Project Gutenberg's Books Before Typography, by Frederick W. Hamilton

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Title: Books Before Typography
Typographic Technical Series for Apprentices #49

Author: Frederick W. Hamilton

Release Date: December 30, 2009 [EBook #30803]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES FOR APPRENTICES--PART VIII--NO. 49

BOOKS BEFORE
TYPOGRAPHY

A PRIMER _of_ INFORMATION ABOUT THE
INVENTION OF THE ALPHABET AND
THE HISTORY OF BOOK-MAKING
UP TO THE INVENTION OF
MOVABLE TYPES

BY
FREDERICK W. HAMILTON, LL.D.

EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR
UNITED TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA

PUBLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
UNITED TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA
1918

COPYRIGHT, 1918
UNITED TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA
CHICAGO, ILL.

PREFACE

An attempt has been made in this book to trace briefly the story of the
book from the earliest attempts made by mankind to convey a message by
marks on some substance down to the invention of movable types. The
development of writing is rapidly traced from the earliest known
pictures and sign marks to the present day. The discussion covers the
subjects of writing materials and how they were made; the evolution of
the book; the conditions of manufacture, distribution, and preservation
of books before printing, and the conditions out of which sprang the
invention of typographic printing.

It is believed that a comprehensive knowledge of the main facts in this
long story will be of great value to the young printer, and it is hoped
that he may be interested to continue the study in some of the many very
excellent books which are available. A short list of a few of the best
and most accessible authorities in English will be found on page 44. It
has not been thought worth while to refer to books in other languages.

The story of the efforts of men to convey their thoughts to the absent
is one of absorbing interest and leads into many pleasant byways of
knowled