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A Brief History
Euclid the Athenian, Nicocrates the Cyprian, Euripides the poet, and Aristotle the philosopher. I have little of detail to say about any of these men. Of Pisistratus it should be noted that A. Gellius gave to him the honour of being the pioneer in this art of forming a library; though Polycrates had one at about the same time. A. Gellius says, to quote his very words, "Pisistratus the Tyrant is said to have been the first to make for public use in Athens a collection of books on the liberal arts." Here, then, was indeed a great man,—he was called the "Tyrant," but the word did not convey at that time the odium it does to-day,—and to him we owe the text of Homer collected
