Book burning

[[File:Book burning.JPG|thumb|right|165px|A good old fashioned book burning, Nazi-style.]]{{media}}
{{cquote|Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us... Those who don't build must burn.|||''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'' by Ray Bradbury}}
{{cquote|Now, they didn't burn the books, they pulped them, which is more civilized.{{efn|Well, ''it is'', since the paper can be recycled.}} Also, books don't burn very well actually, I'm told, they're kind of like bricks,{{efn|Especially if they're kept intact with covers closed. Solid-state chemistry is all about surface area.}} but pulping works. And it wasn't just our book that was eliminated, it was all the books published by that publisher.|||[[Noam Chomsky]]<ref>''[https://chomsky.info/19890315/ Manufacturing Consent]'', Delivered at University of Wisconsin &mdash; Madison, March 15, 1989</ref>}}

'''Book burning''' is done to express condemnation of the content of certain books (and often also [[music]] in the form of LPs or CDs) by piling up the books in question and starting a bonfire with them. It is a symbolic expression of [[censorship]]. Sometimes book burning is not merely symbolic but a real attempt by a government to remove all copies of books opposed by the government from circulation by destroying them.

The irony is that while burning books is an act of [[freedom of speech|freedom of expression]], [[Paradox of tolerance|it is done in opposition to others' use of the same freedoms]], and such events are usually viewed as noxious by the general public. The end result is usually negative publicity for those holding the book burning, although publicity of any sort and getting people riled up is probably what they had in mind in the first place.

While in modern times book burning is largely a [[symbol]]ic act, in centuries past it was a means of completely [[Burning the evidence|erasing human knowledge]] and opinions. Before the printing press, many copies of the written word were unique, and burning them therefore rendered the contents lost forever.{{efn|Indeed, those who study written works that pre-date mass copying try to find every copy of old texts. Scribes often made errors or intentional alterations while copying texts, which can tell us a lot about the history of the work and how people responded to it. People often wrote {{wpl|marginalia}} in texts they were using; [[Fermat's last theorem]] was famously stated in one such note. And because paper, parchment, etc. was often precious and scarce, {{wpl|Palimpsest|they were sometimes re-used|,}} and copies of previously-lost works have been recovered from these with modern technology.}}

==Examples (in rough chronological order)==
===Ancient history===
[[File:Book burning.PNG|thumb|Lookee ma! We're havin' us a good ol' fashion'd buk burnin'!!]]

There are some exaggerated accounts from these times. Also, fire was a huge problem in ancient cities, as they obviously didn't have a modern scientific understanding of fire, nor did they have things like fire sprinklers. In China, the first emperor of [[Imperial China]], Qin Shihuangdi, is said to have gathered all of the books (and their authors) that didn't have practical application ([[literature]], [[history]], [[philosophy]], etc.) and had them burned and buried; this is known by the rather literal name of the {{wpl|Burning of books and burying of scholars|"burning of books and burying of scholars" (焚书坑儒)|.}}<ref>[http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/china/bookburn.html The Burning of Books 213 BC]</ref> Modern historians instead explain that he may have had it done on a small scale to "make an example"; it's unlikely he actually did it throughout his entire realm.

[[File:Killing the Scholars, Burning the Books.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Burying of scholars and burning of books during the Qin dynasty.]]

