1 00:00:06,698 --> 00:00:08,793 What makes a book a book? 2 00:00:08,793 --> 00:00:12,828 Is it just anything that stores and communicates information? 3 00:00:12,828 --> 00:00:14,509 Or does it have to do with paper, 4 00:00:14,509 --> 00:00:15,236 binding, 5 00:00:15,236 --> 00:00:15,984 font, 6 00:00:15,984 --> 00:00:16,736 ink, 7 00:00:16,736 --> 00:00:17,973 its weight in your hands, 8 00:00:17,973 --> 00:00:19,803 the smell of the pages? 9 00:00:19,803 --> 00:00:21,112 Is this a book? 10 00:00:21,112 --> 00:00:22,486 Probably not. 11 00:00:22,486 --> 00:00:23,483 But is this? 12 00:00:23,483 --> 00:00:24,763 To answer these questions, 13 00:00:24,763 --> 00:00:27,525 we need to go back to the start of the book as we know it 14 00:00:27,525 --> 00:00:30,698 and understand how these elements came together to make something 15 00:00:30,698 --> 00:00:33,240 more than the sum of their parts. 16 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,859 The earliest object that we think of as a book is the codex, 17 00:00:36,859 --> 00:00:39,949 a stack of pages bound along one edge. 18 00:00:39,949 --> 00:00:42,395 But the real turning point in book history 19 00:00:42,395 --> 00:00:46,575 was Johannes Gutenberg's printing press in the mid-15th century. 20 00:00:46,575 --> 00:00:51,642 The concept of moveable type had been invented much earlier in Eastern culture, 21 00:00:51,642 --> 00:00:55,833 but the introduction of Gutenberg's press had a profound effect. 22 00:00:55,833 --> 00:00:59,949 Suddenly, an elite class of monks and the ruling class 23 00:00:59,949 --> 00:01:02,531 no longer controlled the production of texts. 24 00:01:02,531 --> 00:01:04,328 Messages could spread more easily, 25 00:01:04,328 --> 00:01:07,333 and copies could constantly be produced, 26 00:01:07,333 --> 00:01:10,432 so printing houses popped up all over Europe. 27 00:01:10,432 --> 00:01:15,268 The product of this bibliographic boom is familiar to us in some respects, 28 00:01:15,268 --> 00:01:17,949 but markedly different in others. 29 00:01:17,949 --> 00:01:22,796 The skeleton of the book is paper, type, and cover. 30 00:01:22,796 --> 00:01:27,044 More than 2000 years ago, China invented paper as a writing surface, 31 00:01:27,044 --> 00:01:30,516 which was itself predated by Egyptian papyrus. 32 00:01:30,516 --> 00:01:32,707 However, until the 16th century, 33 00:01:32,707 --> 00:01:35,236 Europeans mainly wrote on thin sheets of wood 34 00:01:35,236 --> 00:01:39,176 and durable parchment made of stretched animal skins. 35 00:01:39,176 --> 00:01:43,022 Eventually, the popularity of paper spread throughout Europe, 36 00:01:43,022 --> 00:01:47,673 replacing parchment for most printings because it was less expensive in bulk. 37 00:01:47,673 --> 00:01:51,576 Inks had been made by combining organic plant and animal dyes 38 00:01:51,576 --> 00:01:53,046 with water or wine, 39 00:01:53,046 --> 00:01:55,519 but since water doesn't stick to metal type, 40 00:01:55,519 --> 00:02:00,144 use of the printing press required a change to oil-based ink. 41 00:02:00,144 --> 00:02:03,513 Printers used black ink made of a mixture of lamp soot, 42 00:02:03,513 --> 00:02:04,395 turpentine, 43 00:02:04,395 --> 00:02:06,138 and walnut oil. 44 00:02:06,138 --> 00:02:08,236 And what about font size and type? 45 00:02:08,236 --> 00:02:12,577 The earliest movable type pieces consisted of reversed letters 46 00:02:12,577 --> 00:02:16,673 cast in relief on the ends of lead alloy stocks. 47 00:02:16,673 --> 00:02:19,147 They were handmade and expensive, 48 00:02:19,147 --> 00:02:22,865 and the designs were as different as the people who carved their molds. 49 00:02:22,865 --> 00:02:27,151 Standardization was not really possible until mass manufacturing 50 00:02:27,151 --> 00:02:30,830 and the creation of an accessible word processing system. 51 00:02:30,830 --> 00:02:36,230 As for style, we can thank Nicolas Jenson for developing two types of Roman font 52 00:02:36,230 --> 00:02:38,610 that led to thousands of others, 53 00:02:38,610 --> 00:02:41,248 including the familiar Times Roman. 54 00:02:41,248 --> 00:02:44,013 Something had to hold all this together, 55 00:02:44,013 --> 00:02:46,399 and until the late 15th century, 56 00:02:46,399 --> 00:02:48,732 covers consisted of either wood, 57 00:02:48,732 --> 00:02:51,045 or sheets of paper pasted together. 58 00:02:51,045 --> 00:02:54,698 These would eventually be replaced by rope fiber millboard, 59 00:02:54,698 --> 00:02:59,482 originally intended for high quality bindings in the late 17th century, 60 00:02:59,482 --> 00:03:02,947 but later as a less expensive option. 61 00:03:02,947 --> 00:03:06,550 And while today's mass produced cover illustrations are marketing tools, 62 00:03:06,550 --> 00:03:10,304 the cover designs of early books were made to order. 63 00:03:10,304 --> 00:03:12,839 Even spines have a history. 64 00:03:12,839 --> 00:03:16,406 Initially, they were not considered aesthetically important, 65 00:03:16,406 --> 00:03:19,743 and the earliest ones were flat, rather than rounded. 66 00:03:19,743 --> 00:03:22,516 The flat form made the books easier to read 67 00:03:22,516 --> 00:03:25,522 by allowing the book to rest easily on a table. 68 00:03:25,522 --> 00:03:30,453 But those spines were damaged easily from the stresses of normal use. 69 00:03:30,453 --> 00:03:32,580 A rounded form solved that issue, 70 00:03:32,580 --> 00:03:34,555 although new problems arose, 71 00:03:34,555 --> 00:03:37,389 like having the book close in on itself. 72 00:03:37,389 --> 00:03:39,263 But flexibility was more important, 73 00:03:39,263 --> 00:03:41,609 especially for the on-the-go reader. 74 00:03:41,609 --> 00:03:45,266 As the book evolves and we replace bound texts 75 00:03:45,266 --> 00:03:47,855 with flat screens and electronic ink, 76 00:03:47,855 --> 00:03:50,953 are these objects and files really books? 77 00:03:50,953 --> 00:03:52,436 Does the feel of the cover 78 00:03:52,436 --> 00:03:55,738 or the smell of the paper add something crucial to the experience? 79 00:03:55,738 --> 00:03:58,837 Or does the magic live only within the words, 80 00:03:58,837 --> 00:04:01,018 no matter what their presentation?