A Short History of Writing

Part 1 of 5 

How often do you think about the mechanics of writing? Ink marking paper, typing fingers summoning words to a screen through a technical combination of hardware and software. We perform these actions so often, questions of their origin rarely cross our minds. But long before ink or wood pulp paper, there were clay tablets and reeds. The ancient Mesopotamians used these tools to write Hammurabi’s law code and the Epic of Gilgamesh. But a lengthy history of incremental changes in writing surfaces and implements separates this ancient writing system from modern computers and gel pens. The Book of the North will use medieval techniques, including traditionally brewed ink and handmade linen paper, to create a book focusing on all aspects of the Northland, communicated through hand scribed text. Dr. Twu’s research specializes in the material culture and technologies of reading and writing, and uses experimental methods to create replicas in order to better understand scribal culture and textual details. Scribal culture begins with a variety of scripts, which each adhere to formal rules of shape and style. Highly trained scribes use quills or metal nibbed pens to create strokes, or minims, which combine to form letters. The Book of the North will feature several Medieval and Early Modern scripts, such as Caroline Miniscule, Textura Quadrata, Bâtarde, and Cancelleresca Formata, also known as Italic. ‘Script’ literally means written, also seen in phrases referring to something planned ahead of time. Medieval scripts influenced the first fonts, created for use on printing presses in the 15th century. The word ‘font’ originally described letters cast in metal arranged and rearranged to print a variety of pamphlets and books. Now, in computerized fonts, some titles use ‘script,’ not referring to the actual technique, but rather a seemingly handwritten appearance. Font, script, and the other terms describing the most basic actions of our highly literate society each tell a story colored by linguistic and technological developments.