The ancient {{wpl|Library of Alexandria}} was burned a bunch of times, although at least some of them appear to have been accidental. The accounts we have are spotty;<ref>[https://archive.ph/d2bV The Burning of the Library of Alexandria]. Archived from ehistory.osu.edu.</ref> according to ancient sources, one of the fires occured accidentally during Julius Caesar's siege of the city in 48 BC, although whether the blaze actually spread to the library itself or simply to surrounding buildings which also housed scrolls and manuscripts is not specified.<ref group="note">"During the combat orders were issued to set fire to the royal fleet, which by chance was drawn on shore. The flames spread to part of the city and there burned four hundred thousand books stored in a building which happened to be nearby. So perished that marvellous monument of the literary activity of our ancestors, who had gathered together so many great works of brilliant geniuses." — Orosius, Book 6, Chapter 15</ref> What is certain is that the last remnants of the library were destroyed for good some time towards the end of the third century, a tragic and priceless loss of ancient knowledge.<ref group="note">The Library was said to contain pretty much every widely-distributed written work of the ancient [[Western world]], as every written work that passed through the city was copied and the copy deposited in the Library.</ref> The Serapeum, a [[pagan]] temple which was referred to as a "daughter"<ref>https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/paganism/daughter.html</ref> of the Great Library, was destroyed at the end of the fourth century due to sectarian rioting in Alexandria; while some sources state that the building housed an "irreplaceable collection of classical literature",<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Theophilus-of-Alexandria</ref> others claim that by this point there "was no remaining "Great Library" in the sense of the iconic vast, priceless collection" of scrolls".<ref>{{cite book |last=Theodore |first=Jonathan |date=2016 |title=The Modern Cultural Myth of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Modern_Cultural_Myth_of_the_Decline/3QPWDAAAQBAJ?hl=en |location=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=182 |isbn=978-1-137-56996-7}}</ref> The destruction of the Serapeum is attributed to the [[Christian]] Saint Theophilus of Alexandria,<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Theophilus-of-Alexandria</ref> although he was clearly "encouraged"<ref>https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/paganism/serapeum.html</ref> by Emperor Theodosius I, who at the time was engaged in the "vigorous suppression of paganism".<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I</ref>

Ten libraries, including the {{wpl|House of Wisdom||,}} were destroyed during the Mongol sacking of Baghdad in 1258. Baghdad was the largest city in the world at the time and was the intellectual center of much of the Western world, but the Mongol invasion put an end to all of that. One library managed to survive and is a valuable collection of old and beautiful works, but in 2014 it's been threatened again by [[DAESH]] militants.<ref>[https://www.middleeasteye.net/features/where-books-werent-burned-baghdads-ancient-library Where the books weren’t burned: Baghdad’s ancient library], Tom Westcott, ''Middle East Eye'' 28 March 2018</ref>

Spanish friar {{wpl|Diego de Landa}} burned almost all of the [[Maya]]ns' books in 1562 in an attempt to destroy their religion and culture. Only three books survived the blaze.<ref>[https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/spanish-invasion/burning-maya-books The burning of [Maya] books], ''Mexicolore'' 13 August 2016</ref> Despite this horrific erasure, he did document and research the Mayan culture that scholars found invaluable. De Landa's writings on the so-called "Maya alphabet"{{efn|Maya writing is logosyllabic, not alphabetic. This actually stumped decipherment efforts for centuries, as De Landa compiled a list of 27 Spanish letters alongside Maya glyps that were pronounced similarly predicated on the false belief that Maya writing was alphabetic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/mayan.htm|title=Mayan hieroglyphic script|last=Ager|first=Simon|publisher=Omniglot: the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages}}</ref>}} were [[ironically]] integral to the effort to decrypt the {{wpl|Maya script||.}}<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mayacode/time-nf.html "Cracking the Maya Code"] - PBS Nova.</ref> Fortunately, while most Maya writing that was put to the regional equivalent of paper was destroyed by the Spanish, we have plenty of surviving examples of Maya writing that was either carved into stone or painted onto pottery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/655/maya-writing/|title=Maya Writing|last=Cartwright|first=Mark|date=February 12, 2014|publisher=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref> We also have plenty of examples of ''post''-conquest Maya literature, as Maya scribes wrote down their histories and lore using the newly introduced {{wpl|Latin script||.}}<ref>For examples, you can see the [[Wikipedia]] articles on the ''{{wpl|Popol Vuh}}'' and the ''{{wpl|Chilam Balam||.}}''</ref>

===Modern history===
Copying books have been easier so destroying texts are considered more symbolic than effective, but they still happen.

===United States===
During the late 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> century, the [[United States]] was dedicated to destroying any literature it considered to be obscene, such as [[pornography]]. [[Anthony Comstock]], the head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, boasted about overseeing the destruction of 15 tons of books. However, "Comstock’s idea of what was obscene was expansive and included Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” anatomy textbooks for medical students and especially anything providing people with information about [[contraception]]. “Books are feeders for brothels,” he declared."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20211113155436/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/11/13/book-burning-history/ Burning books: 6 outrageous, tragic and weird examples in history] by Gillian Brockell (November 13, 2021) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> The NYSSV would lead the charge to ban hardcore X-rated smut like James Joyce's ''Ulysses'' and D.H. Lawrence's ''Lady Chatterley's Lover''.

