The story of the book starts long before the book looked like a book. From the very beginning man has tried to find ways to communicate with others and to store a record of his life. In this lesson you will discover the earliest attempts at this communication. You will uncover the various types of writing materials used from the beginning of time through the early Middle Ages and discover their importance in both religion and society. From Mesopotamia to Egypt, and from China to Greece, you’ll encounter one of the world’s best uniting forces – written language.

1. Ancestors Books Before Print Lesson 1: The History of the Book

2. Table of Contents Welcome Course Description About this Course Introduction Lesson Overview Lesson Objectives & Materials The Beginning of Writing What is a Book? Historical Overview Early Communication Early Writing Materials Clay Tablets Papyrus Scrolls Ostraka Parchment Wax Tablets Palm-Leaf Books Paper The Codex Illuminated Manuscripts The Codex Why Replace the Roll? Creating a Codex Scribal Work Rubrication & Illumination Binding

3. Welcome To…The History of the Book!

4. Course Description This course will give you a brief introduction into the history of the book. From its ancestral origins in cuneiform, papyrus and parchment to Gutenberg’s printing press, the modern paperback and electronic books of today, learn about the technological advances that helped civilizations communicate with one another and record both their history and their dreams.

5. About This Course There is a required text for this course: The Book: The Life Story of a Technology by Nicole Howard For each lesson, you will: Read one chapter in the text. Review the lesson PowerPoint containing additional material and links to outside sources such as videos. Submit a lesson reflection. Take an untimed, open book test. This course is set-up in an independent study fashion; so you are responsible for managing your time and turning in the assignments on time. Assignments completed or turned in after the due date will receive no credit. Pace yourself as you work through the materials so that you have ample time to complete the required assignments. If you have any questions, please contact the instructor BEFORE the due date has passed. If you want to work ahead and finish the course early, feel free to do so. For additional information, refer to the course syllabus.

6. Time Management Plan to schedule 3-5 hours for each lesson in this course. This is equivalent to meeting once a week for a typical semester long on-campus course and having an hour of outside work for each meeting... a very typical set-up. What makes this course different from a typical class is that all of those hours are independent and outside of the classroom. Also, this course is condensed into a single 6-week period. Plan Accordingly. It is also recommended that you schedule those hours over a series of days instead of trying to do all the work in one setting. If you allow your brain some time to process the material, you will find the reflection and tests easier to complete.

7. Introduction

8. Lesson Overview The story of the book starts long before the book looked like a book. From the very beginning man has tried to find ways to communicate with others and to store a record of his life. In this lesson you will discover the earliest attempts at this communication. You will uncover the various types of writing materials used from the beginning of time through the early Middle Ages and discover their importance in both religion and society. From Mesopotamia to Egypt, and from China to Greece, you’ll encounter one of the world’s best uniting forces – written language. “The development of writing, of books and of libraries has been an evolutionary process. The trail from the earliest cave paintings to the latest electronic devices has been long but it has been direct and meaningful. Each step has led logically to the next so that the ladder of man’s achievements in communicating with his neighbors has been clear and substantially continuous.” - Elmer D. JohnsonCommunication, p. 11

9. Lesson Objectives & Materials Successful completion of this lesson will enable you to develop an understanding of the how the recording of written language has changed from ancient times through the Middle Ages. Required Materials: The Book: The Life Story of a Technology – Intro & Chapter 1 Lesson 1 PowerPoint – Be sure to follow links provided Due May 18: Lesson1 Reflection Test1

10. The Beginning of Writing

11. What is a Book? The concept of a book has changed over time. During the 20th century, it was an object composed of inked sheets folded, cut and bound again. More recently, books have become screen displays on an electronic machine. Before these modern concepts, books came in other forms. However, all books have a common thread. “Books” are in essence: A storehouse of human knowledge intended for dissemination in the form of an artifact that is portable – or at least transportable – and that contains arrangements of signs that convey information (Kilgour, 1998, p. 3)

12. Historical Overview Over the last five thousand years there have been four transformations of the “book” in which each manifestation has differed from its predecessors in shape and structure. For each of these major innovations five concurrent elements were necessary: Societal need for information Technological knowledge and expertise Organizational experience and capability The capability of integrating a new form into existing information systems Economic viability (Kilgour, 1998, pp. 5-6)

