THE GREEK PERIOD
Alexander living until 325 and Aristotle until 322, one may well suppose that it was not only the example of the Museum library as sometimes said, which taught the Egyptian kings, but that the Museum itself, with its library, was founded under the direct advice of Aristotle and in his lifetime.
The museum library of Alexandria was by far the most famous of ancient libraries, and first appears in the history of Biblical libraries in connection with the procuring (c. 285 B.C.) for it by Demetrius Phalerius the alleged "library-keeper" of Ptolemy II as related by Josephus (XII, 2) of the writings of the Jews. It has been inferred that this was the time of its foundation, but the inference is rather of a library already existing and a zealous librarian trying to enrich it.
"The occasion was this: Demetrius Phalerius, who was library-keeper to the
[161]