In 1956, over 6 tons of [[psychologist]] [[Wilhelm Reich]]'s books, journals and papers were burned by the [[FDA]] by court order, perhaps the largest ever intentional single book burning event in US history.<ref name=sharaf>''Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich'' by Myron Sharaf (1994) Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306805758.</ref>{{rp|460}}

By the 21<sup>st</sup> history, the idea of book burning faded into public conscience, but usually, book burnings were held by batshit [[fundies]]. The Amazing Grace Baptist Church, a small [[King James Only]] [[Independent Baptist]] church in [[North Carolina]], gained international media attention in 2009 for announcing a [[Halloween]] book burning of all versions of the [[Bible]] other than the King James, plus "[[Satanic]]" books by Christian authors like [[Rick Warren]], [[Billy Graham]], [[Oral Roberts]], [[Jimmy Swaggart]], and [[Mother Teresa]]. Before this, most people were unaware that burnings ''still'' happened, and the shock of the content to be burned was too much.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091223134307/http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/general/2009/10/halloween-book-burning-at-baptist-church-to-include-copies-of-the-bible/ Halloween Book Burning at Baptist Church to Include Copies of the Bible] by Adam Bodendieck (10.14.2009 5:48 pm) ''STLtoday.com''.</ref>

Even the 2010s in the United States saw a few prolific book burnings. Another extremist American Christian group, Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, [[Florida]], gained notoriety when the pastor, [[Terry Jones]], announced plans to burn the [[Qur'an]] on the 9<sup>th</sup> anniversary of [[9/11]]. When death threats and pleas against the burning from prominent fundies and politicians were lobbed in his direction, he chickened out on holding it… until April 2011, when the church "judged" it and burnt a copy on the barbie. Then, of course, this made other extremist [[Afghan]] [[Muslims]] whipped into a tizzy over it and killed members of a [[United Nations]] contingency. Then, of course, some politicians in majority-Muslim countries called for his execution while Western politicians blamed the old git for the riot deaths and the [[Religious Right]] and other [[far-right]] groups pointed to the whole thing as proof that Muslims are all violent savages. ([[Fatwa envy|They should be the ones deciding who to execute, dammit!]])

====High-tech book burning====
In 2025, the US high-tech company Anthropic admitted in court documents that they had spent millions of dollars scanning millions of books in process that destroyed the books. The company did this to build its [[Large language model#Claude|large language model named Claude]]. Book scanning does not require book destruction; the company chose to do this to save time and money.<ref>[https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/anthropic-destroyed-millions-of-print-books-to-build-its-ai-models/ Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to build its AI models. Company hired Google’s book-scanning chief to cut up and digitize "all the books in the world."] by Benj Edwards (Jun 25, 2025 1:00 PM) ''Ars Technica''.</ref><ref>[https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25982181/authors-v-anthropic-ruling.pdf Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, Plaintiffs, v. Anthropic PBC] (06/23/25) United States District Court, Northern District Of California. C 24-05417 WHA.</ref>

===Germany===
One of the more infamous examples, the [[Nazi]]s held large-scale book burnings in the 1930s to destroy all "un-German" or "[[degenerate]]" works.<ref>[http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/gallery/01622.htm A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust]</ref> See also the [[Modern art and architecture#Degenerate art|degenerate art section in Modern art and architecture]]. In a 1935, a ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial decried the Nazi book burnings, noting that the books were burnt because they were critical of the government, whereas the concurrent book burnings of allegedly obscene literature in New York City were done to guard "[[Morality|public morals]]", which sounds quite similar to destroying "obscene" literature in the United States.<ref name=gertzman>''Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940'' by Jay A. Gertzman (2011) University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812205855. p. 142.</ref><ref>"Culture Burns Bright" (March 18, 1935) ''New York Times'', p. 16.</ref> What the editorial did not say was that the Nazi burnings were also justified under the guise of public morals.<ref name=gertzman/> One particularly notable incident was the burning of the ''Institut für Sexualwissenschaft'' (roughly Institute of Sexology), which resulted in the burning of much of the literature of the time about [[LGBTQ]]+ people.<ref>[https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lgbtq-institute-in-germany-was-burned-down-by-nazis LGBTQ Institute in Germany Was Burned Down by Nazis], Lucy Diavolo, ''Teen Vogue'' 20 September 2017</ref> The Nazis came to full power in 1933 following the February 28 decree eliminated most [[civil liberties]]. On May 6, the Institute of Sexology's library had been destroyed by the ''Sturmabteilung'', the Nazi paramilitary organization.<ref>[https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/magnus-hirschfeld-2 Magnus Hirschfeld] ''United States Holocaust Museum''.</ref>

