A Map of Banned Books

Libricide: also known as biblioclasm or book-burning, is the ceremonious burning or shredding of books, generally due to moral, religious or political objections to the material.

Historic LibricidesDestruction of the Library of Alexandria: Although the source of the actual destruction is unclear, the loss of the Library of Alexandria between 48 b.c. and 600 a.d. significantly reduced our knowledge of the ancient world.

Historic LibricidesDestruction of the House of Wisdom in Bagdad: In 1258, Mongol invaders destroyed the library, heaving massive quantities of books into the Tigris River. It is said that the river ran black for several months from the ink on the thousands of books.

Historic Libricides

Burning of the Koran During the Spanish Inquisition: Hashar Ahmad said of these burnings, “"Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings."

Historic LibricidesNazi Book-Burnings: “The future German man will not just be a man of books, but a man of character. It is to this end that we want to educate you. As a young person, to already have the courage to face the pitiless glare, to overcome the fear of death, and to regain respect for death - this is the task of this young generation. And thus you do well in this midnight hour to commit to the flames the evil spirit of the past. This is a strong, great and symbolic deed - a deed which should document the following for the world to know”

—Joseph Goebbels

Other Libricides•Chinese Philosophy books•Protragoras’s “On the Gods”•Roman History Book•Torah Scroll•Sorcery Scrolls•Epicurus’s Book•Christian Books•Books of Arianism•Library of Antioch•Etrusca Disciplina•Ovid•Arabic Books at Andalucia•Tynalde’s New Testament•History of Italie•Maya Sacred Books•Luther’s Bible Translation•Quaker Books•Hobbes Books•The Code Napoleon•Ivan Bloch’s Research•Book Burnings in Communist Russia•Irish National Archives•Andre Malraux’s Manuscript•Kurdish Books in Iran•Comic Books in West Virginia•Chinese Genealogy Books•Salman Rushdie’s Books•University Library in Sarajevo•Harry Potter Books •Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Cuba•Koran Burning (Unsuccessful) in Florida