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Period: 3500 BCE to 220
Manuscripts and Texts
All evidence during this period suggests the only form of publication was the creation of texts, and the creation of manuscripts, which were handwritten/unpublished versions of texts. -
300 BCE
Library of Alexandria
Around 300 BCE, the Library of Alexandria was established in Egypt by Ptolemy I. Certain reports and evidence points to as many as 700,000 texts housed inside of it. -
48
Annnnnd It's Gone
Julius Caesar accidentally burns the library down while fighting his civil war. Cool, cool... Bet Cleopatra was really happy about that one. -
105
From Parchment to Paper
Modern style paper, made from the pulp of hemp, wood, or other fibrous sources, is invented in China. The inventor was a court official named Ts'ai Lun. -
Period: 220 to May 11, 868
Printing!
There is evidence of Chinese printing during period before 220 CE, but the earliest woodblock-printed book is the Tang-Dynasty version of the Buddhist text "Diamond Sutra", dated to the 11th of May, 868. -
1045
Better Printing!
In the year 1045 CE, a Chinese inventor named Bi Sheng allegedly invented movable type using firing and earthenware. None of his prints survived. -
1450
Better Late Than Never
Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, independently invented movable type in Europe. New techniques, like using a matrix and different kinds of type allowed simple booklets and broadsides called incunables to be printed. -
1488
Schwabe Publishing
The first publishing company, Schwabe Verlag, is founded in Switzerland. -
Printed Newspapers!
The first mass-printed newspapers are created. The newspaper was printed in the Low Countries, and the title translates to "New Tidings". -
Pictures!
The Orbus Sensualium Pictus is published -
The Actual Typewriter
The inventors Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel Soule invent the first commercially viable typewriter and patented it. -
Almost a Typewriter
The linotype machine was invented, which was essentially a giant, mechanical typewriter. Sold by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company of New York. -
Audio Books!
The first audio books are produced with the founding of the recording studio for The American Foundation for the Blind. -
Inalienable Rights
Michael Hart creates the first e-book in history, by typing the Declaration of Independence on a computer. -
Jeffrey Bezos
Jeff Bezos founds Amazon, one of the first online book sellers. -
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Audible.com is founded, being the first ever website to download audiobooks.
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