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| The development of letters and books
The development of letters and books
E n g l i s h -
s p e e c h :
TOPIC:
The development of letters
and books
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!
Original document contains a graphic at this position!
Christian Hohenegger 5.HBa
(1996/97)
Mag. E.
Schaludek-Paletschek
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!
Original document contains a graphic at this position!
1 Table of
contents:
2 Introduction:
In this speech the two main topics I am going to deal
with are letters and books. I want to give a brief survey of the history of
development. First of all, I will explain the status that letters and books have
achieved over time.
Today letters and books are a matter of course. Nearly
everyone in the industrial countries is able to read and write. Even children at
the age of six years are learning how to read and write letters. It is one of
the most important skills in their lives that they are learning in the first
year of their school education. If you were not able to write or read, you would
certainly not survive in today´s world.
The development of books marks a milestone in our
evolution. Before that, you had to believe what the oldest people told you about
the time before. So you could only learn as much as they were able to remember
about the past. The development of the books enabled new possibilities. In books
you could restore knowledge for yourself and succeeding generations. So further
inventions could be made because scientists could continue the work of someone
else without knowing him. Another advantage was that knowledge was available to
all people who were interested in it. Through books, information could be spread
to a wider audience. Today you are able to find books about almost every
subject. Because of these and a lot of other facts, we could not imagine a world
nowadays without letters and books.
I hope I have given you an impression of how important
the invention of letters and books was and which effects they had on our
evolution. On the following pages I want to show you how letters developed
during the time from the first ones to those that we are using every day.
Afterwards I am explaining how books were written in ancient times and what
effect the printing machine from Gutenberg had.
Letters:
3.1 Why was a writing system introduced?
The primary cause for inventing writing was to record
official matters such as taxes, payments for trading goods or details of
ownerships. It took nearly three thousand years after the invention until people
began to use writing in more imaginative ways such as for poetry or literary
works.
3.2 First beginnings
...
3.2.1 In Mesopotamia:
About 5,500 years ago, the Sumerians in Mesopotamia were
the first who invented writing. In the beginning, they scratched marks on
limestone tablets but later they began to use soft clay tablets as their main
writing material.
At first the writing system looked like pictures where
each picture represented an object. The scribes had to know more than 2,000
symbols to write. This way of writing was very difficult because you had to know
so many symbols and their meanings and it was not possible to add any
descriptive information. Because of these facts, less rigid symbols were
introduced - this meant that a single symbol represented the object and ideas
that could be connected with it (for example: a circle could stand for the sun,
but also for light, warmth or daylight)
Later the Mesopotamians began to develop a more abstract
system of wedge-shaped symbols - known as “Cuneiform“ writing. The
Cuneiform was invented because scribes started to write with a stylus and you
were not able to make recognizable drawings with it. The stylus was made of reed
or wood and had a wedge-shaped tip. Another advantage was that you were able to
connect sounds together to make a new word, even though these words have nothing
to do with the word they were spelling (for example: to write the word belief in
the Cuneiform you combinated the symbol for “bee“ and the symbol for
“leaf“). But the main advantage was that scribes now had to learn
“only“ 600
symbols.
3.2.2 In Egypt:
At the same time that the Mesopotamians created the
Cuneiform, the Egyptains developed their own writing system - called
“hieroglyphic“ script. This system was mainly used for inscriptions
on buildings and tombs. The Hieroglyphs contained about 700 symbols where each
picture represented not only the object shown but also words that sounded
similar.
3.3 The big breakthrough:
These early forms of writing could only be read or
written by very few people because it was difficult for people to master so many
symbols. The big breakthrough in the history of writing came when people
realized that all the syllables were made of only a few sounds. Each sound could
be represented by a symbol (= letter). This discovery took place in 1600 BC and
this was the beginning of the alphabet. Through this simplification, writing was
from this time within the grasp of everyone.
3.4 The alphabet:
The Greeks were the first that introduced vowels and
consonants in their script and so the alphabet contained 26 letters. They began
to write in horizontal lines from left to right. The word alphabet comes from
the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. The alphabet evolved as time went
by and so you will be able to see many similarites between the Greek alphabet
and the one we use today. The reason for some changes was that the letters of
the alphabet were suited to the material they used to write on. If letters were
carved in stone, it was easier to use straight. For writing on papyrus or
parchment however, a more rounded style flowed better.
3.5 The exception of today´s writing systems:
One script has developed in a way separate from the rest
- the Chinese script. It doesn´t have an alphabet - it only consists of
thousands of symbols, like the ancient form of writing. Over the years the
script has become more complicated. At the beginning it contained 2,500 symbols.