===Chile===
[[File:Quema de libros.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Burning left-wing books during the early days of the Chilean military regime]]
The military following the 1973 coup that installed [[Augusto Pinochet|General Pinochet]]'s dictatorship also committed to book burnings. Tragicomically, the dumb-as-sugar-cubes Chilean soldiers even burned books on [[art|Cubism]] because they thought it had something to do with the [[Cuba|Cuban]] Revolution.<ref>''Human Rights in Chile: Hearings Before the Subcommittees on Inter-American Affairs and on International Organizations and Movements of the Committee on Foreign Affairs'' (1974).</ref>
One prolific example involved Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart's book, ''Para Leer al Pato Donald'' in 1972,<ref>''Para Leer al Pato Donald'' by Ariel Dorfman & Armand Mattelart (1972). Siglo veintiuno Argentina. Second edition: ''Para Leer al Pato Donald. Comunicacion de Masa y Colonialismo'' (2010) Siglo XXI Editores. ISBN 6070302338.</ref> was an anti-[[Disney]] and anti-[[American imperialism]] comic book that replaced captions in Donald Duck comics with scathing analysis. Dorfman worked in the government during the presidency of [[Salvador Allende]] (1970-1973). After the military coup, Dorfman was able to escape to a safe house. They immediately turned on the TV where they saw a live broadcast of one of his books burning by the military. Dorfman believes he may have been the first person to have seen his own book being burned on live TV.<ref name=cereijido>[https://www.npr.org/2017/11/24/564848554/this-chilean-writer-put-his-life-on-the-line-by-critiquing-donald-duck This Chilean Writer Put His Life on the Line by Critiquing Donald Duck] by Antonia Cereijido (Nov 17, 2017) ''Latino USA'' (NPR).</ref><ref name=dorfman>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-read-donald-trump_us_59bab293e4b02da0e13ff9d1 How To Read Donald Trump: On burning books but not ideas] by Ariel Dorfman (09/14/2017 01:00 pm ET) ''Huffington Post''.</ref>{{efn|The English-translation of ''Para Leer al Pato Donald'', called [https://monoskop.org/images/2/28/Dorfman_Ariel_Mattelart_Armand_How_to_Read_Donald_Duck.pdf ''How to Read Donald Duck''],<ref>''How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic'' (1975) by Ariel Dorfman & Armand Mattelart (1975). International General. ISBN 0884770036.</ref> became a test case for the [[fair use]] principle of [[copyright]] [[law]] when a shipment of the books from the [[UK]] to the US was seized by customs. The authors prevailed over Disney, but only 1500 copies were allowed to be imported due to an arcane 19<sup>th</sup> century law.<ref name=cereijido/><ref name=dorfman/>}}

==In popular media==
*One quote about book burning comes from the famous [[Jewish]]-German poet {{wpl|Heinrich Heine||,}} who wrote in his 1823 play ''Almansor: A Tragedy'' a truly prophetic line: "Where they burn books, they'll end up burning people, too"<ref>Original line in German: "Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen."</ref> (the line in the play referred to people burning or wanting to burn copies of the [[Qur'an]]). About a century later, [[Nazi Germany|a certain regime]] did exactly that. The quote now appears as a memorial inscription at {{wpl|Dachau concentration camp|Dachau|.}}<ref>[http://www.ifla.org/node/9361 Quotes on Intellectual Freedom and Censorship: Book burning] International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions</ref>
*Several of [[Jack Chick]]'s comics end with a book burning at a [[church]] after a new convert to [[Christianity]] renounces his/her former "Satanic" activities, and burns their [[Dungeons and Dragons]] materials, [[Ouija]] boards, [[Tarot]] cards, [[heavy metal music |heavy-metal music]], and those filthy romance novels with [[adultery]] and bad language.
*In the disaster movie ''[[The Day After Tomorrow]]'', several survivors camping in the New York Public Library use books as fuel for a campfire to keep from freezing to death. One of the survivors, a librarian, protests this decision, while another survivor suggests that they burn all of the [[tax]] books.
*Ray Bradbury's novel ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'' depicts a future [[dystopia]] of hedonism and [[anti-intellectualism]] in which books are forbidden. The job title of "fireman" no longer means a firefighter, but somebody employed to seek out and burn books (with the 451 in the title being the temperature at which book paper catches fire). In an example of supreme irony, ''Fahrenheit 451'' itself was burned in [[South Africa]] during [[apartheid]] by government authorities.<ref>https://theconversation.com/how-the-apartheid-regime-burnt-books-in-their-tens-of-thousands-102355</ref>
*Otis Oracle, a character in the comic {{wpl|Bloom County||,}} is head of the local chapter of the [[Moral Majority]]. He holds a book burning which the ever-mischievous Milo Bloom sabotages by bringing some foul and vile [[Pat Boone]] records to burn.

