Historical Background and "How-To" Projects in Paleography, Papyrology, and Codicology
For much of antiquity, the scroll was the fundamental unit of literary transmission.
The Greeks and Romans used scrolls from the introduction of writing in around the 8th-6th centuries all the way through approximately the 4th century when they moved on to the codex.
Consequently, a great way to explore the culture and practices surrounding the ancient literary world is to create one for yourself!
In the modern world, literature, and text in general, is so ubiquitous and presented in so many varied forms that we take the act of creating textual media for granted. Modern “authors” are able to create shareable works from anywhere, in a variety of typefaces, and at negligible repeated cost. The modern literary economy is so widespread that even as I acknowledge the carelessness with which we treat the written word, I create my analysis with taps of my fingers while music plays in my ears. While the scribes who created the works which have survived to us from antiquity would no doubt envy the ease with which works are created and copied today, their jealousy would not be limited to the act of production itself. ...continue reading "Out of the Hands of Slaves: A Comparative History of the Roman book production Economy"