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[[File:Latin dictionary.jpg|thumb|A [[dictionary]] is a book]]

A '''book''' is a set of [[printing|printed]] sheets of [[paper]] held together between two covers. The sheets of paper are usually covered with a [[text]], [[language]] and [[illustration]]s. The book is a more flexible format than the earlier idea of the [[scroll]]. The change from scrolls to books began in the [[Roman Empire]], and took many centuries to become complete.

A writer of a book is called an [[author]]. Someone who draws pictures in a book is called an [[illustrator]]. Books can have more than one author or illustrator.

A book can also be a [[text]] in a larger collection of texts. That way a ''book'' is perhaps written by one [[author]], or it only treats one subject area. Books in this sense can often be understood without knowing the whole collection. Examples are the [[Bible]], the [[Illiad]] or the [[Odyssey]] – all of them consist of a number of ''books'' in this sense of the word. [[Encyclopedia]]s often have separate articles written by different people, and published as separate [[volume]]s. Each volume is a book.

''Hardcover'' books have hard covers made of [[cardboard]] covered in cloth or [[leather]] and are usually [[sewing|sewn]] together. ''Paperback'' books have covers of stiff paper and are usually [[glue]]d together. The words in books can be read aloud and recorded on tapes or [[compact disc]]s. These are called "audiobooks".

Books can be borrowed from a [[library]] or bought from a [[bookstore]]. People can make their own books and fill them with family photos, drawings, or their own writing. Some books are empty inside, like a [[diary]], address book, or [[photo]] album. Most of the time, the word "book" means that the pages inside have words printed or written on them.

Some books are written just for [[children]], or for [[entertainment]], while other books are for studying something in school such as [[math]] or [[history]]. Many books have photographs or drawings.

== Types of books ==
There are two main kinds of book text: [[fiction]] and [[non-fiction]].

=== Fiction ===
{{main|Fiction}}
These books are [[novels]], about stories that did not happen, and have been imagined by the [[author]]. Some books are based on real events from history, but the author has created imaginary characters or [[wikt:dialogue|dialogue]] for the events.

=== Non-fiction ===
{{main|Non-fiction}}
Books of non-fiction are about true [[fact]]s or things that have really happened. Some examples are [[dictionary|dictionaries]], [[cookbook]]s, [[textbook]]s for learning in school, or a [[biography]] (someone's life story).

== Historical ==
[[File:Torah and jad.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Torah]] is a kind of scroll still used today.]]
Between the written manuscript and the book lie several inventions. Manuscripts are hand-made, but books are now industrial products.

=== Manuscripts ===
A common type of manuscript was the scroll, which was a long sheet rolled up. The sheet could have been made of [[papyrus]] (made by the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]], by [[weaving]] the inner stems of the papyrus plant and then [[hammer]]ing them together), or [[parchment]] or [[vellum]] (very thin animal skin, first used by the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]]), or paper (made from plant [[fibers]], invented by the [[China|Chinese]]). Manuscripts of this kind lasted to the 16th century and beyond. Turning the manuscript into a book required several developments.

=== The codex ===
The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] were the first people to put separate pieces of manuscript between covers, to form a ''codex''. This was more convenient to handle and store than scrolls, but was not yet a book as we understand it.

=== Printing ===
Scrolls and codices were written and copied by hand. The Chinese invented ''woodblock printing'', where shapes are carved out of a block of wood, then [[ink]] is applied to the carved side, and the block is pressed onto paper. This [[woodcut]] method was slow because the symbols and pictures were made by cutting away the surrounding wood.

[[Johannes Gutenberg]] was the first to invent a machine for printing, the [[printing press]], in the 15th century. This involved more than just a press, it involved the production of movable metal type suitable for the machine process.

Initially, the machines were slow, and needed a printer's muscle to make them work. The [[Industrial Revolution]] brought steam power and later [[electrification]].<ref>Lefebre L & Martin H-J. 1990. ''The coming of the book''. new ed, London.</ref><ref>Chappell W. & Bringhurst R. ''A short history of the printed word''. Hartley & Marks, Vancouver.</ref><ref>Moran, James 1971. ''The development of the printing press''. Royal Society of Arts.</ref>

=== Paper and ink ===
[[Paper]] had been invented in China in the 8th century, but it was kept secret for a long time. In Europe hand-made paper was available from about 1450. It was cheaper than [[parchment]] but still expensive, and the early printing was a slow process. Therefore, books remained rare. In 1800 the first machines for making paper from wood pulp were invented. New kinds of [[ink]]s were also invented for various purposes, and machines were driven by [[steam engine]]s and later by [[electricity]].<ref>Twyman, Michael 1970. ''Printing 1770{{ndash}}1970: an illustrated history of its development and uses in England''. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.</ref>

The common cheap supply of paper fed the faster printing machines, and books became cheaper. At the same time, in America, Britain and continental Europe, more people learnt to read. So, in the 19th century, many ordinary people could afford to buy books and could actually read them. Also in the 19th century came public [[Library|libraries]], so poorer people could get access to the best books.<ref>Altick R.D. 1957. ''The English common reader: a social history of the mass reading public 1800{{ndash}}1900''. University of Chicago Press.</ref>

=== Binding ===
Printing was done on large sheets of paper, which were then folded, [[guillotine]]d (cut) and [[sewing|sewn]] into the covers. [[Bookbinding]] and all the other processes have been done by machines since the 19th century.

=== Today ===
Today some of the technologies have been changed, especially those involving [[illustration]] and [[typography]]. However, books look much the same as they did, with more illustration in colour, but basically the same. That is because experience has shown that readers need certain things for pleasurable reading. [[Graphic design]] and [[typography]] are the practical arts used to make books attractive and useful to readers.

== Related pages ==
* [[Literature]]
* [[Reading]]

== References ==
{{commons|Book}}
{{wiktionary}}
{{Reflist}}

== Other websites ==

* [http://www.wikihow.com/Read-a-Book WikiHow article on How to read a Book]
* [https://books.google.com Google Book Search (Beta)]
* [http://www.bestseller-book.com/ Bestseller list of all times] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202183701/http://bestseller-book.com/ |date=2011-02-02 }}

[[Category:Basic English 850 words]]
[[Category:Books| ]]
[[Category:History of printing]]

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Book - Revision history

WikiDwarfBOT at 09:35, 1 May 2021