The Library
1774 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
501–600
2 works
c. 554–560
Greek
Procopius of Caesarea · c. 500 – c. 565
A catalogue of Justinian's construction across the empire, opening with Hagia Sophia — a dome that seems not to rest on solid masonry but to hang by a golden chain from heaven — and running on through churches, forts, cisterns, and bridges.
563
Greek
Paul the Silentiary · d. c. 575
A poem recited before Justinian at the rededication after the dome fell and was rebuilt: over a thousand lines on marble quarried from every province, on the silver screen and the altar, and on the lamps at night making the church visible to sailors far out at sea.
901–1000
1 work
c. 900–925
Armenian
Tovma Artsruni
An Armenian noble house chronicled from Adam to the writer's own day under Arab rule, with an eyewitness account of the invasions, the sieges, and the building of the church of the Holy Cross at Aghtamar, described stone by stone.
1101–1200
1 work
c. 1144–1149
Latin
Abbot Suger · 1081–1151
An account of rebuilding the abbey church of Saint-Denis, with the reasoning behind its light-filled choir: the dull mind rises to truth through material things.
1201–1300
1 work
c. 1286–1291
Latin
William Durandus · c. 1230–1296
An exhaustive allegorical explanation of the church building, its furnishings, the vestments, the mass, and the year — every column, colour, and gesture given a meaning.
5 of 1774 works