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Throughout most of its history, humankind has inscribed
messages in various forms on flat surfaces. As writing
developed, the chosen surface was first stone—a
cliff or cave face on which letters or symbols were
chiseled or painted—and later stone pillars or
walls. Because these surfaces were not portable, stone
tablets were used to carry information, to lay down
laws, or to provide instruction. But stone tablets were
cumbersome to carry and tiresome to inscribe, and clay
tablets began to be used in Mesopotamia around 3000
B.C.
Around the same time papyrus rolls began to be produced
in Egypt. Papyrus provided a light, flexible writing
material, and the papyrus plant was readily available
in the region. At first sheets made from papyrus were
glued at the edge and made into rolls for works of any
length, but when the codex (the book form) was developed
around the second century A.D., papyrus was used in
that form.
The limits to the strength of papyrus became apparent
as the codex became more popular, and parchment gradually
replaced it for both rolls and codices. Parchment permitted
writing on both sides of the sheet, allowed erasures
and corrections, and could be stitched together in greater
bulk than papyrus. If kept in a stable environment,
parchment also has greater stability and permanence
than papyrus.
In parts of Asia palm leaf was being used for manuscripts
from around the second century A.D. Palm leaf manuscripts
are still produced in some cultures.
The next important development was the introduction
of paper. Paper was first developed in China between
A.D. 105 and 700, and its manufacture spread slowly
through Korea, Japan, and Arabia until it reached Europe
around 1100. In Europe the character of paper began
to change; people began using macerated rag rather than
plants to produce paper, making it strong and durable.
Stamping mills were introduced to make the rag more
malleable, and the first watermark appeared in Fabriano,
Italy, in 1282.
Early European paper was also strong and durable because
of the absence of damaging chemicals and its slow production.
For example, milk was used to help break down the rag
fibers before manufacture, loading the fiber with calcium,
and the water used for papermaking contained dissolved
limestone, further enhancing durability.
In the East the development of paper was quite different.
Paper was produced by hand for many centuries before
the introduction of mass production methods in the late
19th and early 20th centuries. Various forms of mulberry
were used for fiber, which usually came from the inner
bark. In Japan, where paper is still made by hand for
art and conservation purposes, three main types of paper
are used: kozo, mitsumata, and gampi. Because this paper
is strong, flexible, and lightly sized,
it was used in double-leaf books. Similar papers are
still made by hand in Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam,
where they are variously called poonah or do (za)
paper.
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The mechanization of paper production brought about
a change in raw materials, and new chemicals were used
to produce harder sizing
and to speed production. Chemical wood pulp, introduced
around 1850, was obtained by dissolving lignin
with chemicals to leave fibers consisting mainly of
cellulose.
Mechanical wood pulp paper, introduced around 1867,
was obtained by grinding logs under a stream of water
or by grinding chips between discs. For a number of
reasons ground wood pulp deteriorates quickly and is
used mainly for newsprint
and cheap book paper.
The materials used for the construction of bindings,
including paper, wood, cloth, and leather, developed
along with the various forms of the codex. The nature
of these materials is addressed in the following sections:
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