9 Curious Facts About The History Of Print

Most people fantasize about having big fancy libraries, or aesthetically appealing coffee table books to help decorate their homes and some just want a kindle so that they will be able to have those libraries in their hand. It’s crazy to think how our perception of books has changed through time thanks to the evolution of print. Books are now so accessible that we can consider them for simply decorative purposes instead of tomes of knowledge. When you look back, history really gives you perspective on how everything's changed. To help you, here’s a list of curious facts about the history of print:

1. ‘La Morte d’Arthur’ by Thomas Malory is considered the first English novel ever published. It was printed in 1485

2. The first book ever accounted for was in Ancient Egypt in 2400 BC and belonged in King Neferinkake’s collection.

3. During this time in Ancient Egypt, books were written in papyrus and were in scroll format. Some of the scrolls reached over 40 meters in length.

4. Before they discovered paper, people in China would write on bone.

5. The first recollection of paper was in China during the 2nd century. During the third century they were using paper as a writing medium and by the sixth, it served as toilet paper.

6. Nearly all Mayan texts were destroyed by the Spanish

7. The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book published, but it actually wasn’t the first. The first book published by a printing press was actually Jikji, a Korean Buddhist book.

8. The first ebook was actually a digitalization of ‘The Declaration of Independence’, as part of the Gutenberg Project launched by Michael H. Hart

9. However, eBooks didn’t start becoming popular until 2007 when Amazon presented the Kindle.

It’s almost unbelievable to think of the impact technology has had on books and society. The printing press enterprise helped make books more affordable, flashforward to computers and ebooks and now you can buy books with almost the change in your pocket. These changes gave way to ebook libraries like www.mediafaze.com that provide readers with books, music and even games. It’s interesting to think about where books will be a hundred years from now.