Page:A Brief Outline of the Histories of Libraries.djvu/53

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Of Libraries
47

day are to be found in the library of Ptolemy in the Serapeum books in Hebrew characters." Note that, according to this remark of Tertullian's, the library was again installed in the Serapeum, that is, in its porticoes or galleries; and note, further, that Strabo and others tell us that the Serapeum was near the harbour and the ships. Note, once more, that it was called the Ptolemaic library, though it was in fact not the original library, but a similar one; for the original Hebrew texts and the original translation called the Septuagint had perished in the flames. And yet once more note that the reputation and ancient authority of this library were so great that