==In the Bible==
[[File:Papists burning Luther's works.jpg|thumb|right|165px|[[Papist]]s burning [[Martin Luther]]'s works (16<sup>th</sup> century)]]
{{main|Bible}}
*{{bible|Acts|19|18|20}}: ''"And many that believed, came and confessed and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used [[Witchcraft|curious arts]], brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of [[God]] and prevailed."''

==What to bring==
*The offensive materials
*Matches and lighter fluid, or {{wpl|Pyrophoricity|other fun pyromaniac instruments}}
*Fire extinguisher (for when the priest stands too close)
*Chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, hot dogs, etc.
*[[Bible]] (however, burning the KJV is looked down upon)
*Hymn Book
*Fundamentalist, closed-minded attitude

==Sikh tradition==
{{main|Sikhism}}
Sikhs sometimes burn their own holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib (or just "Granth"). Sikhs believe the Granth to be an [[reincarnation|incarnation]] of their final [[guru]], and hence treat it similarly to a living person. In Sikhism, when a person dies the preferred funeral method is cremation. Hence, when a copy of the Granth becomes unreadable it is considered to have died. Thus, the Granth is burned in a special ceremony.<ref>http://www.unitedsikhs.org/ghanaia/0121051.html</ref> In this case it is more like book cremation than book burning.

==Burning books as necessity==
In order to cut down on stock, libraries sometimes burn books. Although it may be obvious that outdated phone books and other such materials are burned, antiques are sometimes also burned. They cannot simply give the books away in most cases, as any indication of which library the book came from will result in someone trying to return the book down the line.<ref>The Guardian &mdash; [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/aug/14/society The British Library is destroying thousands of books.]</ref>

Outside of libraries, book-burning is necessary for soldiers overseas due to the limited space and lack of return options. Sending them two boxes of your books — instead of, you know, actually useful supplies — in order to self-promote is not recommended.<ref>Huffington Post &mdash; [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/bill-oreilly-book-burned-_n_1021465.html Bill O'Reilly Book Burned By Soldiers In Afghanistan]</ref>

==Instead of burning books==
[[File:Book burning exhibit at the Muhlenberg branch library on West 23rd Street, Manhattan. The New York Public Library Archives (NYPL b11524053-1252927).tiff|thumb|right|165px|Stop book burning (1942).]]
Burning books is ''wrong''. Instead, you should have them taken out and shot.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090116150008/http://boingboing.net/2008/06/27/apocryphal-anecdote.html#comment-221882 (Apocryphal?) anecdote about Fahrenheit 451, comment #38 by error404 (June 28, 2008 6:24 PM) ''BoingBoing'' (archived from January 16, 2009). The shooting of ''Dianetics''.]</ref> (Banks in fact still has the copy in question.){{efn|Of course, lethal injection (say, of a concentrated strong acid or base that will destroy the book's medium) might be considered more humane.}} Even though they're cheaper, burning e-books is '''not''' recommended,<ref>http://xkcd.com/750/</ref> though you CAN burn them on a CD or DVD. Consider reselling, gifting/donating, or [[Waste hierarchy|reusing or recycling]] unwanted books instead.

==See also==
*[[Satanic panic]]

==External links==
*{{wpa|List of book-burning incidents}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Anti-intellectualism]]
[[Category:Authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Censorship]]

Categories: Anti-intellectualism, Authoritarianism, Censorship