IML 601:

PUBLICATION & PRODUCTION OF INFORMATION

MATERIALS
Week 1
TOPIC CONTENT

• Historical background & tradition

• From papyrus to Internet publishing
LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the session, students will be able

to:
• Understand the historical background of book
publishing.
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg

• Development of Printing
– Began in 3000 B.C. : area of Tigris and Euphrates
(Iraq now)
– 3 civilizations – Sumerians, Babylonians and
Assyrians (now northern Iraq and southeastern
Turkey).
– China in 2nd century
– Rome
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg
• Publishing depends on:
– Writing
– Paper invention
– Printing
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg
• Formats:
– Clay tablets (tablets made from water-cleaned clay)
– Papyrus: material prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of
a water plant, used in sheets throughout the ancient Mediterranean
world for writing or painting on and also for making articles such as
rope.
– Animal skin
– Paper
– Printing
PUBLICATION & ANCIENT LIBRARIES
PUBLICATION & ANCIENT LIBRARIES
WRITING DOWN OF THE HOLY QURAN

1. First stage: during the time of the Prophet

• Quran was written down but not put together in one
place. It was written on palm leaves, flat stones, bones, and
memorized in the hearts of men.
2. Second stage: During the time of caliph Abu Bakar and
Umar.
• Many Muslims were martyrs (syahid). Abu Bakar and Umar
ordered the written Quran in various palm leaves, flat
stones, bones be collected in one place.
3. Third stage: Compilation of Quran during Uthman ibn ‘Affan
Written Qurans are compiled and copies of Quran are made.
SURAH FATIHA WRITTEN ON STONE
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg
• The oral account (word of mouth, tradition, hearsay) is
the oldest carrier of message and stories. When writing
systems were invented in ancient civilizations, clay
tablets or parchment scrolls were used as, for example
in the library of Alexandria.
• Scrolls were later phased out in favor of the codex
(pressed tightly between wooden boards), a bound
book with pages and a spine, the form of most book
today. The codex (ancient manuscript text) was
invented in the first few centuries or earlier. Some have
said that Julius Caesar invented the first codex during
the Gallic Wars (between 58 BC and 50 BC). He would
issue scrolls folded up accordion style and use the
“pages” as reference points.
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg

• In the mid 15th century books began to be produced by

block printing in western Europe (entirely replaces all
kinds of parchment books). That was around 1439 in
Europe. In block printing, a relief image of an entire
page was carved out of wood. It could then be inked
and used to reproduce many copies of that page.
• Creating an entire book, however was a painstaking
process requiring a hand-carved block for each page.
Also, the wood blocks were not durable and could
easily wear out or crack.
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg
• The oldest dated book printed by the method of block
printing is The Diamond Sutra. These is a wood block
printed copy in the British Library which, although not
the earliest example of block printing, is the earliest
example which bears an actual date. It was found in
1907 by the archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein in a
walled-up cave near Dunhuang, in nortwest China.
• The colophon, at the inner end, reads: Reverently
[caused to be] made for universal free distribution by
Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 13th of the
4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong [i.e. 11th May, CE
868].
 Historical Background:
from Papyrus to Guttenberg
• It was not until Johann Gutenberg popularized the
printing press with metal moveable type in the 15th
century that books started to be affordable and widely
available.
• This upset the status quo, leading to remarks such as
“the printing press will allow books to get into the hands
of people who have no business reading books”. It is
estimated that in Europe about 1,000 various books
were created per year before the invention of the
printing press.
Books and The Role of Publishing

• In general, publishing is the process of

production and dissemination of literature or
information – activity of making information
available to the society.
• Publishing is an industry which combines
element of art and sciences (Bailey)
• According to Hamedi (1997) element of art and
sciences need to be balanced.
• Arts – (ability & creativity)
• Sciences – (technical aspect of publishing)
Books and The Role of Publishing

• Definition of book:
– ‘a portable written or printed treatise, filling a
number of sheets, fastened together’.
(Oxford Dictionary)
– ‘a set of written, printed or blank sheets
bound together into a volume’. (Webster
Dictionary)