13. Early Communication The earliest communication involved a series of grunts or cries supplemented with gestures and/or sign language This was not enough for “the imperative needs of the human spirit.” Led man to drawings and pictures to express himself. This was the first effort “to make thought or feeling visible in a lasting form.” While some drawings were accurate representations of animals and humans, others were shorthanded equivalents and outlines that we can even understand today. Thus, without knowing it, man had created writing. Cave drawings evolved into pictographs, then into ideograms, and finally into phonograms. This prehistoric petroglyph (rock drawing) is typical of those found along the Columbia River. Some examples of this type of historical record are believed to be 7,000 years old.2 (McMurtrie, 1937, p. 1)

14. Early Writing Materials The first attempts at writing were on natural surfaces of rocks and walls. Later, faces of cliffs were smoothed and planed for monumental inscriptions. Darius the Great left a gigantic record on the cliff of Behistun in Persia. Huge boulders and great slabs of rock, or megaliths, were artificially set in place and inscribed. Egyptians later dressed the stone to create their obelisks. Small stones were also used Man probably also wrote on more perishable materials such as hides, wood, or bark. However, the only surviving writing samples from these ancient times are on stone, metal, or pottery. In more recent times, Native Americans drew their pictographs on buffalo skins or birch bark. The Monuments of Blau ( 5500-5000 B.C.), represent some of the earliest known records of pictographs. These two pieces of thin greenish stone are inscribed with pre-cuneiform characters and are housed in the British Museum.8 (McMurtrie, 1937, p. 8-10)

15. Clay Tablets of Mesopotamia Probably the earliest surviving true writing material (used for the same purposes that we use paper and ink). Characters were jabbed rather than drawn onto clay tablets while still soft with a stylus to make wedge-shaped marks. This writing was called Cuneiform from the Latin word cunneus, meaning wedge. After the writing was done, the tablets were baked until they were as hard as a brick. “Contents range from state documents, codes of laws, treaties, and the like through religious treatises and works of science, history, and literature to court actions, partnership agreements, contracts, and even promissory notes.” Administrative tablet with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars, 3100–2900 B.C.9 (McMurtrie, 1937, pp. 10-11)

16. Birth & Development of Writing VIDEO: Birth of Writing (3 min) People living in southern Mesopotamia developed one of the earliest writing systems in the world. The system was developed so that information could be recorded. This writing system began with pictures or signs drawn on clay tablets. The signs changed over many years.10

17. Papyrus Ancient Egyptians used the papyrus sheet or roll and the reed brush. One of the oldest records of the Egyptians using papyrus is from a relief on the tomb of Ti, at Sakkara, dating to the 27th century B.C. showing a pair of scribes at work. Scribes made their own ink as they needed it. The primary color was black. However, red ink was also used for the introductory words of paragraphs. This tradition carried over into medieval Europe. The reed brush was created by chewing the end of a reed to fray the fibers. Thus, writing was a sort of brush painting. The oldest papyrus scrolls which have been found were taking out of mummy cases dating back to about 3500 B.C. Throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, papyrus was the accepted writing material for the ages. The latest know use of it is a papal bull of A.D. 1022 In this letter written in hieratic, a cursive form of hieroglyphics, a man informs his employer of the spread of malicious gossip and how the problem must be addressed. The papyrus was found near the temple at Deir el-Bahri in western Thebes. 11 (McMurtrie, 1937, pp. 11-16)

18. Making Paper from Papyrus VIDEO: Egyptian Papyrus Factory (5 min, 38 sec) Papyrus was used to make paper in ancient times. In medieval times, parchment or vellum were used. Paper made of linen rags, and eventually, of wood pulp, took over. 12

19. Scrolls Scrolls were usually made of sheets of papyrus sewn or glued together. Major Drawback? Very difficult to write on the side on which the strips ran perpendicular to the direction of writing. Ridges of disrupted movement of pen. Later scrolls were made of parchment or paper. Those who wanted to write a letter or a short document would snip off a piece from the roll. Authors of long works would need one or more rolls. For convenience, multiple rolls of long works were kept together in baskets or buckets of leather or wood. Facsimile of a 10th century Byzantine manuscript13 (Casson, 2001, p. 26; Clement, 1997, p. 2)

