Member papyri

Real Name

Theodore Bernhardt

About My Library

My Library

My library consists of a wonderful eclectic mix of items. It contains materials spanning some 3,500 years and has been described as a cross between a library and a museum.

A large part of my library consists of an ever-growing reference collection. Non-fiction works on a variety of subjects and fields which relate to my various interests, hobbies and collections. A smaller section of my library consists of fictional works ranging from some of the latest best-selling novels and popular science fiction works to classical authors. My library also contains a modest group of rare, printed books and manuscripts.

My LibraryThing Catalog

My LibraryThing catalog is a work-in-progress. I still have much cataloging to do.

My catalog focuses on "books" which I own and are part of my library. It does not include wish list items or simply every book I have ever read.

I've gotten much entered, but still have much more. My catalog has started to expand to include items such as MP3, records (in various formats), audio-tapes, CD's, VHS tapes, DVDs, MP4s, photographic images (in multiple formats), maps and ephemera.

Having materials in multiple languages, especially non-English and non-Latin character items, presents its own set of cataloging challenges. Not being a linguist, can make detailed identification difficult and sometimes impossible. As items are researched, they are being entered into the catalog. Though in some cases, the catalog descriptions will be very general or limited to mostly descriptive information about the item. I have over 1,500 Tibetan manuscripts from Mongolia yet to be cataloged (cataloging them as simply Tibetan MS 1, Tibetan MS 2, … is not very useful). Some large groups of items, including some Mongolian Tibetan materials, Indian manuscripts and Moroccan Arabic legal documents have been cataloged in groups noting date/yearly accession numbers.

Some non-book items are also included in my library. Did you notice the shoes I have listed???? These items carry the tag realia or a descriptive term in braces as part of item title.

Magazines, journals and similar publications are listed as "single" entries with the run dates and volume ranges noted.


Collections and Tags

Collections are a work-in-progress and are still being refined and revised. They are organized into descriptive and subjective categories or groupings. Tags are organized similarly and are used to provide additional detail.

Please Note

Have fun exploring my catalog of books.

Though keep in mind, like many people, one's "library" tends to become almost an organic thing, growing and expanding in many different ways over time as "books" enter it from a variety of sources. I have books in in over a dozen different languages, ancient and modern. Simply owning a book, does not necessarily mean I have read or can read it or in some cases, agree with, endorse or even have any interest in its contents or subject matter. It may simply be a book with an attractive binding, something I found in a box of books rescued from oblivion in the trash and didn't have the heart to get rid of it or simply an example of a particular book format.

LibraryThing uses several images of books from my library on the site.

The selection of LibraryThing default book covers includes images of covers from four books in my library. Are you using one of them as your default book cover? Want to learn more about any of these books? They can be found listed in my LT catalog with the "LT default cover" tag. Also, each of the book cover images shown below links to the book's details. I have included additional information about the book and/or its binding in the Comments section.

LibraryThing Default Book Covers

Additionally, one of the book pile images used on the LibraryThing welcome page is of books from my library.

Book pile (detail and original pile) used on the LibraryThing welcome page.

Book Titles in pile (Top -> Bottom)

Il Goffredo ouero Gierusalemme liberata (1606)
Teatro del mondo di Abraamo Ortelio (1684)
Sermons De Pere Boudaloue De La Compagnie De Jesus (1711)
Sermons De Pere Boudaloue De La Compagnie De Jesus (1711)
Summa Totius Theologiae / Flores Sacrae Scripturae (1682)
Origine e fatti delle famiglie illvstri d'Italia (1609)
Commentary on the Ajurrumiyyah (Arabic) (ms. 1794)
Damnatae Thesium T. 1, 2, 3 P. 1 (1727)
Damnatae Thesium T. 4 P. 2 (1721)
Cathena Aurea Super Psalmos (1520)
Leather Bound Photo Album (n. d. 21st century)

Digital Images, Publications and other uses

A number of manuscripts and other items from my collections have been digitally imaged and are available for viewing on-line. A link in either the Review or Comments section of my LibraryThing catalog is provided for any item which has been imaged and is part of an on-line exhibit or image database.