Today there are about 50,000 different symbols. This form of writing using
pictures is difficult to learn for writing, but it has an advantage when you
read it. In our scripts you have to know the language to understand the words.
But the Chinese writing represents a word with a symbol instead of spelling it
out, so that people do not have to speak the same language to understand it, and
that is the reason why it has spread over the Far East. In 1979, the Chinese
introduced an alphabet of fifty-eight letters for writing proper names and
places´ names (it is called “Pinyin“).
4 The Book:
The development of the book was closely related to the
development of the letters. In the beginning, about 2,000 BC, people used clay
tablets as writing material. The first books were made of these clay tablets but
this was not a very practical material for producing books. It was not easy to
read them and another problem was the storage. Even so, only a few clay tablets
have been found by archaeologists.
4.1 Materials:
4.1.1 Papyrus:
People began to search for better writing materials with
a more useful surface to write on. About 3,500 BC, the ancient Egyptians
discovered that the papyrus reed which grew by the River Nile could be made into
a form of paper. The papyrus reed grows up to three metres and has a thick stem
filled with a white spongy pith. First, the skin was removed and the pith was
cut into strips. Then the strips were laid side by side, dampened and pressed
under a heavy weight. Under the pressure, the fibres dried and knitted together
into the form of a thin sheet of writing material. This writing material was
named after the reed and gave us the English word “paper“. For
writing, scribes used a reed pen that was dipped into ink. This ancient ink was
made from water mixed with vegetable gum and soot or vegetable
dye.
Papyrus became quickly known as a new writing material
and was exported all over the world. It became the most important writing
material and was used for thousands of years. But papyrus had a big
disadvantage: The papyrus reed grew only wild in Egypt and because of this fact,
all other countries had to import the reed from Egypt. So they were dependent on
the supply of the Egyptians. If Egypt stopped supplying papyrus, then scribes in
the rest of the world would not have something to write on.
4.1.2 Parchment:
A legend claims that this happened to the King of
Pergamun about 160 BC because the Pharaoh of Egypt was jealous of the library at
Pergamun. This library was known as the largest and the Pharaoh wanted to stop
new books being added to it. So the King of Pergamun ordered his people to find
a new writing material for his scribes.
The result was that they used the skin of sheeps, goats
or calves to make a type of paper called parchment. To make parchment, you had
to soak the animal skins in lime and scrape them clean. Then the skin was rubbed
with a pumice stone until the surface was perfectly smooth. The scribes used a
quill pen, which was made from a goose feather, to write. The sheets of
parchment were sewn together into a book, protected by a cover made of wood or
leather. And so, the book as we know began to appear.
4.1.3 Paper:
The next important invention was from the Chinese. The
Chinese were responsible for one of the most important developments in the
history of the book: the invention of the paper as we know it
today.
The first paper was made in China about 50 AC. Old
fishing nets, hemp and rags were beaten in water until they were a pulp of
fibres. This pulp was spread on to a bamboo screen. The water drained through
the screen and left a mat of fibres. Under high pressure, the rest of the water
was pressed out of the fibres and then the paper dried in the sun. It happened
some hundreds of years before the secret of paper-making reached the West and
even then, it was by lucky chance. During the Siege of Samarkand in 768 AC,
Arabs conquered the city and captured many Chinese prisoners. Among these
prisoners there were some paper-makers who passed on the secret of paper-making.
Up to the twelfth century, there were paper-making factories all over the world.
4.2 Copying
books:
4.2.1 By hand:
Through this development, the demand for books increased
and the first copy-workshops came into existence, where scribes copied books for
sale. In Europe monks were copying by hand for centuries.
4.2.2 By wooden blocks:
Later text and pictures were carved on wooden blocks
which were coated with ink. Then they were pressed on to a paper to print the
page. This method was satisfactory for printing short works, but it was not
suited to copying books because you had to make a separate wood block for each
page. A lot of time was wasted in carving the blocks. Sometimes the wood warped,
so you had to make a new block.
4.2.3 By moveable letters:
In the middle of the fifteenth century, many people
tried to develop a way to fasten copying books. One of these people was Johannes
Gutenberg, a skilled goldsmith, who was born in the German town of Mainz. He was
fascinated by books and often watched the monks copying the books by hand. The
slow process of copying made him think. In 1428, he had the idea that each
letter of the alphabet could be made on a separate block of metal, called
“moveable type“. To write a word, you had to order the moveable
blocks. This was the hour of birth of the printing press.
