Pinakes

work by Callimachus

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July 1, 2026

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The Pinakes was a monumental bibliographical work by the Greek poet and scholar Callimachus. Created for the Library of Alexandria, it served as a catalog of the library's vast collection. The Pinakes detailed authors and their works, organized into various fields of learning such as rhetoric, law, poetry, history, and medicine.12

Although only fragments of the Pinakes survive, it is recognized as a foundational work in bibliography. Callimachus's meticulous approach set a standard for cataloging and scholarship, influencing similar works for centuries, including an Arabic index from the 10th century.1

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Callimachus
…the most famous was the Pinakes (“Tables of Those Who Have Distinguished Themselves in Every Form of Culture and of What They Wrote”) in 120 books. This work consisted of an elaborate critical and biographical catalog of the authors of the works held in the Library of Alexandria.
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…the most famous was the Pinakes (“Tables of Those Who Have Distinguished Themselves in Every Form of Culture and of What They Wrote”) in 120 books. This work consisted of an elaborate critical and biographical catalog of the authors of the works held in the Library of Alexandria.
Read More

classical scholarship
Library of Alexandria
240 bc) compiled the Pinakes (“Tablets”), a vast catalogue raisonné of the chief authors, with biographical and bibliographical information. Callimachus is said to have written a book opposing the chief Peripatetic critic of the time, Praxiphanes, and is widely held to have criticized Peripatetic literary theory; but the scantiness…
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240 bc) compiled the Pinakes (“Tablets”), a vast catalogue raisonné of the chief authors, with biographical and bibliographical information. Callimachus is said to have written a book opposing the chief Peripatetic critic of the time, Praxiphanes, and is widely held to have criticized Peripatetic literary theory; but the scantiness…
Read More