Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-11-20
ODD BOOKS.
Queer Substitutes Used for ro,u
Olden Times. IL

oScu Tor Leayas ..
Olden Times. IL
In some countries, leaves of
still used for books. In Con1 Ives are
leaves of the tnipot. tree com ,n,,' the
that island, are used for similar no On
pose The TALBOT tree belongs - f ~
palm family. 1t grows to about ~ ing
bred feet high, is straight. and ~ hul
real branches. When very old tha las 3 NJ
blossoms, and dies after rinanH; ,e 1res
fruit; The tree never blooms but ea us
The leaves used for books arc cnt NV " once.
natives before they spread open. my ny me
of q pale brownish-yellow, a onior na ~ arg
retain for years. The charac.ar. 'aey
impressed upon the leaf, and are raha arS
over with charcoal to make the o rubbed
more plainly. The leaves ore INV t%s
strung together between covers Of boar Ja
or some less common material ooa'o
Early writer's made use Of Hnon
cotton fabrics, Of skins. and even a as
scales of fishes, for writing. For ios "
penodpapyrus was used, the books he;ns
made in rolls, being about one and LINZ I'm.
feet WIDE and sometimes fifty feet h ,a,t
lhpyrus Was flag, or bulrush. rrows ag.
eight or ten feet high, found in .Sg
marshes Of Egypt; from its inner n ;ne
the form OF paper called papyrus r wa.
made. A most extraordinary papyrns
was discovered at Memphis, suppo osus
to be more than 5000 years old 'g !.
measured 100 feet in length. Il il -
funeral roll" and is preserved in 10
British Museum. Papyras sheets wss w..
neatly joined, attached to q stick ~
rolled upon it (whence we have cur v "rS
volume from the Latin volyere ~
roll,) The titles were written IN a. "
attached to tho sticks. or inscribed g.
the outside Of the rolls. The rolls WOW, W.
kept in round wooden boxes resemh,;ns
the old-fashioned bandboxes, and con8
easily be carried about.
When the literary jealousy Of III
Egyptians caused them to stop the ann
ply OF papyrus, tho king of Pergamos
city in Asia Minor, introduced the nae ~
sheepskin in form called from the nlac.
OF its invention, pergamona, whence ou1
word parchment" is believed to be ia.
rived. Vellum, finer article mada fron.
calfskin, was also used. MANY Of III.
books done on vcllum in the middle aoa.
were Transcribed by monks, and often Il
took years to complete single copy.
Books consisting of two or three leaves
OF lead, thinly covered with wax, on which
they wrote with On iron pen or stylns
the leaves being joined by iron rings o.
by ribbons, were also used by the an
clients.
Books remained worry scarce and ex,
pcnsivc until otter the introduction II
paper made from linen, and the invention
of printing.
When the first libraries were estab.
lished in England, books were so rare
and valuable that they were usually at
tached to the shelves by iron chains to
prevent their being stolen.
A fashion of expensive bindings pre-
vailed for long time, and great skin
was exhibited in bindings ornamented by
and various styles Of needle.
work, as we'll as in bindings studded with
precious stones. Queen Elizabeth used
to carry about with her, suspended by I
golden chain, book called ..'The Golde1
Manual Of Prayer" bound in solid goM
On one side was representation OF "tA
cuuSihent o1 OOlOfn0n; on the Otner t13
brazen serpent with the wounded Israel:
ties looking ut it In the jewel HOUSE
of the Tower Of London is a book bound
in gold and enamel, clasped with ruby;
on one side is cross Of diamonds with
other diamonds around it; on the other !
fower-de-lucc in diamonds, and the arms
Of England. The book is enriched with
small rubies and emeralds.-{St. Mich.
olas.