A Historic Timeline

BY: SARAH DYER | COM 9660

EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK

ORIGINS OF WRITING (INCL. ALPHABET) •  Numbers for the purpose of record keeping is thought

to have started long before the written language •  Written language began in 3200 B.C. in Mesopotamia

and in Mesoamerican 600 B.C. (see map) •  The original alphabet was developed by Semitic*

people living in or near Egypt (Sinai desert around 1700 B.C.) (see image)

•  Egyptians used specific symbols •  This style of writing was quickly adopted by

neighboring peoples (i.e. Canaanites, Hebrews & Phoenicians)

•  Phoenicians spread to the word to Asia, Arabs, Greeks and Spain

•  Writing was done right to left, left to right and vertically •  Chinese characters were rather long which caused the

use of an enormous amount of space; whereas symbols with greater meaning took up less space

Source: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/alphabet.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing Image: www.lexiline.com

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing

THE INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT EGYPT (3500 B.C. – 600 A.D.) •  Circa 3500 B.C. : Sumerian clay tablets used cuneiform alphabet – symbols pressed into

clay tablets - dried or fired to set; considered the earliest form of the book

•  2400 B.C. : Papyrus scrolls – grass-like, aquatic plant grown in the Nile delta of Egypt. Egyptians used for paper – plant cut into strips, pressed together and dried to form a writing surface

•  Papyrus was used all the way up to the 8th or 9th centuries A.D. – the first block printing in Egypt wouldn’t come until 1250 A.D.

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing

A WRITING SYSTEM IS BORN (600S-200S B.C.) •  600 B.C. : Writing system developed. Mediterranean cultures favored left- to-right writing

and reading

•  200 B.C. : Wax tablet “codex” marks the beginning of books being bound at one end – used by Greeks & Romans

•  Codex were framed and backed by wood; good for note taking, mobile writing surface

•  Two or more tablets were joined with thongs or cords (like three ring binder)

•  Codex books entered Europe, surprising the scroll around the 5th century A.D.

Image Sources: www.jfpenn.com and www.lib.monash.edu.au

CHINA’S IMPRINT ON HISTORY (105S-1040S A.D.) •  105 A.D. : Cai Lun invented papermaking using bark, hemp, old rags and

used fish nets; the improved process spread throughout the world •  400- 600 A.D. : Illustrated and handwritten manuscripts developed.

Earliest illustrated manuscripts were written on parchment (made of calf, sheep or goat skin) – replacing papyrus as main resource •  Handwritten books were detailed with gold and silver, creating

colors and showing design elements •  Used by Muslim and European cultures up until the invention of

movable type •  868 A.D. : The first book is printed on paper in China

•  Chinese used a block of wood that had characters carved in reverse •  Ink was placed on woodblocks to create multiple copies on paper or

parchment •  1041 A.D. : Chinese invent movable type

•  Chinese characters caused problems because of length, whereas the European language proved successful much later due to its limited alphabet Image: english.cntv.cn

Image: www.lausd.k12.ca.us

MODERN REVOLUTION IMPROVES LITERACY (1400S-1770S A.D.) •  1440 A.D. : German inventor Johann Gutenberg developed the printing press – key to the

spread of the printed word in books

•  1455 A.D. : The Guttenberg Bible (42-line) completed

•  1490 A.D. : Printed books widespread in Europe

•  By 1500 A.D. Literacy grows and about 35K books have been printed with about 10M copies in circulation

•  1501 A.D. : Aldo Manuzio designs a smaller and less expensive book to replace the large and heavier Codex; the precursor to modern paperback books

1639-1640 A.D. : Puritans ship modern printing press to the American colonies and print America’s first book, The Bay Psalm Book – delivered to Cambridge, MA

1774 A.D. : Chlorine is discovered and used to bleach white the pages

MODERN TIMES IN BOOKS (1790S-1900S A.D.) •  1791 A.D. : American Congress passed the First Amendment to

the Constitution allowing for Freedom of the Press

•  1832 A.D. : Books are wrapped in paper jackets

•  1860 A.D. : “Dime novels” are printed on cheap, coarse paper

•  1875 A.D. : The U.S. has 257 public libraries where citizens can access books freely, cheap reprints are published in series called “libraries”

•  1933 A.D. : Nazis begin book burning in Europe

•  1939 A.D. : Pocket Books enters paperback market

•  1941 A.D. : Starting the first mass distribution system for books

Image: www.otrr.org

INCEPTION OF TECHNOLOGY (1950S-2000S A.D.) •  1958 A.D. : The first ever microchip is invented kicking off the computer revolution and

opening doors to technological advancement of the book

•  1986 A.D. : The American Encyclopedia is put on CD-ROM

•  1990 A.D. : The Second Edition, Oxford English Dictionary becomes available in book or CD-ROM form

•  1991 A.D. : The Internet is made available for commercial use

•  HTML code is written and precursor to the creation of the World Wide Web; creation sets the stage for current uses of the book

•  1995 A.D. : Books are sold online

•  1998 A.D. : The U.S. alone has 70K book titles in circulation and there are 50K publishers

ELECTRONIC BOOK BOOM! (2001 A.D. - PRESENT) •  2001-2006 A.D. : E-Books (electronic books) are launched

•  Handheld, book-sized electronic units for commercial sale and public consumption

•  E-Books open the door to electronic text and graphics of old and new novels

•  2003 A.D. : Online retailer Amazon.com scans texts of 120K books for internet users to buy online and increases the demand for electronic versus printed books

•  2006 A.D. : Japanese-based cell phone novel via text message emerges

•  2007 A.D. : The Amazon Kindle is developed. First automated reading device and revolutionary platform for displaying e-books or other text for readers

•  2008 A.D. “BookSnap” technology developed. A quick scanning process of books making digital PDFs more readily available in electronic format •  The technology today drives the full completion of all books

into electronic format •  The technology is time consuming and cumbersome,

meanwhile more technological advancements may beat the race to transfer all books into e-books

Image: www.cscoutjapan.com

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK APPENDIX

WORKS CITED •  TIMELINE SOURCE:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1511803/teacher-where-do-e-books-come