The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1892-07-20
BEFORE PAPER WAS INVENTED.
Some Interesting Facts which Every Boy
and Girl Should Know.

The invention of paper was perhaps,
more useful to the world than that
of printing. 1t vastly increased the
spread of knowledge, making possible
the possession, upon the payment of
few cents, of knowledge which in the
fourteenth century, the day of rare
and costly manuscripts, could only be
procured upon the payment of large
sum of money.
In the most ancient times writing
was used for rare occasions only. and
a rock, tablet of stone, or a plate of
metal was the receptacle. Moses, you
remember, wrote upon stone tables.
The works of Homer and Hesiod were
said to have been first written on
plates of lead. And ancient documents
on copper are still met with in India.
Some persons are of the opinion that
the first writing was upon thin pieces
of wood. From their convenience this
seems probable. Such boards were
used at an early period by the Greeks
and Romans and were frequently COW
cred with wax, which was, of course,
more easily written upon than the bare
wood. Where wax was used errors
were readily erased by rubbing with
the blunt end of the piece of metal
which served for pen. To make the
writing more visible 1t appears that
some black substance was smeared
over the surface of the white wax and
remained in the scratched marks.
Leaves of trees were used very early
by the Egyptians, and probably by the
Greeks The Hindoos continued the
use of this material until within a few
centuries. Even at the present time
books of leaves are not uncommon in
the south of India and the Island of
Ceylon. The leaves of some Asiatic
trees, from their size and smoothness,
are admirably adapted for books. If
we may Judge from the name "leaf"
being still applied to the paper of books.
we should imagine these leaves to have
been formerly the principal material
in use.
The interior bark of trees was for
merly used to write upon, and its latin
name Qiber, a bark) seems to intimate
| that its use was as ancient as the art of
! writing itself. In one respect the bark
was superior to the leaf; it could be
rolled into a volume, while the leaf
would crack if subjected to such a
process.
The skins of animals were another
ancient material for writing. The rolls
of books mentioned by Bible writer's
were probably rolls of skins, and some
ancient copies of the Bible preserved
by the people of India are said to be
| of leather.
Linen cloth was occasionally used.
but was never very common. Linen
manuscripts have been found folded
| in mummy cases, and the Chinese, be-
fore the invention of paper, used silk
and cotton cloth. The Romans also
wrote upon linen. The use of this ma
teral introduced change in the man
ner of writing. The other substances
were rather engraved than written up
on, an iron point being used for the
| purpose. 70 write upon linen it was
necessary to have some colored fluid
which might get dry and leave per-
manent mark. The first ink used was
| probably some sort of SCOT or lamp
black, mixed with size or gum-water,
| and the first instrument answering to
our pen was reed.
Parchment is thought to have been
! first used about the third century B. G..
1t was superior in many ways to every
other material. Even at the present
day the use of parchment for docu-
ments of Importance prevails oveS
that of paper.
, The first paper made from the papy-
rus plant by the Egyptians, was not
what we understand by the term pa
per. 1t was made of the inner bark OF
the plant and prepared and polished
by peculiar process. 1t was not un-
til the ninth or tenth century that
the use of paper, probably so called.
1 i