8 votes

What are important historical books lost to time?

Posted by maevens
Tags: fiction, nonfiction, ask.discussion, history, middle ages

Not just books from the 1800s or 1900s, but even older. 1400s, 800s, 100s, books from BCE, etc. It can be fiction or non-fiction.

If a small blurb about the book could be provided and its significance that would be great.

Additionally, if you could help direct me or provide guidance on where I can get a hold of the book (digitally or physically), that’d be appreciated.

6 comments

  2. [3]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    Just for clarification are you looking for books that are totally lost or books that are unappreciated today? I thought the first but then you asked where to find a copy!

    Just for clarification are you looking for books that are totally lost or books that are unappreciated today? I thought the first but then you asked where to find a copy!

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      maevens
      Link Parent
      Either! If it's available or if it's completely lost, I'd like to look into it either way :)

      Either! If it's available or if it's completely lost, I'd like to look into it either way :)

      3 votes
  3. fefellama
    Link
    Cool question, though a bit hard to answer. My first thought was to Classical documents, like ancient Greece and Rome. I know there are a ton of works there that we know about but haven't...

    Cool question, though a bit hard to answer. My first thought was to Classical documents, like ancient Greece and Rome. I know there are a ton of works there that we know about but haven't discovered (like there'll be books 1, 2, 3, ... 7, 8, 9 in a series, so you can probably infer that there were books 4, 5, and 6 as well, even if they haven't been discovered yet).

    Another thought that I had, that you might be interested in reading about are the Herculaneum scrolls. TL;DR when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it covered not just Pompeii but some surrounding villages as well. One villa in Herculaneum had a ton of scrolls/documents that were carbonized by the heat and ash. So they're basically these super-delicate pieces of charcoal that used to be writings, and thanks to magic the hard work and ingenuity of various researchers, we can now scan them and read through their contents without ever opening them (opening them is basically impossible without destroying them... which is not great). This is pretty novel stuff, so a few news articles have been posted to tildes in the last couple years about this project.

    5 votes
  4. PelagiusSeptim
    Link
    The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan was for a long time considered a major part of the canon and was widely read, but is much less well known today. It isn't forgotten by any means, but it is no...

    The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan was for a long time considered a major part of the canon and was widely read, but is much less well known today. It isn't forgotten by any means, but it is no longer one you will see often recommended outside of religious circles.

    Edit: here is summary from gutenberg:

    "The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come" by John Bunyan is a Christian allegory written in 1678. The story follows Christian, an everyman burdened by sin, as he abandons his home and family to journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City atop Mount Zion. Along the way, he encounters treacherous swamps, false guides, and spiritual tests. This dream narrative explores themes of faith, deliverance, and the perils facing those who seek salvation through the narrow path to Heaven.

    2 votes