20. Scroll Features Standard Size: Roll: 30 feet long x 7 to10 inches wide Sheet: 10 x 71/2 inches Writing was in columns about 3 inches wide, called pagina. Rolls started with a blank column to protect the roll. Nothing equivalent to a title-page was present. However, there might be colophon at the end which would contain information about the book. The title or author's name was usually written on a label that was attached to the outside of the roll; it hung down from the shelf and served to identify it. Some scrolls had rods attached to make rolling and unrolling easier and some were kept in leather cases. Muse reading a scroll, perhaps Clio, Boeotia c. 435-425 BC - Louvre. 14 (Casson, 2001, p. 26)

21. Ostraka In addition to using clay tablets and papyrus for permanent records, the Greeks used other materials for their “scratch paper.” Broken pottery was often used Inscribed by scratching with a sharp object or with pen and ink The Greek word for this was ostraka. Ostracism was the institution devised by the Athenians whereby the citizens took a vote on whom in their mist they most wanted to get rid of and the sent the winner of this negative popularity contest into exile, was so called because the voters scratched their candidate’s name on ostraka. Sherds used in an ostracism at Athens15 (Casson, 2001, p. 24)

22. Parchment Prepared skins of animals – primarily sheep or calves Parchment made from calfskin (known as vellum) was the best Because it was smooth, a broad-pointed pen made of reed or quill came into use Known to have been used as early as about 500 B.C. By the 4th century A.D. parchment had become the dominant writing material in Europe. Parchment “books” were often kept in rolls as they were easy to add to since pieces of parchment could conveniently be sewn together as the records grew. 16 (McMurtrie, 1937, pp. 16-17)

23. Making Parchment VIDEO: How Parchment is Made (4 min, 4 sec) Parchment is untanned animal hide that has been dried under tension. It makes an excellent writing surface and has been used for writing since long before the advent of paper.17

24. Wax Tablets Used by the Greeks and Romans for personal correspondence and for the records of business transactions. Made of wood or ivory. Had slightly raised borders with the depression being coated with a thin layer of blackened wax. The stylus had a pointed end for tracing letters in the wax and a blunt, wide end for erasing writing by smoothing out the wax. Often two or three were hinged together A wax tablet was most commonly formed of two pieces of wood and was called a diptych. Sometimes tablets were made of three pieces, called a triptych, or more, called polyptychon. 18 (McMurtrie, 1937, pp. 17-18)

25. Palm-Leaf Books Originate predominantly from the southern and south-eastern areas of Asia, including India, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos. How they are made: Palm leaves are divided into two parts. The leaves are then pressed flat, trimmed, and sanded smooth. They are inscribed with lettering from left to right by using a needle-like instrument that actually cuts into the surface of the leaf. Pigment is rubbed unto the lines to make them visible. The leaves may also be decorated with gilding or illustrations. They are made into “books” by stringing them together through holes in the leaves. Often, the “book” is covered with panels of wood, ivory, or other hard material. Many of these documents are Buddhist religious texts, though other subjects are also found. Written in Sanskrit , the Devimahatmya is a work of in 700 verses arranged into 13 chapters extolling the greatness of the Goddess and her various manifestations. A single verse of the text appears in an inscription on the Dadhimatimata Temple in the former Jodhpur state dated 608 AD.19 (University of Southern Mississippi, 2008)

26. Paper VIDEO:History of Paper (3 min, 6 sec) There was a need for material less costly and more easily worked than parchment or vellum. A.D. 105 – This new process was reported to Emperor Ho To by Ts’aiLun, to who Chinese tradition gives credit for the invention. Ts’aiLun thought of using tree bark, hemp, rags, and fish nets which were not expensive as silk, as heavy as bamboo. Paper dominated Asia for centuries before spreading to the Moslem world and eventually to Europe at the beginning of the 12th century. Paper making has played an important part in the histories of civilizations. Going back to the ancient Egyptians who made papyrus from reeds, paper has been used together with ink and dye to create one of the earliest forms of communication as well as for decorative purposes. 20 (McMurtrie, 1937, p. 61)

