Research Guides: Book History: Early Writing Technologies

Assistant Professor

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lwalker@qc.cuny.edu

Subjects: Book History, Communication Disorders, Digital Scholarship, English, Irish Studies, Linguistics, Linguistics and Communication Disorders, Queer Studies, Tutorials, Women and Gender Studies

General Introductions to Writing Technologies

A Brief History of Writing Materials and Technologies
Ewan Clayton explores the history of print technologies from Ancient Mesopotamian incising to digital writing. Hosted by the British Library.

Cuneiform & Clay Tablets

The World's Oldest Writing
Used by scribes for more than three millennia, cuneiform writing opens a dramatic window onto ancient Mesopotamian life. From Archaeology Magazine.

Papyrus, Parchment, and Paper

Paper by Mark Kurlansky
ISBN: 0393353702
Publication Date: 2017-05-23
Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art; it has formed the foundation of civilizations, promoting revolutions and restoring stability. By tracing paper's evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the commodity history that guides us forward in the twenty-first century and illuminates our times.
Paper Before Print by Jonathan M. Bloom
ISBN: 0300089554
Publication Date: 2001-10-11
Like the printing press, typewriter, and computer, paper has been a crucial agent for the dissemination of information. This engaging book presents an important new chapter in paper's history: how its use in Islamic lands during the Middle Ages influenced almost every aspect of medieval life. Focusing on the spread of paper from the early eighth century, when Muslims in West Asia acquired Chinese knowledge of paper and papermaking, to five centuries later, when they transmitted this knowledge to Christians in Spain and Sicily, the book reveals how paper utterly transformed the passing of knowledge and served as a bridge between cultures. Jonathan Bloom traces the earliest history of paper?how it was invented in China over 2,000 years ago, how it entered the Islamic lands of West Asia and North Africa, and how it spread to northern Europe. He explores the impact of paper on the development of writing, books, mathematics, music, art, architecture, and even cooking. And he discusses why Europe was so quick to adopt paper from the Islamic lands and why the Islamic lands were so slow to accept printing in return. Together the beautifully written text and delightful illustrations (of papermaking techniques and the many uses to which paper was put) give new luster and importance to a now-humble material. ]]>

The Book of the Dead at the Brooklyn Museum
A series of blog posts by Conservators and Curators on papyrus and in particular the Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sebekmose, a 24 foot long papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection. This unique papyrus currently in 8 large sections has never been exhibited due to condition. Thanks to a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, the entire papyrus is now undergoing conservation treatment. The conservation work is expected to last until fall 2011 when all 8 sections will be exhibited together for the first time in the Mummy Chamber. As each section is conserved, it will join those already on exhibition until eventually the public will see the Book of the Dead in its entirety.
Hidebound: The Grisly Invention of Parchment
While most of the Old World was writing on papyrus, bamboo, and silk, Europe carved its own gruesome path through the history books. An excerpt from Keith Houston's The Book.
Paper Through Time: European Papermaking Techniques 1300-1800
This essay, from the University of Iowa Libraries, describes the materials and techniques used to make paper by hand in Europe between 1300 and 1800 CE. Some have questioned ending at 1800 when the real trouble with paper stability was just beginning. The 1300 through 1800 period, however, represents the rise and the slow but certain decline of hand papermaking as a major industry. In the late 1700s traditional methods were still in use in many mills. After 1800, however, the craft was rapidly changed by various “improvements,” including the papermaking machine, the universal acceptance of the Hollander beater, chlorine bleach, rosin and alum internal size, and the introduction of impure wood-pulp fibers as a substitute for rags.