Welcome to my world and beyond...

A collection of snippets of the books I write and, occasionally, my life and the things that inspire my writing...

Monday, April 2, 2012

A to Z "B" Books: Publishing--The Evolution

Books: One of my true loves.

If we have been fortunate, a parent or another caring adult introduced us to books when we very young, and in the process, formed a lifelong love.  In my case, it was my mom, and I recall receiving my own copy of, "Heidi, the Mountain Child".  That book set my imagination on fire.   Books have always been part of my life.

But, until recent years, I rarely gave thought to what life must have been like before books were commonplace and easily acquired.

There was once a time when stone tablets sufficed, and  animal skin pages, and papyrus scrolls, after paper production had become somewhat refined--all of these things.  But before the invention of the printing press, all books were handcrafted. That is, a painfully slow process, page by page, books were copied by hand.

Each scribe (copyist) used his own style, and they weren't all done in print; there was cursive in use, with varying flourishes and embellishments added. Occasionally, a scribe took issue with a book he was copying, and included his own thoughts on the pages.  At worst, scribes were sometimes held in as high regard as the original authors.

This handcrafting was expensive to do, too, and it had its limits.  One limitation was that the number of people who were literate--capable of copying, was rather small.  But, that worked out alright because the number of people who could read the finished books was actually quite small, too.

In this production method, most  book owners were churches, governing bodies, and the very wealthy.

When the printing press was first invented, the wealthy rejected the idea of machine printed books.  They felt there was something more refined, respectable, and worthy of ownership in a handcrafted book.  So, it was  left to the lower classes of people to see through the mass production of books.

And see it through they did.  The Bible became obtainable for working class people.  They started to become commonplace in homes.  This was an affront to church hierarchy who held power by denying the holy book to anyone but clergy.


Many, many feathers were ruffled, and that Gutenberg press truly changed the landscape of the "publishing" world.

                                                         "Guttenberg Press" 

Along with increased book production, literacy grew.  All from a change in the way books were made and then distributed.

Great changes have come many times in the production of books.

The modern-day great change is the e-book.  Any guesses to what history will record of the ebook's advent?

10 comments:

  1. It will be a sad day when printed books are gone and the only way to read will be a little screen.

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    1. Hi Jen, I am a fan of both. This is how I have begun to approach it. I buy the ebook. If it is a keeper, I buy the print version for my bookshelf. There is just something about books...real books. The smell of the paper, the feel of it, the weight of it in your hands. :-) Thanks for visiting!

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  2. I get goosebumps just reading about the printing press and how it changed history.
    Loved this post!
    A-Z Hopper Kristen :)

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    1. Hi Kristen, Yes, lol, it is one of those goose-bump inspiring pieces of history! Thanks for stopping! :-)

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  3. I love ebooks and I still love paperbacks. ebooks are the future. It'll be interesting to see how it all evolves.

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    1. Hi M, It will be interesting. Not just the end use--the commercial product that readers will buy (when the dust settles) but the publishing industry itself. Where will we, the writers, the authors be standing? :-) Thanks for visiting and commenting. Good luck in the A to Z :-)

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  4. It is hard to imagine a world without books. Interesting history about the first printing press. So glad you're doing A to Z, and I'll be back for more!

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    1. It is, Julie. Maybe I am in denial. But, I really just can't picture it. Thanks for visiting :-) See you soon.

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  5. You summarize the change to print so well, and I love your picture. I'll be back to visit again! :)

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    1. Thank you, Brenda. It is hard for me to write short posts. I get awfully long-winded if I don't keep myself in check ;-) I will be back to visit your blog again, too! :-)

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