27. Making Paper VIDEO:The Papermaking Process (2 min, 8 sec) In the early 700s, the Chinese invention of paper arrived in the Muslim countries of Southwest Asia. Suddenly, making books became cheaper and easier. While parchment was a good writing material, it was made from expensive animal skins. Papyrus was cheap, but not very durable. In comparison, paper could be made from cotton, linen and other plant fibers, or even from old rags. 21

28. The Codex

29. Illuminated Manuscripts VIDEO: Part 1 (9 min, 43 sec) Part 2 (9 min, 44 sec) Part 3 (9 min, 52 sec) Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon visits an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, which contains a treasure trove of the world's most important illuminated manuscripts. Germaine Greer joins the modern-day illustrator Quentin Blake to consider the religious and political power of these beautiful medieval masterpieces, and to assess their place in the history of art and book production.

30. The Codex Lombard Gradual. Northern Italy, mid-fifteenth century. 22 What we think of a book (made up of leaves bound together at the side) appeared centuries after papyrus or parchment rolls. The earliest form of this type of book was the codex. The Codex Benedictus: an eleventh-century lectionary from Monte Cassino. 23 Twelfth-century Beneventan manuscript about 1070. 24 (McMurtrie, 1937, p. 76)

31. Why did the Codex Replace the Roll? More economical. Both sides of the surface could be used. More compact. In the earliest codices the amount of papyrus used was reduced by 50%. It could also be more easily stacked and shelved. More comprehensive. Several works, or individual parts of a work could be brought together instead of being on separate rolls. More convenient to use. The codex is easier to handle. Easier for purposes of reference. It was easier to locate a particular passage on a specific page or folio in a codex. External Pressures. It is highly unlikely that the well-developed book industry of the ancient world would have altered its perfectly acceptable practices in producing rolls in exchange for codices without encouragement. The Christian church had much to do with making the codex popular. The old volumen, or roll, was associated with the literary works of a pagan culture which the early church fathers sought to supplant. Thus the writings of Christian authors were thought to be more appropriately presented in the codex form. (Clement, 1997, p. 3)

32. Creating a Codex Scribes would assemble parchment or paper (or perhaps both), ink, and a pen (a reed in the early Middle Ages or a quill later) They would then produce a quire, or a gathering of leaves. This could be accomplished in one of two ways: Nested - take four sheets of parchment or paper, fold each once (folio), and then nest one inside the other. This was the easiest method with large books. Folded - By folding the sheet twice (bifolium), one obtained a quire of four leaves or eight pages; by folding it three times one obtained eight leaves or sixteen pages-- the standard quire size of the Middle Ages. This was easier with smaller books. (Clement, 1997, p. 9)

33. Then the quire was pricked to produce a series of small, almost invisible, holes to act as guides for ruling each page. These could be made by using A punctorium(a stylus or an awl) - the scribe simply poked holes through the margin of the parchment or paper at regular intervals against a ruler to keep the line of prickings straight. A circinus(a pointed compass or dividers) – maintained a standard interval between prickingsas the scribe pivoted from one leg to the other. A star wheel - When pushed or pulled along a surface would prick it quickly and consistently. The quire was then ruled using one of three methods: Stylus – Created a furrow as it is pulled across the surface Produced rulings that are nearly invisible Could not be used on paper as it would tear Lead plummet (an early form of pencil) Pen and ink In preparation for writing, the scribe might also apply pumice to the surface of the parchment to smooth apply chalk to whiten it apply stanch grain to ensure that the ink would not bleed. Paper required almost no preparation, but the scribe might smooth it with a polished stone. (Clement, 1997, p. 10)

