Editor's Note: This article comes fromOrange Book (ID: chengpishu), reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes from
Orange Book (ID: chengpishu)
Orange Book (ID: chengpishu)
, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Many people know that the historical process from handwritten books to printing did not happen overnight. It has gone through a series of complex and trivial new technology inventions and improvements.
Perhaps the most important of these factors was the advent of paper - invented by the Chinese in the 12th century, then spread to Europe via Arabian West, and finally began to be widely used in Europe in the late 14th century.
From the 12th century to the end of the 14th century, the process of the diffusion of paper in Europe during this period is a very interesting history from a technical point of view.
Many interesting details are mentioned in the book "The Birth of the Printed Book". for example:
1. Although people mastered the papermaking technology at the beginning, the quality of the paper was very poor: it was easy to tear and could not be stored for a long time. Paper was an inferior substitute for the more commonly used sheepskin of the time.
2. So at the beginning, most people only dare to use paper to record things that don’t need to be preserved for a long time, or to temporarily write some drafts, graffiti and so on.
3. People feel that paper is not as easy to use as sheepskin, while the official attitude is more conservative. The rulers of some European countries prohibited the use of paper to issue decrees. If the official document is written on paper, it needs to be copied again to the sheepskin, and the paper is destroyed.
4. Despite this, more and more paper mills were opened, and even gradually became an important industry. This is mainly due to two factors: First, there have been more and more technological innovations in papermaking technology, increasing output and efficiency, and the quality of paper is getting better and better. The second is that the cultivation of flax became more and more common in the Middle Ages, and the rag raw materials for papermaking became cheaper and more abundant.
5. At that time, most paper mills were located near water sources. On the one hand, papermaking consumed a lot of water, and on the other hand, waterway hubs had advantages in transportation and cargo transportation. Through the development of commerce, merchants exported locally produced paper by tons to other countries and regions, and people in other places also opened their own paper mills one after another, and finally paper successfully spread throughout Western Europe.
