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A written word is the choicest of relics... The symbol of an ancient man's thought becomes a modern man's speech.
—Henry David Thoreau

Before the Book

Before the book, there was writing. Early writing was used for many purposes, such as predicting the future, recording business transactions or documenting the achievements and glory of royalty.

Early writing could take forms as diverse as the abstract wedge shapes of Sumerian cuneiform, Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphics and Chinese characters.

Many materials have been used for the written word, including stone, clay, bones, tortoise shells, wood, bark, metal and ceramics. Technological developments in materials encouraged the spread of writing, with scrolls of papyrus much easier to roll and transport than clay tablets.

Parchment, made from the hides of animals, was more flexible still, and enabled the Roman invention of the codex, or book, which consisted of sheets of parchment with writing on both sides bound between boards.