[Curiosities] 9 curiosities about the history of the book

[S e u o n g]

 

On April 23, International Book Day is celebrated. This date was chosen because, curiously, it commemorates the death of the two greatest writers of Humanity: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and William Shakespeare.

Therefore, today we will share some curious facts about the history of the book. So let's start this tour, and be sure to tell us which are your favorite science books or literature in general, in the comments section.

 

9. In the beginning, it was written in stone and clay
It is estimated that the emergence and development of writing occurred between 7000 and 4000 BC. The first medium used to record these early forms of writing could be stones, wooden boards, bones, and so on. In Mesopotamia, clay tablets were used; was written on them with an instrument while

 

8. The papyrus scroll, the first ancestor of the book
Processing of the papyrus plant in Ancient Egypt resulted in papyrus scrolls that were used for writing. The scrolls could exceed 10 meters and in them the scribes used hieratic writing to capture stories; some were so long that the scrolls were as long as 40 meters, as in the story of the reign of Ramses III.

 

7. Paper was invented in China
Around the 1st century, paper was invented in China, after centuries of using bone, wood, or even silk as writing supports. It was printed on the paper using the woodcut technique, carving a wooden matrix that was filled with ink and the paper was pressed.

 

6. Book production began in ancient Rome
Influenced by the proliferation of the book in Greece, the Romans began with the production and publishing of books in the 1st century AD. Although the book began to spread across the limits of the Empire, the libraries were private. By the end of the fourth century, Rome had some 28 libraries.

 

5. Monasteries were important in the history of the book
Monasteries became centers for the preservation of various ancient texts. Secluded in the monasteries, the monks dedicated themselves to reading and made copies of some important works. However, it is also true that these writing-hungry monks erased ancient texts to use the scrolls and write on them.

 

4. The invention of the printing press is the cornerstone of the history of the book
Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440, which in a way defines the rise of the publishing industry and the rise of the book. Thanks to the invention of the printing press, the number of books published increased and their cost fell.}

 

3. Books before 1501 are called incunabula
Books after the invention of the printing press but before 1501 are called incunabula (from Latin incunabulae). The term refers to the first stage of printing or "early childhood" of books. It is estimated that the number of incunabula does not exceed 30,000 books.

 

2. The first book in Braille was published in 1837
The braille system was created in 1829 by Louis Braille and modified in the following years. In 1837, the Institute for Blind Youth published the first Braille book, A brief History of France, an edition of which only three copies remain worldwide.

 

1. The best-selling book in history is Don Quixote
Although many believe that the best-selling book in all of history is the Bible, it is impossible to keep an exact count of the number of copies published and sold. Nor is it easy to determine how many books of Don Quijote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes, were sold, but it is estimated that it has sold more than 500 million copies. More data? 150 and 140 million copies of The Lord of the Rings and The Little Prince were sold respectively.