Chapter III: The Evolution of the Book

As already indicated, ancient books were written on rolls of papyrus. The technical name of such a roll of papyrus was _volumen_ from which we get our word volume. With the increasing use of vellum as writing material came the book as we know it, originally called in Latin the codex, from _caudex_, meaning a pile of boards such as may be seen in any lumberyard. The other Latin word for book, _liber_, from which we get our word library and other allied terms, originally meant "bark" and is a curious preservation of the record of the use of bark as a writing material, a use, by the way, of which we have very little other knowledge.

The origin of the book is rather interesting. One of its ancestors, as we have already seen, is the group of tablets bound together with thongs. Another was probably the roll itself. When the manuscript roll was read it was necessary in order to handle it properly and save it from damage to reroll the part of the roll which had been read as the student proceeded. The consequence was that when the reading was finished, the volume was left rolled up in reverse order. Consequently, before being replaced, the volume, if treated properly, had to be rolled back into its original position, a necessity which careless or lazy people found somewhat burdensome. It was discovered, however, that this could be avoided by folding the roll back and forth, creasing it in the spaces between the columns which were written at right angles to the length of the roll, the result being something like a book printed only on one side of the paper and with the edges uncut, like many Chinese and Japanese books of to-day.

The real impulse, however, to the construction of books as distinguished from rolls came with the use of sheets of vellum. These could not be attached easily to make long rolls as could be done with the papyrus sheets, while even the single sheets were large enough to be unwieldy when spread out. Therefore, when long compositions were to be written, the vellum sheets were folded once and laid inside each other just as ordinary note paper is prepared for sale at the present time. In order to provide against the scattering of these leaves they were sewed together through the crease at the back. The result was called a quire.

When the composition filled more than one quire, the quires were originally fastened together in a manner derived, probably, from the method of fastening tablets. That is to say, holes were stabbed through the margin and thongs were passed through the holes and tied at the back. This method of binding, however, had obvious disadvantages and it shortly occurred to some one that thongs, or strips of vellum, could be laid across the backs of the quires at right angles to their length and the stitches by which the quires were held together could be passed over these thongs. This method of binding the quires together is still used in making the best bindings. At this stage of proceedings the loosely fastened bundle of quires was not firmly held together and the unprotected folds of the sheets were exposed to wear. This was remedied by covering the backs with a strip of leather running lengthwise of the sheets. Vellum, however, is particularly liable to warp and twist. This was prevented by putting the sheets between boards. The next step was to fasten the boards to the package of leaves by extending the edges of the leather strip on the back and fastening them to the edges of the boards, which were then fastened at the opposite edges by clasps. The bound book was then complete so far as utility was concerned. It was soon seen, however, that the extension of the leather back to cover the boards entirely added to the beauty and durability of the book and opened a wide field for the exercise of the decorator's art and taste.

It is needless to say that great use was made of this opportunity. The beautiful products of the modern bookbinding art are familiar to us all. Beautiful and costly as they are, they are commonplace as compared with the decoration of the early bookbinders. It must be remembered that these books were never intended to be crowded in serried ranks into shelves from which they should present only their backs to the world. They were precious treasures to be kept by themselves, handled reverently, laid on tables or shelves, often enclosed in bags. The covers, often blazing with jewels, were adorned by all the resources of many kinds of art. Some were plates of ivory or rare wood covered with wonderful carvings. Some were plates of chiseled gold or silver. Some were brilliant with enamel. Medallions and pictures in the best style of art ornamented them. Gems of every kind, cut and uncut, added color and brilliancy to the effect. As late as 1583 when the great age of book-cover ornamentation was already past, Henry III of France decreed that ordinary citizens should not use more than four diamonds to the decoration of one book, but nobles might use five.

The book as distinguished from the roll began to be popular in the first Christian century. It had certain very great advantages. The rolls were never very long and long compositions or collections of compositions necessarily ran to many volumes. They were not easy to refer to as they had to be unrolled and then rolled up again whenever any passage was to be consulted. They were made of a material which was not durable in any but the very driest of climates. The book on the other hand, while heavy, could contain a very great amount of material in a single volume, could be easily referred to, and was made of much more durable material. For this reason the book form was used for legal documents and other purposes where ease of reference was particularly desired. The growth of the Christian church especially stimulated the substitution of the book for the roll. Christianity, unlike any of the religions with which it came into contact, except Judaism, was a book religion. The Christian was constantly referring to his scriptures for argument with his adversary as well as for his own edification and he wanted to be able to find his favorite passages readily. The conservatism of the Jew prevented his changing the roll form of his scriptures. The Pagan adhered to the rolls with their associations of classic culture. The final passing out of the roll and victory of the book are contemporary with the victory of Christianity over Paganism and its adoption as the religion of the empire.