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Over the course of English 492 this year I've learned many things about manuscripts and books that I was previously quite unaware of. Some of the aspects I found very interesting considering I did not know at the beginning of this class that they were even noted or studied by anyone. Overall I would say that this class did an excellent job in teaching what it set out to do, as I not only learned much about the evolution and creation of written and print material, but also the evolution of the culture that surrounds them. The topic I decided to primarily focus on for this paper will be the construction and physical design of the books and other written works, as opposed to the meaning behind the text on each page. The way books are bound, copied, printed, and illustrated are all vital aspects in how a work is viewed both at the time of creation and through history. It was not until I viewed Virginia Woolf's personal copy of Paradise Lost that I realized how much work and detail could go into the physical construction of a book, well beyond the simple alignment and clarity of the text within. It is because of this book that I chose to focus on these characteristics of the physical for my final paper, without these advancements it is possible that the written word would not be nearly as influential to society today.
Over the years, there have been many ways to display the written and printed word, many of which were discussed in our class sessions. While the most basic form would be pictures or symbols carved or painted into rocks or dirt, I will mostly focus on forms that are at least moderately portable as they, in my opinion, have had a larger influence throughout the course of history. With early forms of reed papyrus and parchment, the text lacks a lot of the ability of a modern book to make long lasting and important impact. This is not to say that manuscript works were not influential in the long run, far from it in fact, but many of them have failed to stand the test of time to remain legible and have the message contained upon the manuscript readable today. Many of the early papyrus pieces from Middle Ages have all since faded away. A well preserved piece of parchment with a clearly written manuscript on it is quite valuable today for the simple fact that having no binding or protection makes a piece of this work incredibly hard to preserve for such a long period of time. Let alone the fact that many of these original manuscripts were only printed to deliver a decree or judgment, and after their one time use did not serve much purpose to the common person, especially if they cannot read.
While a manuscript printed on reed paper or a well treated piece of parchment is quite rare, there all well designed and well preserved pieces around. It may be quite a simple form, but in many cases there were ways to make the documents more appealing to the eye, or to look more official if sent from someone like the Pope. Seals and Insignia's inscribed in wax or water marked upon the manuscript can make for quite the specimen, even more so in the cases of some Papal decrees written on silks, one of which was showed to us in class. While parchment itself is easier to maintain and will last longer than paper, gaining a high quality skin and preparing it well was the hardest parts for early parchment makers. The Central European University notes that the "preparation of parchment is a slow and complicated process. Early craftsmen's manuals emphasize that the selection of good skins is crucial. Medieval farm animals probably suffered from diseases and ticks, and these can leave unacceptable flaws on the skin of the flayed animal" (CEU). Parchments acquired without proper preparation and poor skins would lead to poor initial quality, and by default, poor quality down the line.
While manuscripts are quite interesting, it was not the last step in advancing the written and printed works of the world to their readers. Scrolls were used as status or religious symbols, and in many cases represented finalized works. While the timeline of scrolls and manuscripts intertwine quite frequently, in general a scroll is a step up from the common manuscript. The document itself is generally made from the same materials as manuscripts, be it parchment, papyrus, or paper, but is held to specific construction guidelines in most cases. For example, it is noted that the early scroll versions of the Torah took about "2,000 hours (a full-time job for one year)" (Wikipedia) to create. The document was also held to strict standards when scribed. If even one error was present the entire work would be disqualified as a holy scroll. By modern standards, this would be like spending 1,000 hours on a paper and having the professor throw it away for one typo. Scrolls were commonplace for documents of high importance or of great value during the early era of texts, and still today hold prevalence among religious works.
It was not until bound books became popular that the physical nature of texts became a masterpiece of both form and art however. Bindings protected the texts within the book during transportation and use, allowing these books to better stand the test of time. There are many types of binding ranging from simple stitching to high end dyed moroccan leathers. This style of morocco binding is conveniently the type of binding that the copy of Milton's Paradise Lost I used in our "Redefining Value" exhibit displays. The first thing I noticed when looking at this copy of Paradise Lost is how well constructed the book is. Using this style of bind, the book is solid and well built for display. It is not only a copy of Paradise Lost, it is a status symbol among other versions of this book. The green leather is vibrant, the gold leaf inlay beautifully laid in accent to the grooves carved within the book's cover.
Although I had already seen hundreds of books from the Washington State University Library's MASC, it was not until I viewed this book that I realized the true art potential behind the actual construction of a book. I had seen breathtaking illustrated pages in both books and manuscripts, full page plate illustrations hundreds of years old, but had yet to appreciate the physical form of a bound book. This is not to say however that this book is only art on the outside. The print is immaculate, easy to read, well spaced so that anyone reading this edition could write notes, or simply follow along without problems. The text is large, very clear, and the form follows astonishingly well with this epic poem, but while all of that would have previously been all I had noticed, this class allowed me to see the true history and artistic nature of what makes this book a true book, and not just a manuscript.
