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I have not read this article but what fascinates me in this context is that it is very difficult to estimate how many works have survived time at all and how ma

I have not read this article but what fascinates me in this context is that it is very difficult to estimate how many works have survived time at all and how many are lost? Most historians assume only ~1% has survived. Written works are better conserved than music and everyday language. I stumbled over this information in the book "Offline!" by Thomas Grüter, a highly recommended read, by the way. Among others, it tackles the question if future historians will know more about our time than we know about the past.

pixodaros 4y ago
Epistemology in ancient history is hard, but we know enough to make good estimates of the survival rate of ancient Greek and Latin literary texts http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2009/10/26/reference-for-the-claim-that-only-1-of-ancient-literature-survives/ http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2009/10/26/reference-for-... Roger S. Bagnall, "Alexandria: Library of Dreams" https://archive.nyu.edu/handle/2451/28263 https://archive.nyu.edu/handle/2451/28263 https://historyforatheists.com/2017/10/lost-books-photios-bibliotheca/ https://historyforatheists.com/2017/10/lost-books-photios-bi...