34. Scribal Work Although dictation to a group of scribes was quite common in the ancient world, medieval scribes copied individually. Using an angled desk, a scribe would use a penknife in his opposite hand to hold the writing surface in place and to make erasures by scraping off wet ink. A scribe would begin writing on the recto (first page, right-hand side) of the quire, pausing to let the ink dry before writing on the verso (back of page, or left-hand side) As the scribe finished the verso, he added a quire signature to keep the it in order. Each quire of the book was designated by a letter of the alphabet, and each folio or bifolium of the quire by a number. Thus the second folio of the third quire would be designated Cii. As the scribe finished each page, he would take a fine-nibbed pen and lightly write instructions in the margin on how to fill blank spaces with rubrics, decorations, capitals, pictures, etc. After the text was copied, it was often checked by a corrector who would compare the exemplar to the copy and correct any errors. (Clement, 1997, pp. 10-11)

35. Rubrication & Illumination Specialized scribes would then supplement the text with red ink for emphasis. This could include: Chapter Headings Paragraph Marks Capital Letters Then the codex would be decorated, painted and illuminated by several different scribes and artists. First an outline was created by a led plummet, sometimes with the use of a stencil. It was then inked, making it permanent Then illumination or gilding was applied Finally, it was painted Each color was applied in turn and allowed to dry Highlighting was then added Rubrication and illumination in the Malmesbury Bible from 1407. 25 (Clement, 1997, pp. 11-12)

36. Binding Usually took place after the book was purchased. Directly related to an owner’s willingness to pay for it. The binder made sure quires were in proper order before placing them in a sewing frame. Quires were attached with linen thread to several leather thongs, flat or twisted strips of vellum, or cords. Types of Bindings: Softbound - usually covered in vellum or parchment, though stiffened leather was also used. Hardbound - bound in stout boards or pasteboard and covered in leather, pigskin, etc Other Features Metal bosses on the covers and metal corners for protection when lying flat Titles only on fore-edges Covers held together with metal clasps Decoration - ranged from simple tooling to more detailed panel stamping or elaborate metalwork laden with jewels. This book provides a rare example of an original 15th century binding. It is made up of wooden boards covered with tooled pigskin, with a chain attached to the back cover. The chain indicates that the book was once owned by an institutional library, which stored this book attached to a shelf. Codex manuscripts were expensive and scarce, and libraries took measures to protect them from theft or loss. 26 (Clement, 1997, pp. 16-17)

37. Credits

38. Bibliography Casson, L. (2001). Libraries in the ancient world. New Haven: Yale University Press. Clement, R. W. (1997). Medieval and Renaissance book production. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/lib pubs/10 Evolution of type. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.mediumbold.com/04_thinking/type/origins/index.html Kilgour, F. G. (1998). The evolution of the book. New York: Oxford University Press. McMurtrie, D. C. (1937). The story of printing & bookmaking. New York: Covici. University of Southern Mississippi (2008, November). Palm leaf manuscript. Retrieved from http://www.lib.usm.edu/spcol/exhibitions/item_of_the_month/iotm_nov_08.html

39. Photo Credits http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/kman/ancientpeoples.php http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs024/imagesArt.html http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T389/ITHistoryOutline.htm http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hieroglyphs_from_the_tomb_of_Seti_I.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulazimoglu/3323335392/ http://boingboing.net/2005/12/12/alphabet_evolution_a.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps157307.jpg&retpage=19081 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrtg/hd_wrtg.htm http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/writing/story/sto_set.html http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/inscribing/hieroglyphs.html http://valinor.ca/how2.html http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/library/now/exhibits/facsimilies/roll/ http://www.answers.com/topic/muse-1 http://www.ourpasthistory.com/index.php?id=678 http://library.osu.edu/blogs/rarebooks http://www.pergamena.net/products/how_we_make_parchment/ http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~klio/im/gr/ath/Athen%20-%20Ostraka.jpg http://www.schoyencollection.com/religionsLiving4.html http://www.ecoafricasocialventures.org/paper-making-recycling/ http://www.islamicspain.tv/Islamic-Spain/Transfer-of-Knowledge/The-Heritage-of-Learning-Passes-to-Muslim-Civilization.htm http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/medievalbook/intro.htm http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/illuman/11_04.html http://www.baylor.edu/lib/finearts/index.php?id=30285 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubrication http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/medievalbook/leather_chains/Chained_Binding.htm