types of jungle

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Well, while I eagerly wait the day I'll finally be able to download any knowledge I wish directly to my brain with but a thought, I'd say that greeks, romans, egptians, chinese, persians, babylonians and many many others had pretty impressive collections of papyrus and huge libraries... For the selective few, yes, but still.

As long as it isnt TL0 whose only library would be the shamans' stories, I think it"s always avaiable

Well yes. Thus the 'keeping with character concept' bit. In quite a number of said pre or early printing press settings one very likely would need one or two of the Status/Wealth/Rank trifecta to get access to any significant library resources.

Also the big problem (pre-presses) is that books die. The original author may have written only the source copy. That was valued enough that copies were made and spread. However that process is so slow in the early stages of the Literacy Revolution that a library fire or two, a flood, a ship sinking and boom...a book dies.

Ware bloody Romans with torches! I find 2000 years is just about the right age for a grudge.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Also the big problem (pre-presses) is that books die. The original author may have written only the source copy. That was valued enough that copies were made and spread. However that process is so slow in the stages of the Literacy Revolution that a library fire or two, a flood, a ship sinking and boom...a book dies.

There is also the issue of copyists' errors. When I copy edited Historia Mathematica, I worked on the occasional article that traced the genealogy of individual copies of ancient books by identifying points where specific bits of text were altered, omitted, or interpolated and then passed on to subsequent copies.

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by whswhs

There is also the issue of copyists' errors. When I copy edited Historia Mathematica, I worked on the occasional article that traced the genealogy of individual copies of ancient books by identifying points where specific bits of text were altered, omitted, or interpolated and then passed on to subsequent copies.

Are you familiar with the Book of G'Kar? Would you speak of the circular brown glyph? on page 83?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Are you familiar with the Book of G'Kar? Would you speak of the circular brown glyph? on page 83?

I've never even heard of it. Is it a real thing, or a fictional one?

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by Witchking

...that a library fire or two, a flood, a ship sinking and boom...a book dies.

Sacrebleu! Dont even talk about it! Alexandria's library, ohh... Please forgive me, the memory is too recent, and the pain still burns within the soul...

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Are you familiar with the Book of G'Kar? Would you speak of the circular brown glyph? on page 83?

Apparently an annotation to the text made by one of his earliest students, a human by the name of Garibaldi. It's significance is much disputed, but it is said to be a reminder to the student to attend to the needs of his body whilst he feeds his mind on the teachings.

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Sacrebleu! Dont even talk about it! Alexandria's library, ohh... Please forgive me, the memory is too recent, and the pain still burns within the soul...

Which occasion are you thinking of? (If the subject is sufficiently long lived, this could be a serious question...).

More generally, especially before mass market books, (and sometimes afterwards) the marginalia in second hand books can be ... interesting. As can the things you find jammed in as bookmarks (or for other reasons). This is the reverse of when you find that a key table, map or diagram has been excised and stuck to someone's wall...

[thorr-kan]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I've never even heard of it. Is it a real thing, or a fictional one?

Fictional, from a main character in Babylon 5.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by thorr-kan

Fictional, from a main character in Babylon 5.

Ah. I saw the pilot episode and that convinced me not to watch the series. I actually have passed over a lot of iconic video SF and fantasy, or stopped watching a few episodes in; I have very specific tastes that a lot of material doesn't satisfy. So it's likely that I won't get references to video work.