This edition of Paradise Lost has more to it than simple text. Of course Milton's work within the cover has stood up against the ages, a retelling of what is to some the most important historical event in history (and to others the greatest piece of fiction in history), but when craftsmanship is put into the creation and distribution of this work, it is so much more. To me, a book created in this fashion holds its place among sculpture. Not only is it intended to be read, but displayed, viewed, cherished for the true artisan work placed upon its creation. This is the point where it becomes more than just words, it becomes something designed to be kept. This concept was initially hardest for me to grasp in my opinion because of the way modern books are bound and distributed. Simple, cheap paper with globs of glue, lined only with slightly more durable paper or cardboard. If a novel is in rained on, has something spilled on it, or gets bent or torn today it is easily replaced. Perhaps it is a hassle, or a slight monetary setback, but it is still easily replaced. As an example, at the time of writing this essay there are 101 copies of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park in paperback available via Amazon.com. These copies range from about eight dollars, to 99 cents. Aside from the age of this copy of Paradise Lost in MASC, or the fact that it was in Virginia Woolf's private collection, at no point in this books history has it, or will it ever be, available for the modern equivalent of 99 cents. Modernization and cheaper materials obviously play into this, but the amount of work put into this book, not just required to make it, is what sets it and others like it apart from today's mass produced works.
Modern book bindings and the ease of printing via word processors and home printers has also ushered in a new age of print. Today, almost any person willing to write a document can have the document bound and mass produced. What once was the work of only the most skilled craftsmen is now possible to recreate (in basic principle) by a home end user with a simple binding kit. This is not to say these bindings hold the same prowess and artisanship that the professional bindings of skilled laborers however. Most of today's modern mass produced binding involves plastic binds and high end hole punchers, creating a generally appealing but cheap alternative to books bound for display. While these bindings may be easy to create, and a perfect solution for handbooks designed for mass production or a cheap way to bind thousands of documents for handout at conventions, they lack the luster of bindings that were designed as a status symbol for the text within.
With the age of the eBook, it is also hard to say if the skilled craftsmanship behind many high end book bindings will ever become the norm again. In The Book History Reader's essay by Geoffrey Nunberg entitled "Farewell to the Information Age," he quotes John Perry Barlow in saying that
"... one of the side effects of digital technology is that it makes those containers irrelevant. Books, CDs, filmstrips - whatever - don't need to exist anymore in order to get ideas out. So whereas we thought we had been in the wine business, suddenly we realized that all along we've been in the bottling business." (Nunberg, 509)
My interpretation of what Barlow means by this is that, with the digital information age, the process and art form behind binding a book is now irrelevant. While the old feeling was that publishers were the people behind distributing information to the masses, it is now clear that they were simply the middle man putting the information together in a nice package for distribution. They were the people "bottling" the wine, not the people creating it. The information, or wine, is still available, and to many it is even more accessible, but the bottle is gone.
By today's standards, it may not seem like we've come all that far in the presentation and creation of printed works, but the jumps have been rather large. While today it may be easier for the end user to acquire printed works than it was at the time Virginia Woolf's edition of paradise lost was printed, the main sacrifice to create that has been a loss of craft and art form behind the construction. I would be pressed if forced to choose between the option of beautiful works of text designed to stand up and be displayed over many years, or mass production and ease of information. As a Digital Technology and Culture major, and someone that has always been a personal fan of the internet, having information from hundreds of thousands of sources at my fingertips has always been something to be proud of. However after taking English 492 this semester and witnessing firsthand the history and process behind the creation and preservation of printed and written works, I do now feel that the modern age has left a void in the artisanship behind (or around) the texts themselves. Hopefully the future of the eBook and mass printing will not forget about the history behind these books, but will also make printed works available to all.
Works Cited / Referenced:
Milton, John. Paradise Lost, a Poem. Glasgow: Foulis, Robert and Andrew. 1770. 466.
"Parchment." Wikipedia. 28 Nov. 2007. 05 Dec. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment>.
"Scroll." Wikipedia. 05 Dec. 2007. 05 Dec. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrolls>.
"Jurassic Park (Paperback)." Amazon. 05 Dec. 2007 <http://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-Michael-Crichton/dp/0099282917/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197271114&sr=8-5>.
Brown, Michele P., and Elena Lemeneva. "Materials and Techniques of Manuscript Production." Central European University. Dept. of Medieval Sciences. 05 Dec. 2007 <http://www.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/>.
Nunbert, Geoffrey. "Farewell to the Information Age." The Book History Reader. Ed. David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. 509-525.