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1 Manuscripts in history

Before the invention of the printing press, all written documents had to be both produced and reproduced by hand. Historically, manuscripts were produced in form of scrolls (volumen in Latin) or books ( codex). Manuscripts were produced on vellum and other parchments, on papyrus, and on paper.

In Southeast Asia, in the first millennium, documents of sufficiently great importance were inscribed on soft metallic sheets such as copperplate, softened by refiner's fire and inscribed with a metal stylus. In the Philippines, for example, as early as 900CE, specimen documents were not inscribed by stylus, but were punched much like the style of today's dot-matrix printers. This type of document was rare compared to the usual leaves and bamboo staves that were inscribed. However, neither the leaves nor paper were as durable as the metal document in the hot, humid climate.

In the West from the classical period through the early centuries of the Christian era, manuscripts were written without spaces between the words ( scriptio continuaScriptio continua ("Continuous script" in Latin) is a classical style of writing without spaces between words or sentences, with all the text in upper case, and with no punctuation. Like this: ACLASSICALSTYLEOFWRITINGWITHOUTSPACESBETWEENWORDSORSENTENCES T), which makes them especially hard for the untrained to read. Extant copies of these early manuscripts, usually written in GreekThe Greek language ( /Elini'k{/) is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC in the Cretan inscriptions called Linear B. Mycenaean Greek of this period is distinguished from later Classical or Ancient Greek of the 8th ce or LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma and usually dating from the 4th century3rd century 4th century 5th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. Events Definitive declaration of biblical canon: Council of Carthage Demotic is replaced by Gr to the 8th century7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. Sometime this century, Beowulf is proba, are classified according to their use of either all upper case or all lower case letters. Manuscripts using all upper case letters are called uncials, those using all lower case are called cursives.