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Transitional Phases in the History of the Form and Function of the Book
BEFORE the current transition from primarily print, prior to per- sonal computing and the Internet, to the present combination of print and digital, and before the transition from manuscript copying
to print that began in the mid-fifteenth century, there were several earlier and chronologically longer phases in the development of media for the re- cording and transmission of information—what we may call transitional phases in the form and function of books. Viewing, as we often do, the introduction of printing in the fifteenth century as a revolutionary transi- tion in the sense of relatively radical change, and caught in the midst of 21st century rapid technological change, we may be tempted to view phases in early history of media before Gutenberg also as somewhat revolutionary in nature. However, the more we study the evolution of media the more we re- alize that the concept of revolution does not apply well to the earlier phases. Perhaps because of necessarily conservative approaches to the maintenance of archives and other records over millennia, the number of definable phases or transitions in the form of the book before printing are relatively few, and like many elements of the history of books, they were complex develop- ments that occurred over extended periods of time, often over several centu- ries, involving changes in writing surfaces, in handwriting, in bookbinding, in format, among other factors, influenced by social, political, educational, and other elements beyond the physical attributes of the books themselves.
In these essays I have devoted extensive chapters to the various transition- al phases in the history of books. Just as today, educated people who lived in one of these transitional phases, and had access to books and libraries, might have had opportunities to use what was perceived as newer or alterna- tive media while the older media remained functional in spite of their some-
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