Book

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A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, or
other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called
a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page. A set of text-filled or illustrated pages produced in
electronic format is known as an electronic book, or e-book.
Books may also refer to works of literature, or a main division of such a work. n library and
information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial periodicals such
as maga!ines, "ournals or newspapers. #he body of all written works including books is literature.
n novels and sometimes other types of books $for example, biographies%, a book may be divided
into several large sections, also called books $Book &, Book ', Book (, and so on%. An avid reader of
books is a bibliophile or collo)uially, bookworm.
A shop where books are bought and sold is a bookshop or bookstore. Books can also be borrowed
from libraries. *oogle has estimated that as of '+&+, approximately &(+,+++,+++ uni)ue titles had
been published.
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Contents
,hide-
& .tymology
' /istory of books
o '.& Anti)uity
'.&.& #ablet
'.&.' 0croll
'.&.( 1odex
o '.' 2iddle Ages
'.'.& 2anuscripts
'.'.' Arab printing techni)ues
'.'.( Wood block printing
'.'.3 2ovable type and incunabula
o '.( 2odern world
( Book manufacture in modern times
o (.& 1urrent processes
o (.' Finishing
3 4igital printing
o 3.& .-book
5 nformation explosion
6 Book design
7 0i!es
8 #ypes
o 8.& By content
8.&.& Fiction
8.&.' 9on-fiction
8.&.( :ther types
o 8.' By physical format
; <ibraries
&+ dentification and classification
o &+.& 1lassification systems
&& =ses
&' >aper and conservation
&( 0ee also
&3 ?eferences
&5 .xternal links
Etymology
#he word comes from :ld .nglish @bAc@ which $itself% comes from the *ermanic root
@BbAk-@, cognate to beech.
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0imilarly, in 0lavic languages $for
example, ?ussian, Bulgarian, 2acedonian% @CDEFG@ $bukvaH@letter@% is cognate with @beech@. n
?ussian and in 0erbian and 2acedonian, another 0lavic languages, the words @CDEFGIJ@ $bukvarK%
and @CDEFGI@ $bukvar%, respectively, refer specifically to a primary school textbook that helps young
children master the techni)ues of reading and writing. t is thus con"ectured that the earliest ndo-
.uropean writings may have been carved on beech wood.
,(-
0imilarly, the <atin word codex,
meaning a book in the modern sense $bound and with separate leaves%, originally meant @block of
wood@.
History of books
Main article: History of books
Antiquity
0umerian language cuneiform script clay tablet, '3++L''++ B1
When writing systems were inventedMcreated in ancient civili!ations, nearly everything that could be
written uponHstone, clay, tree bark, metal sheetsHwas used for writing.#he study of such
inscriptions forms a ma"or part of history. #he study of inscriptions is known as epigraphy. Alphabetic
writing emerged in .gypt . #he Ancient .gyptians would often write on papyrus, a plant grown along
the 9ile ?iver. At first the words were not separated from each other $scritura continua% and there
was no punctuation. #exts were written from right to left, left to right, and even so that alternate lines
read in opposite directions. #he technical term for this type of writing is Kboustrophedon,K which
means literally Kox-turningK for the way a farmer drives an ox to plough his fields.
,citation needed-
Tablet
A tablet might be defined as a physically robust writing medium, suitable for casual transport and
writing. 0ee also stylus.
1lay tablets were "ust what they sound likeN flattened and mostly dry pieces of clay that could be
easily carried, and impressed with a $ possible dampened% stylus. #hey were used as a writing
medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bron!e Age and well into the ron Age.
Wax tablets were wooden planks covered in a thick enough coating of wax to record the impressions
of a stylus. #hey were the normal writing material in schools, in accounting, and for taking notes.
#hey had the advantage of being reusableN the wax could be melted, and reformed into a blank. #he
custom of binding several wax tablets together $?oman ugillares% is a possible precursor for
modern books $i.e. codex%.
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#he etymology of the word codex $block of wood% also suggests that it
may have developed from wooden wax tablets.
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Scroll
Main article: !croll
.gyptian papyrus showing the god:siris and the weighing of the heart.
>apyrus, a thick paper-like material made by weaving the stems of the papyrus plant, then pounding
the woven sheet with a hammer-like tool, was used for writing in Ancient .gypt, perhaps as early as
the First 4ynasty, although the first evidence is from the account books of Oing 9efertiti Oakai of
the Fifth 4ynasty $about '3++ B1%.
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>apyrus sheets were glued together to form a scroll. #ree bark
such as lime and other materials were also used.
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According to /erodotus $/istory 5N58%, the >hoenicians brought writing and papyrus to *reece
around the &+th or ;th century B1. #he *reek word for papyrus as writing material $biblion% and
book $biblos% come from the >hoenician port town Byblos, through which papyrus was exported to
*reece.
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From *reek we also derive the word tome $*reekN PQRST%, which originally meant a slice or
piece and from there began to denote @a roll of papyrus@. "omus was used by the <atins with exactly
the same meaning as#olumen $see also below the explanation by sidore of 0eville%.
Whether made from papyrus, parchment, or paper, scrolls were the dominant form of book in the
/ellenistic, ?oman, 1hinese, /ebrew, and 2acadonian cultures. #he more modern codex book
format form took over the ?oman world by late anti)uity, but the scroll format persisted much longer
in Asia.
Codex
A 1hinese bamboo bookmeets the modern definition of 1odex
Main article: $odex
n the 5th century, sidore of 0eville explained the then-current relation between codex, book and
scroll in his .tymologiae $U.&(%N @A codex is composed of many booksV a book is of one scroll. t is
called codex by way of metaphor from the trunks $codex% of trees or vines, as if it were a wooden
stock, because it contains in itself a multitude of books, as it were of branches.@ 2odern usage
differs.
A codex $in modern usage% is the first information repository that modern people would recogni!e as
a @book@N leaves of uniform si!e bound in some manner along one edge, and typically held between
two covers made of some more robust material. #he first written mention of the codex as a form of
book is from 2artial, in his Apophoreta 1<WWWU at the end of the first century, where he praises its
compactness. /owever, the codex never gained much popularity in the pagan /ellenistic world, and
only within the 1hristian community did it gain widespread use.
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#his change happened gradually
during the (rd and 3th centuries, and the reasons for adopting the codex form of the book are
severalN the format is more economical, as both sides of the writing material can be usedV and it is
portable, searchable, and easy to conceal. A book is much easier to read, to find a page that you
want, and to flip through. A scroll is more awkward to use. #he 1hristian authors may also have
wanted to distinguish their writings from the pagan and Xudaic texts written on scrolls. n addition,
some metal books were made, that re)uired smaller pages of metal, instead of an impossibly long,
unbending scroll of metal. A book can also be easily stored in more compact places, or side by side
in a tight library or shelf space.