Ancient Hieroglyphs (3200 BCE- 1822 CE)

Hieroglyphic writing was a system invented and used by the ancient Egyptians. Hieroglyphs are the oldest examples of script to date. In the beginnings of this writing system, the Greeks and Egyptians believed hieroglyphics to be sacred text, a gift from God, hence, the name hiero for ‘holy’ and glypho for ‘writing’ in the ancient Greek language. In the ancient Egyptian language, hieroglyphs were called medu netjer, ‘the gods’ words’ (Scoville, 1). The script was created of three basic types of signs. Logograms represented words in the writing, while phonograms represented sounds. The third sign is called determinatives, placed at the end of the word to help clarify its meaning. Scoville explains that as a result of this systematic writing, Egyptians used over a thousand different hieroglyphs and during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BCE) the numbers of symbols used were reduced to about 750 (1).

The origins of hieroglyphs remain unclear. Some believed that the Egyptians learned to write from the Sumerians, who also began writing about the same time, about 3000 BC. However, the Egyptian hieroglyph does not look or work the same as the Sumerian form of writing, cuneiform (Carr, 1). The most popular hypothesis is that hieroglyphs derived from rock pictures dating back to prehistoric hunting communities in the dessert west of the Nile. It is believed that these prehistoric people were familiar with the concept of communicating by use of visual imagery. During the Naqada II period (c. 3500-3200 BCE), the motifs depicted on rock images were also found on pottery vessels of early Pre-dynastic cultures in Egypt. Hieroglyphic inscriptions are known to display stories of Gods, Demigods and half human half animal like figures, but they also contain inscribed numbers and mathematics. In fact, it is believed that the most complex inscription of administrative information related to economic activities was founded on pottery and stone vessels from tombs of Dynasty. This is the earliest recorded use of, what we would call, accounting data and taxation analysis for administrative purposes (Scoville, 4). Scoville goes on to explain the transition towards the Late Early dynastic (c. 3000 BCE), where examples of writing to commemorate royal achievements was found (5). In this case, hieroglyphic writing is found funerary stone and votive palettes, to honor the memory of the rulers and their achievements. The decline of Egyptian hieroglyphs took place during the Roman period (30 BCE- 395 CE) as Greek and Roman culture became more influential. Toward the second century CE, Christianity played a significant factor in the decline of hieroglyphs, as it displaced traditional Egyptian cults, making their system of writing obsolete.

The Papyrus Scroll (3000- 2890 BCE)

Papyrus appeared onthe scene during the First dynasty (3000- 2890 BCE), and became the most common source of portable writing in Egypt (Scoville, 3). Writng on clay tablets were quickly discontinued. What in the world is a Papyrus you ask? Papyrus is a plant that once grew, only, along the Nile River. Egyptians would cut the long papyrus stalks into thin slices and soak them in water and then stack them on top of each other in a weaving-like pattern. Then, they would pound the slices together until it created a flat material similar to paper. (Video: How to make papyrus paper) https://youtu.be/DCR8n7qS43w

Egyptians were the first to adapt this method of papyrus as a portable writing tool. By 1000 BC papyrus was in great demand because it was more convenient than clay tablets. This created great business as people from all over West Asia bought papyrus from Egypt. Since papyrus only grew in Egypt this particular item was in high demand. As a result, the price of papyrus was high. Around 700 AD the Islamic Empire learned from the Chinese how to make paper from rags from the, people quickly stopped using papyrus. Although the invention of paper from papyrus was short lived, it sparked the need for a portable writing system and revolutionized writing in terms of communication and how far information could go.

