C is for Codex
The
codex is the form that most people understand as a physical book. In
its earliest form it consisted of folded sheets that sewn along one side
and cut to form leaves. The codex replaced the rolled scroll over the
course of about two centuries from 100-300 CE. The advantages of the
codex are that it can be opened to any place in the text easily and that
both sides of the leaf may be written or printed on. The development
of the codex allowed for longer texts to be more portable. What would
have been unwieldy as a scroll, became easily transportable as a codex.
Codices were also easy to store. Where scrolls needed a great deal of
shelf space to be stacked lying on their sides, or large spaces for the
clay or glass jars that sometimes were used as scroll containers,
codices could be balanced upright because of their shape. As time
passed, more pages were sewn together to form longer books. These pages
were then placed between two boards for protection. The modern printed
book doesn’t look that much different from some of the very first
manuscripts. The codex has been the prevailing technology for the
recording and transmission of information for almost 2000 years.
Here is the list of sources I have used so far in preparing these entries. This is a live link to my Easy Bib page, so as I update it, it will automatically show up.
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