Page:A Brief Outline of the Histories of Libraries.djvu/43

Rh Ptolemy bought them, and transferred them, with others which he purchased in Athens and Rhodes, to fair Alexandria. Other writers, however, do not assent to this statement, as I shall show presently. This much is admitted, however, that he founded a library and collected for it books of every kind from all parts of the world, even seeking out the sacred books of the Hebrews. As soon as the fame of the wisdom of the Hebrews reached his ears, he sent and demanded the books which contained it, and employed men skilled in such matters to translate them into Greek for the common use of all. This translation was called the Septuagint from the number