Интересные факты из истории книг

When we go the library, we see lots of books. Some are big; some are small. Some have pictures; some don't. They are different sizes and shapes and are about different things, but all the books are made the same way. Books with hard covers are made with folded pages that are held together by stitches on the inside. Paperback books are held together with glue.

Are these the only ways to make books? Absolutely not.

Palm Leaf Books

Books made from the leaves of palm trees were first made in India and then in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. The long, narrow shape of the page comes from the shape of a palm leaf. The leaves are boiled in water or milk to make them stiff and strong. The pages have holes in them. They are strung on cords with knots or coins at either end.

Scrolls were also used as books in ancient Greece and Rome. Scrolls are also made of different materials around the world: silk and paper in China, Japan, and Korea, leather in Israel, Africa, and the Middle East, birch bark by some Native American

Sewn Books from China and Japan

The book is made by stacking folded pages and sewing them together along the open edge. The reason for this style of binding was because the writing was done with a brush and ink on thin paper. Since the ink could bleed through the thin paper, the writing could only be done on one side of the paper.

The early sewn books in Europe had pages made from animal skin and covers made of wood. Sections of vellum (calfskin) or parchment (sheep or goat) were folded in half and sewn along the fold. These books are the direct ancestors of the books we use today

E-books

The first "e-book" --a copy of The Declaration of Independence was born in 1971. More and more books are becoming electronic. E-books are coming to be a new trend in the world of information technologies. Due to the space limitations faced by many libraries, they appear to be an efficient means to store and organize information.

Task 1

Are the following statements True or False? Support your answers with quotes from the text.

Paperbacks are made in the same way as books with hard covers.

Animal skin was used for making slat books.

You must begin to read a Chinese text at the top and go downwards.

It is impossible to store a slat book.

The first palm leaf books were made in America.

Palm leaves must be treated with chemicals to make them hard.

Papyrus is a water plant.

Palm leaf books and papyrus strolls are made in the same way.

Scrolls were only made from papyrus.

The Chinese wrote on one side of the paper, the Japanese on both.

Very thin paper was used in early sewn books from Europe

The cover of early European books was made of animal skin.

Most libraries are against e-books.

Task 2

Match the definitions with words from the texts.

thin, narrow piece of wood

long, thin flexible material made of twisted strands

fastening made by tying a piece of string

a roll of parchment or paper for writing on

main central part of a plant coming up from the roots

tough, outer covering of tree trunks

f asten sheets of paper between covers

early form of sth which later became more developed

boundary

Task 3

Here is a list of different kinds of books. Work with a partner and put them in the following categories: fiction or non-fiction.

humour biography short story

romance poems cookbook

sci-fi thriller dictionary

drama manual adventure

philosophy mystery novel

Task 4

Discuss the following in small groups then share your ideas with other members of your class:

Which genres do/don’t you like? Why/Why not?

What kinds of books do you read? Why?

Which ones would you like to have in your library? Why?

Which ones would you like to have as e-books? Why?

Is reading books an old-fashioned activity? Why/Why not?