THE GREEK PERIOD
with Alexandria, is by no means so meagre or indefinite as is commonly supposed.
What may be called the recorded history of Greek libraries begins perhaps only with Draco (670? B.C.), Solon, and Pisistratus. Inferential history however leads back to the time of Hesiod and Homer, and there is even some real evidence of collections of Orphic literature and Oracle archives from long before the Persian wars. Certainly there were private literary collections and Record Office collections before 610 B.C., and from this time on there was at least a systematic public archive in Athens, while from the time of Pisistratus, it is alleged, and certainly from the time of his son Hipparchus, there were public literary collections.
From this time on too every archeion or administrative department implies a collection of records, and every Museum
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