I enjoyed our visit to the Archives and Special this week. It was interesting, having already gone last quarter but I appreciated how we reviewed information we'd already learned in addition to learning new things. The thing that stood out to me the most was, like last time, the progression of the history of printing. From my understanding, writing was originally shared on cuneiforms (the example we saw was a receipt of a livestock transaction). Later, writing was shared on other mediums such as animal hide, papyrus, plant-based paper, etc. It was also interesting to learn about how the Chinese invented ink made from soot, as well as to hear about how people used resources such as Lapis Lazuli to make colored ink (blue, in that case). I thought the colored ink was super cool to learn about since I've made natural dyes before, so I'm curious about how similar that process is to making ink. I think that the history of print intersects with literary history mainly with regards to access to texts. As we learned, printing took a really long time when it was first being invented. Because these texts would take such a long time to create, they were much more valuable than books today, and also harder to come by. I'm curious to learn more about when a spike in book accessibility happened, as well as to learn more about the pricing of books when printing was not a widespread practice.
Hey Audrey! I also really enjoyed our trip to Archives and Special Collections! I think I missed the dye thing, but hearing that was fascinating! It really shows the time and effort that used to go into creating older texts- to the point where even the physical books themselves were an art of sorts! I agree with your point about texts being difficult to create, and how that affected book history. Books were more valuable then- but I also wonder if stories and texts were intentionally made more concise to save the time and effort that making more paper required? I think the spike in accessibility you mention is precisely when this problem went away- which was the creation of the printing press.
ReplyDeleteHello Audrey! I also appreciate how we reviewed some things we previously learned and how we built upon that knowledge. I have never personally made my own dyes or ink before, but I would have to agree with you in wondering how exactly the process of making ink would go about. I wonder if any type of mineral can be made into a dye or if there is only specific ones? Thinking about it, I also want to know why people in the past used blue and red markings to indicate paragraphs or indents in writings? What made them choose these colors?
ReplyDeleteHey Audrey! I was also impressed by the different materials texts were printed on, from papyrus to vellum to paper. Many of these materials seem susceptible to disintegration, pest damage, and other types of wear and tear as they were spread around the world. I wonder how book sellers and merchants protected their books, and if any of these physical challenges limited the areas in which books could be sold?
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