A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side, and within protective covers. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf and each side of a sheet is called a
page.A book produced informally in electronic format is known as an e-book.
Book may also refer to a literary work, or a main division of such a work. In library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial
perodicals such as magazines, journals or newspapers.
A lover of books is usually referred to as a bibliophiles, a
bibliophilist, or a
philobiblist, or, more informally,a book worm
History of booksWhen writing systems were invented in ancient civilizations, nearly everything that could be written upon—stone, clay, tree bark, metal sheets—was used for writing.
Alphabatic writing emerged in Egypt around 1800 BC. At first the words were not separated from each other (
scripta continua) and there was no punctuation. Texts were written from right to left, left to right, and even so that alternate lines read in opposite directions.
Middle AgesThe fall of the Roman empire in the fifth century A.D. saw the decline of the Cultural ancient Rome. Papyrus became difficult to obtain, due to lack of contact with Egypt, and parchment, which had been used for centuries, began to be the main writing material.
Before the invention and adoption of the printing press,almost all books
wer copied by hand making books expensive and comparatively rare.Smaller monasteries usually have some dozen books,medium sized perhaps a couple hundred.By the ninth century, larger collections held around 500 volumes; and even at the end of the Middle Ages the papal library in
avignon and
paris library of
sorbonne held only around 2,000 volumes
The
scriporium of the monastery was usually located at the chapter house.Artificial light was forbidden , for fear it may damage the manuscripts. There were five types of scribes:
Copyists, who dealt with basic production and correspondence
Calligraphers, who dealt in fine book production
Correctors, who collated and compared a finished book with the manuscript from which it had been produced
Rubricators, who painted in the red letters
Illuminators, who painted illustrations
The bookmaking process was long and laborious. The parchment had to be prepared, then the unbound pages were planned and ruled with a blunt tool or lead, after which the text was written by the scribe who usually left blank areas for illustration and
rubrication.Finally the book was bound by bookbinder.
Different types of ink were known in antiquity, usually prepared from soot and gum, and later also from gall nuts and iron vitriol.This gave writing the typical brownish black color, but black or brown were not the only colours used. There are texts written in red or even gold, and different colours were used for illumination. Sometimes the whole parchment was coloured purple, and the
text was written on it with gold or silver.
Modren worldSteam-powered printing presses became popular in the early 1800s. These machines could print 1,100 sheets per hour, but workers could only set 2,000 letters per hour.
Mono type and lino type presses were introduced in the late 19
th century. They could set more than 6,000 letters per hour and an entire line of type at once.
The centuries after the 15
th century were thus spent on improving both the printing press and the conditions for freedom of press through the gradual relaxation of restrictive censorship laws. See also intellectual property,public domain,copyright.In mid-20
th century, Europe book production had risen to over 200,000 titles per year.
Types of booksSmall books can be called booklets
Note books are blank books to be written in by the user.Students use them for taking notes
scientists and other
reseachers use
labnotes to record their work.
A book with written prayers is called a prayerbook or missal. A book with a collection of hymns is called a hymnal.
In a library, a general type of non-fiction book which provides information as opposed to telling a story, essay, commentary, or otherwise supporting a point of view, is often referred to as a reference book. A very general reference book, usually one-volume, with lists of data and information on many topics is called an almanac. A more specific reference book with tables or lists of data and information about a certain topic, often intended for professional use, is often called a handbook. Books with technical information on how to do something or how to use some equipment are called manuals.
An encyclopedia is a book or set of books with articles on many topics. A book listing words, their etymology, meanings, etc. is called a dictionary. A book which is a collection of maps is an atlas. Books which try to list references and abstracts in a certain broad area may be called an index, such as Engineering Index, or abstracts such as Chemical Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, etc.
A book may be studied by students in the form of a book report. It may also be covered by a professional writer as a book review to introduce a new book. Some belong to a book club.
Collection of booksPrivate or personal libraries made up of non-fiction and fiction books, (as opposed to the state or institutional records kept in archives first appeared in classical Greece. In ancient world the maintaining of a library was usually (but not exclusively) the privilege of a wealthy individual. These libraries could have been either private or public, i.e. for individuals that were interested in using them. The difference from a modern public library lies in the fact that they were usually not funded from public sources. It is estimated that in the city of Rome at the end of the third century there were around 30 public libraries, public libraries also existed in other cities of the ancient Mediterranean region (e.g. Library of Alexandria). Later, in the Middle Ages, monasteries and universities had also libraries that could be accessible to general public. Typically not the whole collection was available to public, the books could not be borrowed and often were chained to reading stands to prevent theft.
IDENTITY OF BOOKSEach book is specified by an International Standard Book Number, or ISBN, which is unique to every edition of every book produced by participating publishers, world wide. It is managed by the ISBN Society. An ISBN has four parts: the first part is the country code, the second the publisher code, and the third the title code. The last part is a check digit, and can take values from 0–9 and X (10). The
EAN Barcodes numbers for books are derived from the ISBN by prefixing 978, for
Bookland, and calculating a new check digit.
A large or public collection requires a catalogue. Codes called "call numbers" relate the books to the catalogue, and determine their locations on the shelves. Call numbers are based on a Library classification system. The call number is placed on the spine of the book, normally a short distance before the bottom, and inside.