1987-2007

The TEI Consortium is a nonprofit membership organization composed of academic institutions, research projects, and individual scholars from around the world. Members of the initiative are responsible for maintaining a standard for representation of text in digital form. TEI consortiums follow a set of guidelines which specify encoding methods for machine-readable texts, mainly in disciplines such as the humanities, social sciences and linguistics. Before TEI creating sustainable and shareable textual material for archival and academia uses on a representing computer system was unheard of and not yet developed. This inhibited the development of the full potential of computers to support humanistic inquiry, while creating new problems for preservation and data sharing difficult. The TEI was originally developed maintain, and promulgate hardware- and software-independent methods for encoding humanities data in electronic form. TEI was a successful attempt to take on the challenges of digital technology. The goal of establishing the TEI Consortium was to maintain a permanent home for the TEI as a democratically constituted, academically and economically independent, non-profit organization. In addition, the TEI Consortium was intended to foster a broad-based user community with sustained involvement in the future development and widespread use of the TEI Guidelines. In both of these goals the Consortium has proven to be a positive step towards digital technology and communication as we know it, today. The TEI is internationally recognized as a critically important tool, for the long-term preservation of electronic data, and as a means of supporting effective usage of such data among many disciplines. TEI is the encoding scheme of choice for the production of critical and scholarly editions of literary texts, for scholarly reference works and large linguistic corpora (TEI: History, 4). The success of the TEI has catapulted our society in ways of ensuring that our cultural heritage will be brought forward into the emerging and forever changing, new world of technology.

Work Cited

Carr, K.E. “What is Papyrus?”What is Papyrus? – Ancient Egypt – Ancient Papyrus – Quatr.us. N.p., 01 Sept. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

Scoville, Priscila. “Egyptian Hieroglyphs.”Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

TEI: Text Encoding Initiative.”TEI: Text Encoding Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

The Republic of Letters (1685-1850)

A network of letters through Europe and America was created for philosophers and scholars to share their concepts with each other. The Age of Enlightenment brought in a system would evolve into newspapers and academic journals expanding languages and culture. 

Not only did it transcend language in culture, but it brought like minded individuals together into schools and universities out of France. It is hard to know where exactly the sharing of letters started, but we do know France was in the center of it (History.com,”Enlightenment”). 

The Republic of Letters can sometimes be called the men of letters because society refrained women from participating. That did not mean however, that there were not many important women figures who were a part in the age. Salons played a pivotal role in not only bringing together intelligent individuals to educate one another, but they established order and a civil space. One salon owner was Marie-Therese Geoffrin. Her establishment became well known and most frequented as she held weekly dinners from 1749 until her death in 1777. She had inherited the salon from Madame de Tencin, who was more unconventional compared to Geoffrin who wasn’t formally educated, but had natural intelligence. Marie-Therese Geoffrin strict rule during her occasions was no talk of politics or religion. The host and hostesses of the salons were very respected among the “Men Of Letters”, it didn’t also allowed for their reputation to grow if they received enough praise (“The Kingdom of Politesse”).

These salons were a part of high society, making it possible for men to have their work be protected. Patronism and clientelism allowed for different things depending on the person. A client only institutionalized a bond between an author and a great noble depending on the political belief or literary service. A patron was eligible to receive awards and gifts. The system is different between salons, but the gifts weren’t because of specific works, they were more of a generous token of friendship. The gratitude towards one another helped solidify protection, all out of the polite nature of others (“The Kingdom of Politesse”).

The invention of printing press established communities of philosophers and scientist who were now able to communicate new ideas and discoveries through journals. These journals gave the Republic of Letters more attention as the public became more interested in the content. The ideals of the men would be published in their journals, along with debates, information, and later taking over as a primary news source (Wikipedia,”Republic of Letters”). 

“The Republic of Letters” in France and England had much influence on American letters. Many of their ideas had not existed in America, for the most part, the only way to keep the intellectual philosophies alive was to report on literature (“Republic of Letters”). The impact it had allowed for a new form of communication between individuals who needed an outlet to have intellectual conversations and grow their own knowledge. All while also educating the public on different matters of thinking.

Works Cites

“Republic of Letters.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

History.com Staff. “Enlightenment.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

“The Kingdom of Politesse: Salons and the Republic of Letters in Eighteenth-Century Paris.”ARCADE. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Photo

Lemonier Gabriel-Charles, Anicet. “A Reading in the Salon of Mme. Geoffrin.” Wikimedia Commons, 6 April 2009 Web. Feb 24. 2017

Quill and Ink

The earliest form of writing that is closest to the pen and paper we have today was developed by the Greeks (Bellis). They created writing styluses out of bone, metal or ivory, predating the quill by about 200 years. The quill was introduced in about the year 700 CE and dominated the writing scene for thousands of years (Bellis). The quill is made from a bird’s feather and is strongest when plucked while the bird is alive. Typically, the feather is plucked from a “robust bird” (Tillotson) such as a goose. The left wing of the bird was favor because the curvature of the feather was more ideal for a right-handed person (Bellis). A good quality quill can be used for about a week before it must be replaced and must be sharpened by a special knife, this is where the term pen-knife comes from (Bellis).

