The history of the book is the story of technical innovations related to the manufacture of books . These innovations improved the storage of the text, the availability of information, the mobility of the book, reduced the cost of its production. The history of the book is connected with political and economic events, the history of ideas, the history of religion and people's life.
Oral transmission is the oldest method of transmitting knowledge in the history of mankind. After the invention of the recording systems by the ancient civilizations , people began to use almost everything to write on — clay tablets , tree bark , sheets of metal , etc.
Content
Scrolls
In ancient Egypt , papyrus was used to record since the time of the First Dynasty (a type of paper made from the stems of the same name plant). However, the first evidence is given by the books of the king of Neferirkar Kakai of the Fifth Dynasty (approximately 2400 BC). Separate sheets of papyrus, for easy storage, glued together in scrolls . This tradition is widespread in the Hellenic and Roman worlds, although there is evidence that the bark [1] and other materials were also used. According to Herodotus (History 5:58), the Phoenicians brought writing and papyrus to Greece around the 10th or 9th century BC. e. The Greek word for papyrus as record material was “biblion”, and for the book, “biblos” [2], which is derived from the name of the Phoenician port city of Biblos , through which papyrus was exported to Greece [3] .
The Egyptians for a long time maintained the monopoly of papyrus manufacture, but in recent times the republics had the Romans set up their own papyrus factories. The Greeks and especially the Romans, despite the lack of typography, had a very high book business: not to mention public libraries, the emperors had private libraries of 30,000 volumes (or, more precisely, scrolls) and more. Bookstores were also found in the most remote provincial cities; Rome had large and small bookstores and many second-hand bookshops . With large stores there were halls where there were numerous skoropisty; with their help, the author could publish his essay and for the exclusive right to sell it sometimes received a fee or at least free copies [4] .
The Roman book was in the shape of a scroll wound on a stick with thickened ends; at the upper end there was a label with the name designation, which protruded from the case, mostly leather, corresponding to our binding. For carrying such scrolls were placed in round baskets, with holes in the inner lid. In libraries, these scrolls were not put, but put on the shelves so that the tags were visible. They wrote on one side, or one vertical column, the length of which was equal to the length of the scroll, or a number of many parallel columns. Book stores in Rome served as a meeting point for writers, scholars, and literature lovers; the shops also had reading rooms where, for a small fee, you could browse through the novelties or compare your copy of a well-known essay with one that was corrected by a grammar contained in the shop and copy room. Due to the comparative cheapness of papyrus and the unconditional cheapness of labor, books in Rome were inexpensive. In addition to ordinary cheap copies, there were also miracles of calligraphic art, examples are luxuriously illustrated; there were crumbs; Cicero saw a copy of the Iliad , which could fit in a nut shell [4] .
In schools, accounting and notes, wax tablets were commonly used. They had the advantage of repeated use: the wax could be melted and applied a new text. The binding of such plates is a possible predecessor of modern books.
Vintage manuscripts
The papyrus scrolls were still common when in the 1st century AD e. There were ancient manuscripts [5] ( codes ). Gradually, they began to be used more and more; The first written record of manuscripts as a type of book dates back to the end of the 1st century, when Martial praised their compactness in his Apophoreta CLXXXIV. In the pagan world, the manuscript did not find recognition and only with Christianity was popularized and widely distributed.
At first, the ancient manuscript was used for accounting, but with the development of parchment in the 3rd century AD e., gradually began to crowd out the papyrus. This happened already in the Christian world. There are several reasons for accepting a manuscript as the main type of books: it is economical, since both sides of the paper can be used; it is easy to hide; She was comfortable and affordable. Perhaps Christian writers used manuscripts on purpose so that they did not resemble pagan texts, which were usually written in the form of scrolls.
Middle Ages
Manuscripts
The fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century reduced its cultural influence on the rest of the world. In the Western Roman Empire, the traditions of Latin writing were kept in monasteries, since first Cassiodorus at the monastery of Vivaria , and later Benedict of Nursia in the VI century emphasized the importance of rewriting texts.
Before the invention and introduction of the printing press, almost all books were rewritten by hand, which made books expensive and rare. There were four types of scribes:
- "Copiers", they dealt with mass production and correspondence
- "Calligraphers" who dealt with the production of important books
- "Proofreaders", who compared and compared the finished book with the manuscript, with which it was copied
- “Rubricators” that painted red letters; and "Portholes", which drew illustrations
In the 7th century, Irish monks introduced spaces between words. This made it easier for them to read, since they did not know Latin very well. But before the XII century, spaces were not widely used. It is assumed that the transition to the use of a space between words reflects the transition from “half-literal” reading to reading “to himself”.
