The Discoverers (Knowledge Series Book 2)

by Daniel J. Boorstin

LANGUAGES would become pathways through space and time. While nations would be held together by their new vernaculars, lone readers could seek remote continents and voyage into the faraway past. From Cicero to Gutenberg, the book, the vehicle of language magic, would be transformed out of all recognition. The modern technical definition of a book, accepted by librarians and by UNESCO for statistical purposes, suggests how much the “book” has changed. A book, they say, is a “non-periodical printed publication of at least 49 pages excluding covers.” But for most of history, books did not even have “pages.” Our “volume” (from Latin volvere, to roll) was first a name for manuscripts in rolls. In early Egypt sheets to write on were made from the papyrus reed that grew in the Nile Delta. The reed was called byblos, from the port of Byblos, where it was first found, and whence comes our “Bible” for The Book. Strips from this reed were flattened, then others were laid across them at right angles to make a mat. The surface, when moistened, pounded, smoothed, and dried, was well suited for writing. These sheets were pasted together to make long strips for ceremonial banners in early Egyptian temples. Rolled up, they became a “volume,” portable, easy to store, and relatively durable. This was the ancestor of our book.