The make the pen “it was usual to cut back the plume of the feather and remove the barb, or feathery bits” (Tillotson). This process makes the quill easier to write with and hold. The quill was then placed in hot sand to strengthen the barrel and a pen-knife was used to remove the point (Tillotson). This allowed the scribe to hollow out the inside of the quill and sharpen the nib. The quill was very fragile and became dull easily, which was an issue when the quill was first invented because of the expense of vellum.

Ink was invented by a Chinese philosopher and by 1200 BCE was a common place item in the world. Originally ink was made from the ashes of pine needles, lamp oil, and a gelatin mixture from donkey skin (Bellis). A more stable ink compound was later invented, made from composites of iron-salt, nutgalls, and gum.

The impact made by the invention of the quill and ink can still be seen today. The invention of the Greek styluses, Roman reeds, nibs, and quills ran parallel to the invention of paper. As paper quickly changed and become more commonplace, simpler writing implements were created. The quill was invented in response to the invention of fibrous paper in China which was easier to make and less expensive than vellum and animal skins. Once paper became more easily accessible, people needed a faster, more reliable implement to write with. As paper processes were perfected and paper was made widely available around the 14^th century by paper mills in Europe, the art of writing with a quill became more wide spread and easily accessible to the general population. The mechanics of the quill have been perfected and were eventually replaced with a more sturdy and trustworthy implement, the steel nibbled pen (Tillotson) around 1822 (Quill Pen [00:00:19]). By the 1800s education rates had also increased significantly and more convenient forms of writing were needed which led to the steel nibbled pen and more stable ink. The modern-day ball-point pen still uses many of the same mechanics as the quill pen, with a longer life span, varieties of ink colors, and better reliability.

Work Cited:

Bellis, Mary. “A Brief History of Writing.” About, 13 Aug. 2016, inventors.about.com/od/timelines/fl/A-Brief-History-of-Writing.htm. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Quill Pen: How to Make Everything: Book. Produced by Andy George, YouTube, https://youtu.be/eDbtJOjFv7s, 2015.

Ashreila, Writing, Nov. 17, 2015, accessed Feb. 23, 2017

Tillotson, Dianne, Dr. “The Quill Pen.” Medieval Writing, 11 July 2011, medievalwriting.50megs.com/tools/quill.htm. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Copyright

Copyright issues became a problem as printable media became widespread. Without any laws to protect information, anyone could claim that your book was theirs or your research was their research. Copyright laws have changed the way we can use information and was made significant “by waves of innovation in information technology” (Jaszi). Though the creation of the law was not in response to technology but driven by “social life, economic organization, and cultural outlook” (Jaszi).

Britain was the first to propose a law to protect information with the Statute of Anne. The Statute of Anne was first put into law in 1710 (Jaszi), it was the first law of its kind which became standardized and made international. The statute guaranteed authors of new books a “copyright of fourteen years from publication” (Gomez-Arostegui [Pg. 1249]). It was also the first law of its kind to recognize that by creating a way to protect published information, it would encourage people, especially scientists and artists, to publish their work, thereby growing the industry.

The Statute of Anne inspired the US to create the Copyright Act of 1790 stating that “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” (Katz). The US granted authors the right to print, reprint, and publish their work for fourteen years and renew for another fourteen (Katz), which, like the Statute of Anne, was designed to give authors, artists, and scientists incentive and limit their monopoly on the information.

The Statute of Anne and the Copyright Act of 1790 only protected the authors of those countries. In 1891, the International Copyright Act of 1891, more commonly known as the Chace Act, began the process of providing foreigners protection, it provided that “so long as they complied with the US notice, registration, and deposit of requirements” foreigners could obtain US copyrights for their work (Nimmer).