The fall of ancient civilization first of all changed the appearance of the book; The papyrus factories are closing down one by one, and in Europe, papyrus is becoming more and more rare, and it is not due to its frailty and was not entirely suitable for those books that were most popular in the beginning of the Middle Ages. For the Holy Scriptures and the liturgical books, intended for daily use, the durable veal (calf skin) or parchment , used before the papyrus, but suppressed by its cheapness, was more suitable. Now he is again entering universal use; his sheets are combined in volumes that are fully consistent with the modern form of the book. In the Eastern Roman Empire there were special workshops for its processing, and the scribes got it completely ready; in the West, they mostly made it themselves: they removed fat and stains with a razor, cleaned hair and veins with pumice , smoothed and lined with a special knife [4] .
They wrote large, clear and beautiful; in the decoration of capital letters reached an extraordinary luxury. Sometimes (from III to VII century) parchment was painted in red or other paint and the whole manuscript was written with divorced silver and capital letters in gold. Since the dried parchment is poorly molded, the books were equipped with clips or strapping. The covers were made of wood and covered with leather. It is clear that the books at that time were terribly expensive: for beautifully written and painted prayer book or psalter sometimes whole estates were inferior; there were cases that in the whole Christian city there was not a single book. In the Muslim world, books were very high at that time: in Spain there were 70 public libraries, and in the Cordoba library, they said, there were up to 400,000 volumes [4] .
The first books were copied mainly in monasteries, one at a time. With the development of universities in the XIII century , the demand for books increased and a new way of copying appeared. Books were divided into separate sheets (“petia”), which were issued to copyists. Thus, the speed of book production increased significantly. The way was liked by the guilds of merchants who produced both religious and non-religious material.
In Europe, books became cheaper and more accessible when the use of paper began to spread, all the more so as the strong rise in intellectual life after the crusades and the development of universities coincided with this. In the XIII century at the universities there was a special kind of officials, the so-called hospitals; they allowed students to write off textbooks, took books to the commission from Jewish usurers, who themselves had no right to sell books, and from leaving students; these hospitals were thus the first booksellers in medieval Europe. At the beginning of the 14th century in Paris, booksellers, in the proper sense of the word, were already separated from the hospitals; but they also took the oath of allegiance to the university and were subordinate to its authority. There were also jurors of writing materials. At the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century, entire houses and alleys in the Latin Quarter were inhabited by copyists, calligraphers, book binders, miniaturists (aka portholes), parchments, paper sellers and other things. In London, copywriters (text-writers) in 1403 merged into a special workshop, the same, in some places, there was in Holland. In Italy in the 15th century there were booksellers, who kept a lot of scribes at their store, therefore, they were able to publish books even before book printing. During the late Middle Ages, in all the big cities of Europe there were already public libraries from which other books were given to the house (libri vagantes); others, especially valuable and voluminous, were attached to desks or bookshelves with iron chains to prevent theft. This method was used until the 18th century, and the books thus consolidated were called Lat. libri catenati . Almost everywhere were booksellers and society of enumerators, trying to satisfy not only rich lovers, but also people of average condition with prayer books, instructive and even fun books [4] .
Woodcuts and incunabula
At the beginning of the XIV century , woodcut appeared in Western Europe (it was developed long before that in the East). In woodcuts, a matrix with a page image was cut out of a piece of wood. It could be dipped in ink and used to make multiple copies of a page. Books, like playing cards and religious images, began to be produced by woodcuts. But the creation of the book was a painstaking process, since for each page you had to make your own thread. In addition, the tree was short-lived - it was easily erased and cracked.
The Chinese inventor, Bi Sheng, designed the composable ceramic matrix supposedly in 1045 , but there were no examples of its printing. He laid out the symbols in a shallow pan covered in melted wax . Then he applied the board and pressed on it until all the characters were aligned to the same level. When the wax cooled, he used this tray to print.
In the 15th century, Johann Gutenberg created a printing press with metal typesetting elements , which made the books relatively accessible (although for the majority it is still very expensive).
Printed books, individual sheets and illustrations, created in Europe before 1501, are known as incunabula ( Latin incunabula - “cradle”). Early printed editions of the first half of the 16th century are called paleotypes .
