In the beginning of time for humans, we did not know how to read or write. But when groups of people started to live in towns and cities, which was controlled by some sort of a government, the government officials needed some way to keep record of important information. Before writing there was no way for the humans to be able to keep track of who owned what
land and who owed who money. The earliest form of writing was created by pictures that the humans would draw because anyone could look at a simple picture and know what it is of. This form of writing by using pictures is called pictographs. This
writing system was developed around 3500B.C. in the ancient Near East. But pictographs had too many symbols to represent different things, which can be confusing to use. So the early humans used a different system of writing called cuneiform. Cuneiform is a type of writing that is made from marks that has wedge shape to them that represent sounds. These markings can be put together to have the sounds create words. After a while, Cuneiform used more than 1800 different signs.
The earliest forms of books were Sumerian clay tablets that had markings carved into them and papyrus scrolls. These were used around 2,500 B.C.! Then there was Papyrus Egyptian scrolls which were created and used in 600 B.C. by the Egyptians. The oldest book that is entirely complete is called Republic by Plato and was written in 400B.C. while the most remarkable scrolls that were found from the past is known to be the Dead Sea Scrolls because they provide insights about religious writings.
The first system of printmaking was xylography which is when a piece of wood is engraved and used like a stamp. Johannes Gutenberg was the person who invented the first actual printing press in 4155, other than the Chinese technique called xylography. Johannes Gutenberg was a European metal worker. The first book that Gutenberg printed using his press was the Bible and is known as the Gutenberg Bible.If Gutenberg wanted to add multiple colors to his papers he would have to put the paper back into the press multiple times perfectly lined up. was too much of a perfectionist and he was not able to sell enough of his expensive but amazing novels to keep from having to shut down his business. Sadly, Gutenberg had to shut down and he died with no more money. Although, Gutenberg did not sell much his ideas spread throughout the world and there were many printers who used his process and concept.
Not everyone liked the new idea of these printing presses. King Henry VIII of England required all printers had to be approved by the government before they could start printing and nothing was allowed to be written that might hurt the king's power or position. But this did not stop people.There were still those people who wrote against the king secretly. Priests of Catholic churches were afraid that that this invention was going to hurt them because until printing presses were invented, Catholic priests were able to limit the amount of scriptures and priests basically controlled everything about the scriptures. But once the printing press was invented p
resits started to lose some of their control.
Although there were some people who did not like the idea of these printing presses, there were also a few people who thought that printing presses were great and this new invention actually helped them! Martin Luther was one of these people who were helped by printing presses. Although he was a Catholic he had some different ideas than some of the other Catholics. the pieces of writings that he wrote were a very big part of the reason why the Protestant Reformation happened! Thousands of Catholics decided to leave the Catholic churches after reading Martin Luther's pieces of work.
Once America became its own nation,printing presses became very popular and moved from Europe to America. One of the most remarkable novels printed in America is The Bay Psalm Book by the Puritans in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640. The Puritans used the printing press technique to support their ideas of religion. but a very important man who used the printing press a lot is Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin published books, newspapers and pamphlets. One of the most historic books that he wrote as well as published is Poor Richard's Almanack. Even though Benjamin Franklin got in trouble for printing information
that he judged other people who were not used to being so strongly judged in print.But it was one of the many things that he was known for.
Since there was so many books being published during this time period by the mid-1800s the price on books dropped a lot. Paperback books usually sold for between five and fifteen cents each. The information or stories in these paperbacks were usually pirated. American books publishers did not like the idea of paying authors for their ideas, so instead the publishers would instead just steal from European writers as well as publishers. Since the writers and publishers did not enjoy having their work being copied, they would complain and then finally in 1891 there was a law passed called the copyright law.
In the 1900s the whole idea of book publishing became commercialized and book clubs were formed. Books that were being published shared ideas and beliefs that were
knew and not always wanted.A lot of books were baned or people at least tried to ban them.
Books give us enjoyment as well as new ideas and information.TV shows and movies are similar to books except that when you read a book your mind is free to use its imagination to make the characters look like what you want once they follow the description given. Books are also handy to have for a form of entertainment because they a small size so they are portable.
From between the 1970s to present day today, book publishing has had its problems and challenges. In present day books are usually published by media conglomerates who may also own a film studio, magazines, newspapers and even broadcast outlets. This is usually how there is a movie based on a book because the company can make a movie on the same book it publishes. Da Vinci Code was one of the most successful combinations of both a book and a movie so far as well as being one of the most successful movies of the era.
A new invention that is out is called a electronic book which was introduced in 2006 and it displays pages from certain books on its screen. It can hold thousands of books inside its memory and it can remember if you were reading a certain book and what page you stopped reading on. To save the page you are reading on you can put a "bookmark". There is no Internet access needed either. The question is whether or not these new electronic books are going to replace hard and paper back books in the future. The main problem with this new invention is that they are so expensive.
Books have evolved so much in the past centuries. The started out as pictures carved into rocks or wood now the are becoming electronic. Books are a part of Mass Media because they educated people on different topics. Books can persuade people and bring out their poinions or it can spread children's imagination. By reading a book you let your mind expand and leaqrn something new. Books have not stopped advancing yet and they are getting more and more advanced everyday!
Fun Facts:
- Printing presses were modified wine presses!
- One third of the American population has not read a novel in the past year.
- About one-third of books were paperbacks by 1880.
- Each year the estimated total amount of money made from book sales is thirty-billion dollars.
1 comment:
I like the Fun Facts !
Post a Comment