Battle of the Books et al

The Battle of the Books is the name of a short satire written by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) and published as part of the prolegomena to his A Tale of a Tub in 1704, though it was written as early as 1697. It depicts a literal battle between books in the King's Library (housed in St. James's Palace at the time of the writing), as ideas and authors struggle for supremacy. Because of the satire, The Battle of the Books has become a term for the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.