Paper
Although papermaking in Europe began around the 11th century , right up to the beginning of the 16th century, both paper and order were produced in almost equal volumes, but the order was more expensive and stronger. Printers and publishers often produced the same publication on two materials to please all consumers. Like many other medieval inventions, the first paper was made in China, in 200 BC. e. and reached Europe through the Muslim territories. At first it was made of cloth, but the industrial revolution made it possible to start making paper from cheaper material — cellulose .
New time
Despite the increase in book printing in the 15th century, books were still published in limited editions and were very expensive.
In the 16th century, printing became more and more widespread: religious debates provided tremendous material for the press. In France, the Sorbonne by all means tried to impose a ban on typography. Francis I in 1534 issued an order to close all printing houses, but the resistance of the parliament saved the printers from the danger threatening them. In England , the number of printers was limited; in general, in all countries except Germany, vigilant supervision over printing houses was established. In this century, the Venetian printer and humanist Ald Manutius is especially famous: he cared a great deal about the publication of Greek and Latin classics, when publishing which first applied the format in octavo , which was previously used only for liturgical books; He also introduced a new Italian font, called Aldine (see Aldine ). Following the example of Alda, the printing of classical works spread throughout Europe.
In the XVII century. in Germany, due to the Thirty Years War, the printing industry fell into decay. In England, printing has suffered much persecution; in France, it was also in decline: the works of the royal Louvre printing house, founded in 1640, were distinguished only by their grace. Only in the Netherlands did the printing art develop freely: the Elseviers family , in which Abram introduced a very convenient format in 12 °; The so-called Elsevirs were notable for their beautiful, even printing and unmistakable typing, as well as cheapness. Printer Blaeu improved printing press. At the same time, the number of fonts has increased; especially small fonts ( nonparille and petit ) were introduced [6] .
The 18th century brought the book to unprecedented heights. The famous "Encyclopedia" by Diderot clearly shows that thick, expensive books at that time began to be intended for the masses of educated people, for the middle class [4] .
In 1810 the steam press was invented by König ; rotary machine made it possible to print up to 12,000 sheets per hour [6] .
In the first quarter of the XIX century in the history of the development of the book, two phenomena of great importance are noticed. A good book began to enrich the author — to enrich not through gifts and pensions from the rich or the government, but through buyers, the public; famous writers become rich, and literary work, under favorable conditions, even an ordinary worker gives the means to a comfortable existence. On the other hand, enterprising publishers (one of the first - Constable in England) set themselves a highly useful task of cheapening a good book to such an extent that any wealthy person could, without great expense, compose an entire library.
The first phenomenon in the advanced countries of Europe became common by the middle of the century: the majority of talented writers could live well with the income from the sale of their books; at the same time they become a major political force. Extreme cheapening of a good book becomes possible only in the 3rd quarter of the XIX century. Especially for ordinary people, entire libraries of useful books were published at a price that destroyed cheap popular publications with its cheapness [4] .
By the middle of the 20th century, the production of books in Europe exceeded 200 thousand titles a year.
Total today there are approximately 130 million titles of books [7] .
See also
- Typography
- History of printing in Europe
- History of printing in Russia
- History of writing
Notes
- ↑ lat liber , from which English was later formed . library .
- ↑ From the word "Byblos" comes the Russian word library .
- ↑ Vasmer M. Etymological dictionary. - T. 1. - p. 164.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Book // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ According to excavations at Pompeii .
- ↑ 1 2 Printed matter // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 t. (82 t. And 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ Google counted books of all libraries in the world
Bibliography
- Librovich SF The history of the book in Russia. In 2 parts. - SPb. : ed. Comrade M. O. Wolf., 1913.
- Bush V. History books. - State. Uch.-pr. Schools-Typography named Comrade. Alekseev, 1923.
- Kufaev MN The history of Russian books in the XIX century. with drawings. - L .: The Cultural and Educational Cooperative Partnership "The Begins of Knowledge", 1927.
- Sidorov A. A. The history of the design of the Russian book. - M. - L .: Gizlegprom, 1946.
- Flug K. K. The History of the Chinese Printed Book of the Suna Epoch of the 10th — 13th Centuries - M. - L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1959.
- Katzprzh EI The history of the book. - M .: Book, 1964.
- Vladimirov L.I. The General History of the Book. - M .: Book, 1988.