So much interesting information in this video! I love making my own books and even though I’m not deliberately trying to recreate historically accurate processes, I’m interested to find out about the “evolution” of book binding and maybe include some older techniques! Interesting to learn why it’s called a signature (I’ve been wondering about that one!). However, I was a bit confused about “quire” being another word for a section/signature. I always thought quire was the name given to 24 sheets (in the same way as a ream refers to 500). Thank you for this video…. I’m off to watch part 2 now….
I must say that the Nag Hammadi.codices are not the earliest codices - the first fragments date back to the first or centuries. But interesting and informative!
Everything begins with the Romans as it was with the Romans the massive amounts of leather first came into existence because of how exceptional Ancient Rome was at the production and use of salt. Starting with "sandles"(leather bound footwear) the use of this material became quite prodigious and spread out over a truly vast area at the time on or about 200 bc or during the "Punic Wars" between Rome and Carthage. Because Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome were so "bound" together (so to speak) not just book binding but actual writing was being created in alphabetized form in our Western medium. "Libraries" and later "Universities" were soon the result as well and were also spread far and wide unlike other Civilizations where books, paper, writing were highly centralized and all the literal property of the Emperor most famous perhaps the Chinese "Forbidden City." For our "Western" Civilization however writing was far more disparate and common what was lacking of course was"uniformity" or what we might call today I imagine be "language." The whole Tower of Babel story in the Bible is quite instructive to all this imo. But the Ancient Greeks more than anyone changed all of this starting most famously with the putting to written word the Iliad and the Odyssey the most common story known to us as Western People from Ancient Times and critical to who we are as it was about "who we in fact were" and not a story about the Gods etc. or a religious work in any way. This meant for the first time again as part of the Western idiom anyways "story telling" became something yes absolutely "transcribed" but also literally created through poem and verse...even acted out as "performances"(tragedy and comedy.) to even engage in such a matter would require some type of "folio" no different probably through to the time of Shakespeare actually.
Very informative series! Thank you!
Thanks for video, I wish the audio quality was better 🌱
So much interesting information in this video! I love making my own books and even though I’m not deliberately trying to recreate historically accurate processes, I’m interested to find out about the “evolution” of book binding and maybe include some older techniques! Interesting to learn why it’s called a signature (I’ve been wondering about that one!). However, I was a bit confused about “quire” being another word for a section/signature. I always thought quire was the name given to 24 sheets (in the same way as a ream refers to 500). Thank you for this video…. I’m off to watch part 2 now….
This is in my blood. Jolly good video!
I must say that the Nag Hammadi.codices are not the earliest codices - the first fragments date back to the first or centuries. But interesting and informative!
Everything begins with the Romans as it was with the Romans the massive amounts of leather first came into existence because of how exceptional Ancient Rome was at the production and use of salt. Starting with "sandles"(leather bound footwear) the use of this material became quite prodigious and spread out over a truly vast area at the time on or about 200 bc or during the "Punic Wars" between Rome and Carthage. Because Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome were so "bound" together (so to speak) not just book binding but actual writing was being created in alphabetized form in our Western medium. "Libraries" and later "Universities" were soon the result as well and were also spread far and wide unlike other Civilizations where books, paper, writing were highly centralized and all the literal property of the Emperor most famous perhaps the Chinese "Forbidden City." For our "Western" Civilization however writing was far more disparate and common what was lacking of course was"uniformity" or what we might call today I imagine be "language." The whole Tower of Babel story in the Bible is quite instructive to all this imo. But the Ancient Greeks more than anyone changed all of this starting most famously with the putting to written word the Iliad and the Odyssey the most common story known to us as Western People from Ancient Times and critical to who we are as it was about "who we in fact were" and not a story about the Gods etc. or a religious work in any way. This meant for the first time again as part of the Western idiom anyways "story telling" became something yes absolutely "transcribed" but also literally created through poem and verse...even acted out as "performances"(tragedy and comedy.) to even engage in such a matter would require some type of "folio" no different probably through to the time of Shakespeare actually.
Thank you for such interesting talk!