-truth world.Vallejo takes us to mountainous landscapes and the roaring sea, to the capitals where culture flourished and the furthest reaches where knowledge found refuge in chaotic times. In this sweeping tour of the history of books, the wonder of the ancient world comes alive and along the way we discover the singular power of the written word.

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