The Library of Alexandria - Myth vs History

The Library of Alexandria has become more the stuff of legend than reliable history.  What do we know about the origins of the Library?  What were the scope and size of it's holdings - did it really contain hundreds of thousands of book rolls and did it hold ancient, arcane wisdom?  And, finally, what was responsible for the destruction that allegedly plunged the west into the Dark Ages.  Let's separate the myths from historical evidence by situating the founding of the library in Hellenistic empire building, the size of the library  using what we know about ancient books and libraries and learn that the library probably died as much from neglect as conflagration.  

Consider Supporting Esoterica!
Patreon - Patreon: esotericachannel
Paypal Donation - https://www.paypal.me/esotericachannel
Merch - @theesotericachannel

Recommended Readings

Bagnall - Alexandria: Library of Dreams - https://archive.org/details/bagnall-2...
Did Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab Burn the Library of Alexandria? - Did Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab Burn t...