Editing Book (section)

=== Manuscript ===
{{main|Manuscript}}
{{See also|Palm-leaf manuscript}}
[[File:RomanVirgilFolio014rVergilPortrait.jpg|thumb|left|Folio 14 recto of the 5th-century [[Vergilius Romanus]] contains an [[author portrait]] of [[Virgil]]. Note the bookcase (''capsa''), reading stand and the text written without word spacing in [[rustic capitals]].]]

Manuscripts, handwritten and hand-copied documents, were the only form of writing before the invention and widespread adoption of print. Advances were made in the techniques used to create them.

In the early [[Western Roman Empire]], [[Monastery|monasteries]] continued [[Latin literature|Latin]] writing traditions related to [[Christianity as the Roman state religion|Christianity]], and the clergy were the predominant readers and copyists. The bookmaking process was long and laborious. They were usually written on [[parchment]] or [[vellum]], writing surfaces made from processed animal skin. 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 a [[scribe]], who usually left blank areas for illustration and [[rubrication]]. Finally, it was bound by a bookbinder.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Diehl |first=Edith |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7027090 |title=Bookbinding : its background and technique |date=1980 |publisher=Dover Publications |isbn=0-486-24020-7 |location=New York |pages=14–16 |oclc=7027090}}</ref>

Because of the difficulties involved in making and copying books, they were expensive and rare. Smaller monasteries usually had only a few dozen books. By the 9th 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 the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] held only around 2,000 volumes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joachim |first=Martin D. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/683191430 |title=Historical Aspects of Cataloging and Classification |date=2003 |publisher=Haworth Information Press |isbn=9780789019813 |location=New York |pages=452 |oclc=683191430 |access-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327190225/https://www.worldcat.org/title/683191430 |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The rise of universities in the 13th century led to an increased demand for books, and a new system for copying appeared. The books were divided into unbound leaves (''pecia''), which were lent out to different copyists, so the speed of book production was considerably increased. The system was maintained by secular [[stationery|stationers]] guilds, which produced both religious and non-religious material.<ref>Bernhard Bischoff. ''Latin Palaeography'', pp. 42–43.</ref>[[File:Tavernier Jean Mielot.jpg|thumb|left|Burgundian author and scribe [[Jean Miélot]], from his ''Miracles de Notre Dame'', 15th century]]In India, bound manuscripts made of birch bark or palm leaf had existed since antiquity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kelting |first=M. Whitney |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elcn1IEJ3CEC&q=saraswati+kankali+tila&pg=PA65 |title=Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Mandal Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-803211-3 |language=en |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214094337/https://books.google.com/books?id=elcn1IEJ3CEC&q=saraswati+kankali+tila&pg=PA65 |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The text in [[Palm-leaf manuscript|palm leaf manuscripts]] was inscribed with a knife pen on rectangular cut and cured palm leaf sheets; coloring was then applied to the surface and wiped off, leaving the ink in the incised grooves. Each sheet typically had a hole through which a string could pass, and with these the sheets were tied together with a string to bind like a book.