The making of books and the depositories of them prior to the invention
of printing, and especially during the Middle Ages or from the fifth
century to the fifteenth, inclusive, are matters of all but romantic
interest. In the very early times and in all the principal cities of
Greece and her colonies there were professional scribes who engaged in
the business of copying and caring for books, the same as we now have
our professional "book-keepers" (though with a different application)
and our printers and librarians. This was peculiarly the condition in
the later Grecian and the earlier Roman times. The accredited--though
almost incredible--number of volumes in some of the ancient libraries,
as at that of Alexandria--notwithstanding the slow and laborious
process of their making, when every book made was a separate
production--is proof positive of the extent of this industry. It was
equally true of the very early times--of the times of ancient Assyria.
That scribes, giving their whole attention to the production of their
books, were very numerous in the period of the cuneiform writings is
inferred from the immense quantity of their writings contained in the
great libraries, and from the fact that in some periods almost every
document is found to have been written by a different scribe. Women are
known to have been employed as scribes.[62]
The treasures of learning and letters, preserved from the pre-Christian
times, as at Samos, Athens, Megara, and Pergamos, quickly found
their way (in the early centuries of our Era) from Greece, the
fountain source of books and culture, into all those parts of the
world with which she was brought into commercial relations and
whither the conquests of Alexander had already carried the Greek
culture and literature. And so it came to pass that to the cities
of the Mediterranean and the Euxine there was a constant flow of
books; and, in many of them, extensive libraries were collected and
treasured. At a later time, when the making of books had greatly
declined in consequence of the enveloping cloud of ignorance, the
monks, dignitaries of the Church and even princes, brought a steadfast
devotion to the copying of the religious books--especially the
Bible--though not neglecting the classic literature. Noble Christian
ladies, too, shared in this copying of the Bible as a form of ascetic
work providing, as they believed, heavenly merit and the means of
subsistence. A Christian sometimes copied for himself a gospel or some
letters of evangelists, or even one or more books of the Old Testament;
and we are told that wealthy Christians sometimes helped their poorer
brethren by providing them with copies.
The production of books was mostly but not wholly confined to the
early centuries of the Christian Era; it certainly did not extend to
any considerable degree beyond the fifth century. It is within the
historical facts to say that, from the fifth century on, inclusively,
throughout the "Dark Ages" or for nearly a thousand years, the
business of making books greatly declined, and was limited largely to
books which persons of rank, literary taste, or religious devotion,
themselves copied for personal use or gratification, and to books
copied in the religious houses. Persons of wealth or position, too,
would sometimes employ copyists or men of sedentary habits or scholarly
tastes, and even their slaves who were fitted for this occupation, to
transcribe such books as could be secured for the purpose. (A slave
of this period was often not the dull and degraded bondman which we
are accustomed to associate with the designation "slave" but he might
be a man in all ways superior to his master.) Among the copyists of
the times were educated persons who, by reason of the misfortunes of
war, the handicaps of fate, or the hard contingencies of life--such as
the loss of possessions or the reverses of fortune--had fallen into
a subject condition of servitude and were employed by their masters
as secretaries, scribes, and even as personal advisers and trusted
friends. Origen, perhaps the greatest Bible scholar of the ancient
Church, is said to have been supported by a rich admirer who put a
number of slave copyists at his disposal. These copyists were sometimes
employed to further the commercial enterprises of their owners also;
for books generally had a marketable value--often a high commercial
value--notwithstanding the dearth of intelligence and decline of
learning. There were times when the possession of a book, especially
the Bible, was regarded as a treasure-trove, and the owning of a book
by whomsoever written was considered a fact worthy of record by a
biographer.
So also, toward the close of the Middle Ages when smaller libraries
had been established in abbeys and schools, as in France and Spain,
manuscript books were borrowed from neighboring libraries and copies
were made therefrom to increase many local collections. It was a
custom, furthermore, in wide areas for libraries to exchange duplicate
copies of books and thus the extension of literature went on even
in the "Dark Ages," though with a fluctuating progress. More than
this, since much of the literature of the times was written upon
the fragile papyrus, a constant renewal of books was made necessary
in order to replenish, maintain, and enlarge existing libraries and
private collections. This, in the later days, furnished occupation
for impecunious students of the universities as well as for slaves,
professional scribes, and occupants of the religious houses.
But in the intellectual torpor that abounded, and in the pall of
almost universal ignorance that overcast the civilized world--under
which there were princes and kings who could not even read--it is
unreasonable to suppose, notwithstanding the feeble intellectual
flickerings that lingered, that there was any very considerable demand
for literature during a long period of time, or for a large portion
of the "Dark Ages." It was the fact, as says Hallam, the historian of
this period, that "a cloud of ignorance overspread the whole face of
the Church, hardly broken by a few glimmering lights, who owe much of
their distinction to the surrounding darkness." And he portrays at
length the gross darkness that enveloped the people, both clergy and
laity.[63] In an age when scarcely anybody could write or even read,
when learning had well-nigh disappeared under the pall of ignorance,
we may easily believe that books were neither extensively made nor
highly valued. To again quote from Hallam: "If it be demanded by what
cause it happened that a few sparks of ancient learning survived
throughout this long winter, we can only ascribe their preservation to
the establishment of Christianity. Religion alone made a bridge, as
it were, across this chaos and has linked the two periods of ancient
and modern civilization." Similar is the testimony of Mr. George H.
Putnam: "In the centuries which elapsed between the downfall of the
Roman Empire and the invention of printing, the centers of intellectual
activities and of scholarly interests were undoubtedly the churches
and the monasteries, and it is probable that if it had not been for the
educational work done by the priests and monks, and for the interest
taken by them (however inadequately and ignorantly) in the literature
of the past, the fragments of this literature which have been preserved
for to-day would have been much less considerable and more fragmentary
than they are. As I understand history, the literary interests of the
world owe very much to the fostering care given to them by the Church,
or by certain portions of the Church, during the troublous centuries
of the early Middle Ages. Throughout these centuries the Church not
only supplied a standard of morality, but kept in existence whatever
intellectual life there was."[64]