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In library and information science, a book is called a monograph to distinguish it from serial publications such as magazines, journals or newspapers.
A lover of books is usually referred to as a bibliophile, a bibliophilist, or a philobiblist.
The oral account ( word of mouth, tradition, hearsay) is the oldest carrier of messages and stories. When writing systems were invented in ancient civilizations, clay tabletSmall tablets made out of clay were used as a writing medium in Sumerian and Mesopotamic civilizations. Sumerian cuneiform characters were engraved on the tables using a stylus. Later the tablets were left to dry or even fired in a kiln. Together, these cs or parchment scrollA scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper which has been written upon. They were used in ancient civilizations before the codex or bound book was invented in the first century. The linear access of the scroll meant that it was easy to confuse thes were used as, for example, in the library of AlexandriaThe Royal Library of Alexandria was once the largest in the Mediterranean world. It is usually assumed to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt after his father had set up the Temple of the Muses.
ScrollsA scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper which has been written upon. They were used in ancient civilizations before the codex or bound book was invented in the first century. The linear access of the scroll meant that it was easy to confuse the were later phased out in favor of the codexA codex ( Latin for book plural codices is a handwritten book from late Antiquity or the Middle Ages. Although the Romans used the codex and similar precursors made of wood for taking notes and other informal writings, the first recorded use of the codex, a bound book with pagePage can mean several things, including: Either side of a leaf in a book. The book has twice as many pages as it has leaves. Web page A servant at a royal court in older times. In modern times, someone who takes notes and delivers papers in an organizatios and a spine, the form of most books today. The codex was invented in the first few centuries A.D. (or earlier? Some have said that Julius Caesar invented the first codex during the Gallic Wars. He would issue scrolls folded up accordion style and use the "pages" as reference points).Before the invention and adoption of the printing press, almost all books were copied by hand, which made books comparatively expensive and rare. During the early middle ages, when only churches, universities, and rich noblemen could typically afford books, they were often chained to a bookshelf or a desk to prevent theft. The first books used parchment or vellum (calf skin) for the pages, which was later replaced with paper.
In the mid 15th century books began to be produced by block printing in western Europe (the technique had been known in the East centuries earlier). In block printing, a relief image of an entire page was carved out of wood. It could then be inked and used to reproduce many copies of that page. Creating an entire book, however, was a painstaking process, requiring a hand-carved block for each page. The oldest dated book printed by this method is The Diamond Sutra.
The Chinese inventor Pi Sheng made moveable type of earthenware circa 1045, but we have no surviving examples of his printing. He embedded the characters, face up, in a shallow tray lined with warm wax. He laid a board across them and pressed it down until all the characters were at exactly the same level. When the wax cooled he used his letter tray to print whole pages.
It was not until Johann Gutenberg popularized the printing press with metal moveable type in the 15th century that books started to be affordable and widely available. This upset the status quo, leading to remarks such as "The printing press will allow books to get into the hands of people who have no business reading books" (need source for quote).
The following centuries were spent on improving both the printing press and the conditions for freedom of the press through the gradual relaxation of restrictive laws. See also intellectual property, public domain, copyright, need expansion; early books were usually freely copied.
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