Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-07-24
BOOK


,i,ion Of a volume, pamphlet, sheet of letter
,,ess sheet of music, map. chart, or plan sep
-ateIy published a definition sustained by
.rvu0logy. but more comprehensive than the
,,Iinary acceptatiOn, which includes. prima-
rly only printed literary composition but
usrmits a secondary application, in case of
t,ak- II account, to a bound volume of blank
-rinting or writing material. The word is de
lyed not from the form, but from the material
.,r being the Saxon equivalent of H5er, the
puer rind Of a tree, which was once employed
- writing upon. 1t has. however, received an
application anterior to its own origin, and is
ned with reference to written tablets of stone
and metal which preceded the introduction of
more flexible material In its widest sense il
iaes from the most remote antiquity The zen
eommandments were written on slabs Of stone
the BabylOnians and Egyptians traced inscrip-
tons ON bricks and rocks; sheets of wood ivory
and various metals and. subsequently, a great
variety of pliabe substances, animal and we've
table, crude and prepared, have been used for
the purpose. Among the Greeks and Romans
books of wood were common part of one which
had contained tho laws of SOlon wa. preserved
stAtbens until the first century. For the more
important purposes, the laws and cdicts they
also employed ivory, bronze, and other metals
and for the common needs Of business such az
the recording of contracts and the making of
Wills. for the courteses of social life. the letters
Of love or friendship, they had the diptvcha and
t45Bir, OF PHgIfLGTI0, sheets covered with wax
10 be written upon with striHS. and protected
from contact by raised margin, or opposite pro-
jecti0nS IN the centres. Two of these tablets
Of the date of l69, were discovered, not many
years since, IN Pennsylvania, and one of the
year 1901 Is preserved in the FlOrent;ne mu-
scum. Many specimens of ancient books still
exist, which prove, without historical evidence
how various are the materials which suffice for
the wants OF man in an unlettered age The
antiquary MOntfaucOn, in 1899, purchased at
Rome a leaden book of six thin leaves about
four inches long by three wide. with covers and
hinges of the same metal. Tho volume con-
tained Egyptian gnOstic figures and Otner unin-
tellgible writing. In the University of Got
tingen Is a Bible OF palm leaves cOntaing 1876
leaves, and other similar books are elsewhere
preserved. Among the Calmuck Tartars was
found a collection of books that were long and
narrow, the leaves very thick and made of bark
covered with varnish, the ink being white on a
black ground NJ Santander possessed beau
utul Hebrew Hentatecch, written on 81 skins
Of oriental leather sewed together with threads
or strips OF the same material it formed roll
Oi ll3 French feet in length. The shape of
wooden and metal books was square, but, when
more convenient material. such as parchment
and payrus was introduced, the cylindrical
form was adopted. The sheets fastened to-
gether at the edges, were attached 10 a cDIjU-
4rHS OF staff, round which they were rolled
whence volume, from COlrO, to roll At each
end of the cyiIHirHs was the uBlbiIicns or cor
nus, boss by which it could be turned and
the volume WAS read by unrOlling the scroll so
a. to expose Successively its several sheets or
y0giH9 The title was written generally in
red, on fine vellum, and pasted on the utside,
which was dyed with ce1rHS or saffron. Much
labor and expense was often involved in the
ornsmentation Of books, and pleasant conceits
were sometimes conveyed by their color. The
practice of perfuning the pages to which Mar
tai alluies,
When the page Of cedar smells,
And with royal purple swells,
was not abandoned until within a quite recent
PERIOD Lord Treasurer Bureigh, instructing
the vice chancellor of Cambridge concerning
the proper presentation OF some volumes to-
Elizabeth, cautions him 10 regard that the
book had no SAVIOR of spike, which commonly
L0Okbinders did seek to add to make their
books SAVIOR we'll Scrolls were superseded by
cyd1csS UT square books the advantages of
which are alluded 10 by Martial, in whose time
ihsy seem TO have been getting into general
use. Notifications III form accompanied the
various changes made in material until the
shape and general proportions which now OBJ
tam we're adopted. thong important differences
IN bulk. arlSIng as we'll from the condition Of
art as the fashion Of the times, distinguish
books made up till a not very remote period
from these of the present day. The slow and
labOriOus method of transcribing. which, until
"0 Au'cutiou VI printing, was tue only mO0e
by which literary compositions could be multi |
Piled, secured TO the body practical reverence
III winch the spirit IL contained did not always |
paruclpate. The value Of books, depending |
Rot only upon beauty of ehirography, accu racy |
VI transcription, and elabOrateness of ornamcn-
tatl"n. but upon the favor in which particular |
authors happened 10 be held, seems to have
gone 10 each extreme instances of extraOrdi- |
nary cheapness standing side by side with |
others 0i almost Incredible dearness According |
u LOeckh, Ia Athens, I" 4 small book for the |
purpose ot recording contract that is, small. |
commonly wooden diptyshon, consisting of two |
wax tablets, was estimated by Demosthenes at |
: ehaici Il of ObOus, less than cent? |
Wooden tablets, on which accounts were writ |
ten cost. Oiymp. 90. B. c. 1919 a drachma, |
ABOUT II cents apiece. These must have been |
pretty large and we'll made. Two pieces of |
PaPyrus Tor copying an account cost, ut the |
same ume, Or. 1 oh. (4J.G c;s.) Paper ap- |
pears from this TO have been very dear although |
written books were cheap; since the books of |
Ahax4gUras. even when dear, were to be had |
"f drachna; or else the paper upon which |
PuOlIc accounts were written was uncOmmOnly |
good 1t IL also stated that Plato, who was |
h't rIch, bought three books of PhilOaus the |
I!thaSorsan, for 10000 denarii about 81 800 } |
Az ~ Is further said that Aristotle paid three
AtiIc talents NEARLY $4,000 for few books |
NAlch had belonged to the philOSOpher Speusip- |
f1s. But these apparent contradictions may |
oe easily recOnciled by consideration of the |
PROBABLE conditions that occasionally existed; |
t.e number of certain works reducing them to |
SAe value merely of the transcriber's labor, or
.sSs' when supply exceeded demand, while the |
itr!ty OF others gave practical monopoly to |
'Leir p0SSeSsOTs. The manufacture of books, |
Nhicn, under the early emperOrs, had been con- |
sanity increasing, diminished during the grow |
,ns troubles of the state, and upon its fall was
.yr long time entirely extinguished; to re- |
ms y hnt tI,-
altered circumstances. Leaving the TJyarit |
ana Sortb1, whose labor was compulsory either |
ON the necessities of power or want we come, |
ai'er long interval, 10 the monk scrbes, in |
"hoin the important conditions of skill leisure |
i''e. and patience are all fulfilled Learning |
h4i become the exclusive privilege of a class, |
privilege Of which they were at once proud |
and Jealous: and they surrounded the means Of |
acquisition with pomp and circumstance that |
ireciuded familiarity with the multitude In |
The earliest times books had received the adorn-
ing AID OF ornamental art; but in the middle |
hal thaa not Of La.