Tue 11 Feb 2020 Dr Mark Lambert -
The Development of the Book.
As a huge fan of printed books I was looking forward to the
presentation by Dr Mark Lambert and his presentation ‘The
Development of the Book’. Early forms of writing evolved from
early forms of Sumerian scripts from over 3,000BC. These were
pictographs on clay. Around 2,000BC the Egyptians developed
papyrus scrolls but the material was organic and could only be
used and stored as a rolled up document.
Dr Mark Lambert
Probably the most famous are the Dead Sea scrolls from around
500BC. The books that we are familiar are bound volumes of
several sheets and was originally known as the Codex. The first
date from around 300AD and the sheets were vellum or parchment
made from animal skins.
Sumerian pictographs.
Probably the most famous are the Dead Sea scrolls from around
500BC. The books that we are familiar are bound volumes of
several sheets and was originally known as the Codex. The first
date from around 300AD and the sheets were vellum or parchment
made from animal skins.
Some of the exhibits.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Over the centuries the spine bindings developed to improve the
durability of the book. One form was the wonderfully named
kettle stitch. Re-binding of books was a common way of
preserving their life and Dr Lambert brought some examples of
his own binding work which included a magnificent copy of
‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with illustrations by Arthur Rackham's
(1867-1939). Even book storage was covered and we heard how
books were originally stored flat and only sat end up in later
centuries.
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam the title Edward FitzGerald gave to his
1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of
quatrains (poems) attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131).
‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with illustrations by Arthur Rackham's
(1867-1939) & re-bound by Dr Lanbert.
Some book cases even had a low pelmet along the front to prevent
dust ingress onto the tops of the books. In churches the bible
was a much used volume and to preserve the spine the bible would
often be left open at the last sermon. Books are a great source
of knowledge, wisdom, art and research and Dr Lambert showed us
that the book itself is an art form.
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