When thinking about the history of the book, it can be easy to overlook the materiality of the medium in favour of its content. We marvel at the elaborate decorations on medieval illuminated manuscripts and the profundity of the works of literary greats, but what exactly lies behind the words? The introductory portion of this exhibition aims to explore the history and evolution of the book as a material commodity, and to acknowledge the importance of writing supports as vital components in transmitting knowledge from antiquity to the present.
Writing began with stone and clay in Mesopotamia and ancient China, where symbols and inscriptions were made on hard surfaces to communicate and record divination rituals. Wax tablets were developed to record miscellaneous things while allowing edits to be made by simply scraping or melting the wax. Over time, different materials were developed for writing with ink, such as papyrus, parchment and paper. The invention of the printing press changed the materiality of writing altogether, allowing wider access to texts that were otherwise often reserved for scribes and academics. Movable characters in the form of wood blocks or metal type could be arranged and inked to form a page which could be mass-produced to meet readership demands. Lithography was later developed as an alternative that allowed for custom handwriting and drawings to be mass-produced. With the invention of photography came modern methods of printing that utilised lasers and ink.
This exhibit traces the materials on which text has been written from the days of wax tablets in antiquity, to the newspapers of the contemporary age. Ultimately, this exhibit aims to show that every book has a story – one that extends beyond its content. The materiality of the book forms a vital chapter to this story: by understanding the history of how a book was manufactured, one can fully appreciate books as not only repositories of knowledge, but also as artefacts of aesthetic and technical value.
ITEMS IN THIS SECTION
Wax Tablet
The wax tablet is a writing tool used from Graeco-Roman Antiquity until the 19th century. It is made from a hollowed-out block of wood (or sometimes bone, ivory or metal), which is then filled with a wax mixture and allowed to harden to create a writing surface. A stylus of metal, bone or wood is then used to carve onto the wax surface. Its cheap and reusable nature made the wax tablet a popular writing tool in many different contexts over the centuries.
Papyrus
Made from the stems of the Cyperus papyrus, a plant that flourished in Ancient Egypt, papyrus began to be used as a writing support as early as 3000 B.C.E. It was made by layering strips of the Cyperus papyrus in a criss-cross pattern. Papyrus had been adopted by Egypt’s Greek colonisers by the 6th century B.C.E, and remained an important export to Europe and the Mediterranean until as late as the end of the 11th century C.E. Sturdy and flexible, papyrus was widely used for the inscribing of letters or religious texts. These were often written using blunted reed pens in black or red ink, made from carbon and red ochre.
Parchment
Parchment refers to animal skin prepared as a writing support. It is typically made from the skin of calves, sheep or goats. By the 4th century C.E. it had largely replaced papyrus as the preferred writing support in the West. The preparation of parchment is a laborious and complicated process which typically results in an ultra-durable, white material suitable for writing. Parchment was an essential writing support in Europe until the Renaissance period, making it a vital material for the history of the book.
Aluminum Printing Plate
The printing plate is an essential component of the offset printing process, which is a popular method of commercial printing often used for newspapers. Each page requires four plates to be inked in one of four colours (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). The colour is transferred to the rubber cylinders of the printer and then onto large sheets of paper. Offset printing is a development in printing press history, allowing for large quantities of text to be printed in high quality at low cost.