A few of my manuscripts have been included or referenced in various scholarly publications. Reference and publication histories are included in the Comments section for these items.

APD

An image of one of my Arabic papyri, a fragment of a letter from the administrative archives of Qurra ibn Sharîk, the Umayyad governor of Egypt (709-714 AD), is used as the logo for the APD - (Arabic Papyrology Database). The APD provides access to editions of and research on pre-modern Arabic documents written on papyrus, parchment, paper, etc., from the Islamic World from the 7th up to the 16th century CE.

The Papyri Pages

This is a website I began in 1998. It presents an on-line exhibit of some of the ancient manuscripts and other items from my collection. It also includes an organized Website link collection and illustrated articles relating to the history and archaeology of books and writing and other related topics. The site needs some updating. Future projects will include an expanded selection of Arabic manuscript leaves (from the 15th-19th century).

Visit my Website, The Papyri Pages.

Mongolian Tibetan Manuscript Imaging Project

Still under development. This project intends to make images of manuscripts from my collection of Mongolian manuscripts available on the Internet.

CoverGuess

Awarded a medal on Dec. 31, 2012 for playing.

Rank #1

April 11-19, 2010 Score 22,150.75 points
April 24, 2010 - May 11, 2010 Score 23,111.75 points
May 23, 20102 Score 25,561.75 points
May 23-25, 2010 Score 25,607.75 points
May 29-30, 2010 Score 26,317.75 points
May 30, 2010 Score 26,456.75 points
May 30-31, 2010 Score 26,507.75 points
June 9-10, 2010 Score 27,999.75 points
June 11, 2010 Score 29,453.75 points
June 12-27, 2010 Score 29,501.75 points
June 29, 2010 Score 29,639.75 points
June 30, 2010 - July 2, 2010 Score 29,742.75 points
July 4 -8, 2010 Score 29,999.75 points
July 25, 2010 - Aug. 8, 2010 Score 31,705.75 points
Sept. 1, 2010 - Dec. 6, 2010 Score 39,789.75 points
Dec. 12, 2010 Score 39.815.75 points
Jan. 1-26, 2011 Score 40.443.75 points
Jan. 28, 2011 - Jan. ?, 2013 Score 45.044.75 points

New/Improved Cover Guess

May 23, 2023 New Ranking System
June 2023 Overall Rank #2 (181,321)

June 20, 2023 Overall Rank #2 (200,420)

Cover Guess2 Contest May 12th–June 12th/13th, 2023

Rank #9 (20,013)

About Me

HI,

I have a wide variety of interests, including a passion for books and manuscripts, especially ancient ones.

I love books and collect them for both their physical qualities (bindings, illustrations, printing, etc.) and for their contents (reading, information, etc.). I also have an interest in the history of books and writing and collect materials relating to this, as well. Other areas of interest include papyrology, archaeology, Egyptology, antiquities, fossils, Paleontology, matural history, biological sciences, microscopy, microscope slides, art history, history of science and medicine, early photography, stereo-photography, history of recorded sound, acoustically recorded records, stamps and coins.

Location

USA

Homepage

http://members.tripod.com/~papyri/index.html

Memberships

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Favorite Authors

Isaac Asimov, David Attenborough, Pearl S. Buck, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Leo Deuel, Frank Edwards, Flinders Petrie, Sax Rohmer, Carl Sagan, Heinrich Schliemann, Clifford D. Simak

Local Favorites

Bookstores: Antiquariat Inlibris, Gilhofer Nfg. GmbH, Bauman Rare Books, Giulio Giannini & Figlio, Sam Fogg

Libraries: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Library and Archives, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Firenze - National Central Library Florence, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican Library), British Library, Folger Shakespeare Library, Free Library of Philadelphia - Parkway Central Library, Library of Freer and Sackler Galleries of Asian Art - Smithsonian Libraries, New York Public Library - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Princeton University - Firestone Library, The Library Company of Philadelphia, The Morgan Library & Museum, The Rosenbach Museum & Library, University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt Library

Member Connections

Friends

nisgolsand, WellReadSoutherner

Contacts

lorannen