The Alphabet: a Key to the History of Mankind

David Diringer

Published by Philosophical Library, 1948

About this Item

Philosophical Library [Published Date: no date listed, circa 1948]. Probable reprint of First Edition. In good condition/ NO dust jacket. Red cloth covered boards with gold lettering on spine. Light bumping to edges of covers and light overall scuffing, aging and soiling to covers as well. Binding tight. Pages lightly aged but otherwise unmarked. NOT Ex-Library. NO remainder marks. Black and white illustrations,Contents include: Foreword by Sir Ellis Minns; Preface; Introduction; First Part: Non-Alphabetic Systems of Writing: Cuneiform Writing; Hieroglyphic Writing; Cretan Scripts; Indus Valley Civilization and its Undeciphered Script; Hittites and their Scripts; Chinese Language and Writing; Ancient Central America and Mexico, and their Scripts; Mysterious Script of Easter Island; Other Ideographic Scripts; Syllabic Systems of Writing; Quasi-Alphabetic Scripts; Second Part: Alphabetic Scripts: Origin of Alphabet; South Semitic Alphabets; Canaanite Branch; Aramaic Branch; Non-Semitic Offshoots of Aramaic Branch; Indian Branch; Further-Indian Branch; The Greek Alphabet and its Offshoots; Etruscan and italic Alphabets; The Latin Alphabet; Conclusion; General Bibliography; Index. The Seminal study of the development and history of alphabets throughout human civilization. The book explores both non-alphabetic systems and alphabetic scrips and "proves with a new completeness the astonishing fact that almost certainly every alphabetic writing of any importance derives from one source, and the obscure scripts were devised by men who were aware of the existence of perfected alphabets." Richly illustrated and detailed. David Diringer (1900 - 1975), a British linguist and paleographer born in Tlumach, Galicia, was a leading expert in the study of ancient scripts. His extensive work on the history of writing and alphabets, including this seminal book, has had a lasting impact on the study of linguistic and cultural history. Seller Inventory # 20240824029

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Alphabet: a Key to the History of Mankind

Publisher: Philosophical Library

Publication Date: 1948

Binding: hardcover

Condition: Good

Edition: First Edition.