A History of Books: From Papyrus to Parchment
UD01. History of Books
1.1. Papyrus
A basic element used in Egypt since 1800 BC, papyrus was used for making baskets, clothing, shoes, ropes, and as a writing support.
Papyrus is a reed with a triangular section that may reach 3 meters tall. It grows wild on the banks of the Nile and in other regions such as Syria, Palestine, and Ethiopia. To create a writing surface, the papyrus bark was removed (and reused). The stem was cut into thin slices, which were deposited on a wet table, overlapping each other. Then, another layer was placed perpendicular to the previous one to form a rectangle. The resulting sheet was pressed and dried in the sun. Afterward, several sheets were joined laterally using an adhesive comprising water, flour, and vinegar. The right edge was superimposed on the following sheet to better consolidate the suture line between the two leaves. This technique also facilitated writing, as the union was made in respect of the writing direction.
This was the first form of a book, sold as rolls rather than sheets. These rolls were stored in wooden cylinders. To read the entire book, it was unrolled by holding it with one hand while the other picked it up again to form the roll.
To write, a reed was crushed at one end to create a brush-like instrument. Papyrus had the disadvantage that you could only write on one side—the one in which the strips were placed horizontally. Media that can only be written on one side are called anopistógrafos, while those that can be written on both sides are called opistógrafos.
1.2. Wax Tablets
In the fourth century BC, the Greeks used the book in the form of a papyrus scroll, but smaller than the Egyptians, about 7 meters in length. These leaves that formed the rolls were called collemata.
However, they also had other writing materials, such as wax tablets. These consisted of a rectangular table with a frame, inside which was spread a mixture of wax and resin that the Greeks called ostraca. The tablets could receive a preparation consisting of a layer of plaster covered with varnish, providing a glossy appearance. These were called leucomata.
The column, equivalent to our page, was called Collema. Columns were perfectly aligned to the left and irregular on the right. To write on these tablets, a stylus made of bone or metal was used, pointed at one end and flat on the opposite end for erasing. Papyrus was used for ink, which was applied with a hard, split reed tip. With this ink, it was easier to trace the Greek letters than to paint them with a brush as the Egyptians did.
In the third century BC, the Roman book emerged as an extension of the Greek book. In its material aspect, it remained a papyrus scroll, but its content reflected Roman culture, with their own language (Latin) and their own alphabet (derived from the Greek alphabet).
In this century, the Romans had good relations with Egypt and had no difficulty in procuring raw material. The papyrus was called papyrus and charter. The first term refers to the plant, and the second to the blank scroll. However, charter later came to mean the written work itself. The columns were called plagulae, and the leaves were called paginae. The papyri were rolled on a central rod or umbilicus, whose ends were adorned with tassels. A label identifying the titulus or index hung from the roll. The scroll was kept closed with ribbons, and if it was valuable, it was kept in a leather bag or a cylindrical box with a handle for transport.
Romans used calamus for writing, similar to the practice in the East and Greece. This involved a cane tip whose central part was cleaved. Later, they would use feathers, preferably goose feathers. They also wrote on wax tablets using the stylus.
1.3. Parchment
Parchment went into production in Pergamum, an ancient city of Asia Minor that rivaled Alexandria as having the best library. When the Egyptians imposed difficulties on the export of papyrus to Pergamum in the third century BC, the use of properly tanned animal skins was devised.
The scrolls were obtained from calfskin, goat, sheep, and other animals like antelope and gazelle. Calfskin yielded the best quality because its color was whiter. Goat parchment obtained a good color but tended to gray, mostly on the hair side. From sheep and lamb, very porous scrolls were obtained, and because their skin was oily, their color tended to yellow.
Exceptionally, the skins of suckling animals and stillborn animal fetuses were used. Parchment made from these sources was of the highest quality and received the name virginia or vellum.
Writing instruments:
- Reed, in the form of a brush
- Calamus, a sharp-tipped cane
- Quill, usually goose
- Style, made of bone or metal
Animal skin is made up of several layers of tissue. The epidermis, or outer layer of skin, contains the hair or wool. The dermis, or middle layer, is the most important and consists of fibers that, after the tanning process, become parchment or leather. The hypodermis is the innermost layer of the skin, formed by muscle and adipose tissue.
The skin underwent a tanning process, which transformed the fibrous mass in the dermis into an unchanging and enduring compound. The basic operations to obtain a scroll were:
- Soaking the skin: The skin was submerged in plenty of water for a long period for hydration and cleansing.
- Liming: Lime was spread on the skin to soften its surface.
- Waxing: This step removed the hairy mass of the epidermis.
- Fleshing: The subcutaneous tissue of the hypodermis was scraped off.
- Tensioning of the skin in a rack
- Stabbing: This achieved the desired fineness across the skin.
- Polishing: The skin was smoothed with pumice.
- Finishing: Various operations were performed to prepare the skin for use, such as the arrangement of defects, trimming, and cutting.
With the use of parchment, the book appeared in the form of books instead of scrolls, as was done with papyrus. A gathering of several sheets of parchment, square or rectangular and written (even on both sides), was called a codex.
The adoption of the parchment codex by the Roman Empire at the end of the third century was due to the drawbacks of papyrus, such as the difficulty of finding a particular passage, its fragility (as it tore easily), the need to use both hands while reading, and its limited length if it were to be rolled out to a manageable size.
The codex had the advantages of long-term storage, was easier to transport (being flat and with less volume), provided greater capacity for writing (as it admitted writing on both sides), was cheaper, and allowed for quicker location of any passage. From the third century onward, the codex became increasingly popular, eventually relegating the papyrus roll to diplomatic and honorary documents, which carried a great weight of tradition in rituals and formal documents.
The codex gave rise to the emergence of a new bookshop technique: binding. This involved the collection of several booklets, sewn together to form a volume, usually equipped with protective covers made of a strong material like leather. When the number of pages was high, the covers were lined with leather.
In 330, Constantine established the imperial capital in a small and ancient Greek city: Byzantium. Located at the opposite end of Europe and Asia Minor, separated only by a canal, it was baptized with the name of Constantinople in honor of the emperor. This date and event may be considered as the beginning of the Middle Ages, because the change from paganism to Christianity justifies a historical divide.
The codex, the current book type, was a product of Byzantine civilization. It slowly replaced papyrus. Books covered topics such as astrology, alchemy, enigmas, and magic. Byzantine binding influenced Western Europe and led to a style called Byzantine or Greek. It was characterized by covers that were the same dimension as the body of the manuscript, tops of tables lined with leather, and closure with one or more pins. If the manuscript was luxurious, the tops were lined with goatskin, silk, and brocades, and adorned with precious metals and gemstones.