He set up his business with Johann Fust because he
didn´t have enough money. In 1456, they produced the first book printed
with moveable letters, the famous Gutenberg Bible. When Fust saw how successful
this invention was, he demanded his money back from Gutenberg. But Gutenberg was
not able to give the money back and was thrown out of the business he had
invented.
Gutenberg had printed his books in Gothic type, but soon
upright letters were introduced because they were far easier to read.
Gutenberg´s printing machine pressed the paper on the letters from above.
Everything was set and operated by hand. In the nineteenth century, printing
became faster when power-driven presses were introduced. The next improvement
was a press which was made of two cylinders. The paper was rolled over on one of
these cylinders and on the other one the types were positioned.
4.3 Effects of the books:
Through books, it was suddenly possible to spread
information to a wider audience. People began to use writing in more imaginative
ways such as for poetry or literary works.
But people also became hungry for more knowledge and
began to question the ideas of the past. For example, they began to question the
behaviour of the powerful Roman Catholic Church. Influential thinkers published
pamphlets attacking the Church for taking too much money from followers into its
own pockets. These pamphlets helped to wake up the people and brought the end of
the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church.
5 Conclusion:
You see - people have been constantly trying over
thousands of years to develop a way of writing so that everybody could read and
write. To reach this target they had to invent a system where you don´t
have to know so many symbols. It began with 2,000 symbols and today we use 26
letters for writing.
Over the years, printing has achieved a highly
sophisticated level, but the invention of the paper and of the moveable letters
were the most important inventions in the history of printing books because they
opened the world of books to everyone.
6 Appendix:
Picture I: Picture script from the
beginning
Picture II: Development of the alphabet from the
Phoenician script up to the modern Roman alphabet
Picture III: A clay tablet
Survey of the
development:
first picture writings
5000 BC
clay tablets
4000 BC
Papyrus
3000 BC
2000 BC
invention of letters
1000 BC
development of the alphabet
Parchment
0
Paper
1000 AC
Gutenberg Press
2000 AC
time
7 Glossary:
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English:
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German:
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brief survey
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kurze Übersicht
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a matter of course
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eine Selbstverständlichkeit
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skill
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Fertigkeit
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milestone
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Meilenstein
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to treat
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behandeln
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to scratch
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kratzen
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scribe
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Schreiber, Gelehrter
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limestone
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Kalkstein
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clay
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Ton, Lehm
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rigid
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starr
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wedge-shaped
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keilförmig zugespitzte
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stylus
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Schreibstift
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recognizable
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erkennbare
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reed
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Schilfrohr
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tomb
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Grabstätte
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syllable
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Silbe
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graps of
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in der Reichweite von
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to evolve
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entwickeln
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to suit
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hier: anpassen
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surface
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Oberfläche
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stem
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Stengel
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spongy
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matschig
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pith
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Mark
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skin
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Haut, Schale
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soot
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Ruß
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dye
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Farbe
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to be jealous
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eifersüchtig sein
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goat
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Ziege
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calf
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Kalb
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to soak
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einweichen
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lime
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Kalk
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pumice stone
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Bernstein
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hemp
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Hanf
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rag
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Fetzen
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pulp of fibres
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Brei aus Fasern
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screen
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hier: Gitter
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to coat
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anstreichen
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behaviour
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Benehmen
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pamphlet
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Broschüre
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8 Bibliography:
... hab ich leider
vergessen zu kopieren!
9 Handout:
TOPIC: The development of letters
and books
Reporter: Christian Hohenegger
(1996/97)
Contents:
Letters:
- Why was a writing system introduced?
- First beginnings ...
•
In Mesopotamia:
limestone tablets - 2000 symbols - Cuneiform - 600
symbols
•
In Egypt:
700 symbols - used for
inscriptions
- The big breakthrough:
syllables made of few sounds - so it was within the
graps of everyone
- The alphabet:
evolved over time - was suited to the writing
material
- The exception of today´s writing
systems:
Chinese-script - it´s a picture script - today
50,000 symbols - advantage when you read it
The Book:
- Materials:
•
Papyrus:
Egypt - reed that only grows by the Rive Nile - pith
could be made into a form of paper - other states were
dependent
•
Parchment:
made of the skin of sheeps, goats or
calves
•
Paper:
invented by the Chinese - made of hemp, rags or old
fishing nets - took hundreds of years until it came to
Europe
- Copying books:
•
By hand:
monks
•
By wooden blocks:
pictures and texts were carved on wood blocks -
coated with ink - for short works
•
By moveable letters:
Johannes Gutenberg - each letter of the alphabet
could be made on a separate block - 1456: famous Gutenberg
Bible
- Effects of the books:
information spread to a wider audience - people
question ideas of the past
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