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3500 BCE
Symbols Onto Tablets
Symbols were transcribed onto movable materials by an ancient group called Sumarians that lived in the 3500 BC. They created a "uniform" alphabet. The characters were etched onto clay tablets.
This helped with having an alphabet to go by. Also helping with moving the texts around.
(College) -
2400 BCE
Papyrus Scrolls
Papyrus Scrolls were written by hand, originating in Egypt. The "paper" was made of pith, centre found in a substance along the Nile River.
Later the the Greeks and Romans started rolling up the pith, and put into wooden tubes to protect the scrolls.
(College) -
500 BCE
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made of goatskin, sheepskin, and calfskin. Parchment is distinct from leather that parchment is limed but not tanned.
Papyrus was becoming scare due to being over farmed, which led to the adoption of parchment.The finer quality of parchment is known as vellum, made it easier to write on, and was the finest vellum than even modern papers not being able to reach the fine vellum.
Sfbook.com, 2015, sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024. -
200 BCE
Wax Tablets
Wax tablets were wood coated in wax, written on using a stylus, but then later removed for reuse. Sometimes, wax tablets were connected by cords to form a codex.
Codex was the evolution of the school. later replacing the scroll all at once. This was because the codex was reusable, and more efficient.
Sfbook.com, 2015, sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024. -
868
First Printed Book
The first book written was in China, using woodblock printing. Woodblock printing is characters carved into wood in reverse relief. Ink was then placed on the character, then placed on the paper to print.
Woodblock printing was more efficient than hand writing all of the copies of the book.
(College) -
1440
First Movable Printing Press
The first Movable Printing Press was invented in Europe by Johannes Gutenberg. "Johannes developed a metal movable type system of casting letters from matrices using a device called a hand mould."
This helped produce books at mass production and helped spread mass knowledge. This caused more movable type printing Press being created to form more books at a faster pace.
Sfbook.com, 2015, sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024. -
America's First Book
America's first book was called "They Bay Psalm," published at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640 AD.
This marked the first ever book in American history. After this book was printed, they translated many different books from the Hebrew Bible to English. Now there are 11 copies of David Baldacci's 2006 novel.
Sfbook.com, 2015, sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024. -
The "Cheap" Novel
These were named because in Britain small novels only cost a penny, "Penny Blood," in America they cost a dime, "Dime Novels."
These helped influence more people to be able to afford books, and influenced them to educate themselves. With more people buying books, the more production of books were.
Sfbook.com, 2015, sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024. -
Internet available for public use
Internet was first brought up in 1974 after the publication of the first specification for the TCP Protocol.
Internet was helpful for the process of books to be online, and more accessible.
(Ring) -
Books Sold Online
The very first book sold online was by Amazon. Amazon was created in 1995 by Jeff Bezos. The first book sold was, "Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought."
This allowed people to make more purchases of books, influencing the produce of online books. Online books are more efficient, more convenient, and more accessible.
Sfbook.com, 2015, sfbook.com/the-evolution-of-the-book.htm. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.