Originally, copyright laws were used for incentive but today, copyright law “has now become a suit of nearly impenetrable armor that allows copyright-holders to block new works from entering the culture and to dictate how older works fit into our cultural framework” (Hlinak). People use copyright to hold a monopoly over a particular idea, character, or plot. Today, we see this with many of the superhero movies. Now that DC and MARVEL have become popular in not only comics but movies and TV, the companies are buying back the rights to certain characters that they once sold, such as MARVEL selling Spiderman to Sony. It has taken years for them to regain the copyright over the character and they are only regaining it due to the copyright expiring. Another place we see copyright blocks is for marching bands. Bands have to buy the rights to the songs they use and this can cost thousands of dollars. This makes it difficult for bands with small budgets to succeed. This also becomes an issue when looking at Fandoms. Fandoms create artwork, fanfiction, and alternative universes using characters from books, movies, and TV, copyrights certainly come into question when we look at these and authors/artists must put disclaimers on their work to protect themselves.

Work Cited:

Gomez-Arostegui, H. Thomas. “The Untold Story of the First Copyright Suit under the Statute of Anne in 1710.” Berkeley Technology Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 3, June 2010. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1853&context=btlj. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Jaszi, Peter, et al. “The Statute of Anne: Today and Tomorrow.” Houston Law Review, vol. 47, no4, Dec. 2010, pp 1013-1021. EBSCOhost. Exproxy.stevenson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&an=59250718&site-eds-live&scope=site

Katz, Stanley, editor. “Copyright Timeline: A History of Copyright in the United States.” Association of Research Libraries, 2014, www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip/2486-copyright-timeline#.WK8wOlXyvIU. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Nimmer, David. “Nation, Duration, Violation, Harmonization: An International Copyright Proposal for the United States.” Duke Law, 21 Mar. 1991, scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4145&context=lcp. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Hlinak, Matt. “The Impact of Modern Copyright Law on the Creation of Derivative Literary Works.” Review. Communication Law Review, Northwestern University, 14 May 2006, commlawreview.org/Archives/v8i1/The%20Impact%20of%20Modern%20v8i1.pdf. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Marvel Studios Logo. JPG file.

Seyfang, Mike. Copyright. 11 Nov. 2008, JPG file. Accessed 28, Feb. 2017.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books (ebooks) created in 1971 by Michael Hart. It was used to encourage the creation and distribution of ebooks. The idea behind Project Gutenberg was the idea of “Replicator Technology”, which essentially means that once a book is on line, it can be replicated as many times as need demands, creating an infinite supply of that book and can be stored anywhere (Hart). The ebooks created by Project Gutenberg are made in the most simple forms to use and are readily available, which allows for any device to run and search the files.

Texts are made to be 99.9% accurate, according to Hart, and does not create authoritative editions of the texts and editing is up to the preferences of the proofreaders (Hart). It is more important to create something easy to use that everyone has access to than to create something completely accurate.

Project Gutenberg’s philosophy of “Replicator Technology” has become wide spread. Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and other companies have taken advantage of this idea to create an infinite supply of books and media for people to use and enjoy. This idea has become so popular that we now have audiobooks available the same way, both abridged and unabridged. Hart’s philosophy has also expanded into music where we now have programs like iTunes, Spotify, and other programs that allow people access to thousands of artists and albums. While not all of these are free to use, many offer “discounted” prices on their products.

With the invention of eBooks, copyright laws have become somewhat easier to manage. Copyrights must be filed with the US Copyright Office, paperwork must be filled out, and a fee must be paid (Lovett). The danger of eBook publishing is people impersonate original authors and publish their work as their own. Originality is easy to prove with word processors which give the exact time and date stamp of the original document.

Works Cited:

Hart, Michael. “The History and Philosophy of Project Gutenberg.” Project Gutenberg, 7 Apr. 2010, www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_History_and_Philosophy_of_Project_Gutenberg_by_Michael_Hart. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Lovett, Anita. “When to Copyright your eBook.” Anita Lovett & Associates, 18 June 2015, anitalovett.com/2015/06/18/when-to-copyright-your-ebook/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Sauers, Michael. Project Gutenberg, 26 Aug. 2014, JPG file. Accessed Feb. 23, 2017

Movable Type (1041-1884)

The impact movable type had on the writing process changed the amount of writing that can fit on paper; thus improving the rate of communication. Both the Koreans and Chinese discovered wood block painting around the mid 900’s out of wood and clay. The mass production of books became big even before the printing press because Korea was transitioning into Buddhism during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). Religious readings of the “Tripitaka” (“Short History of Asia’s Influence on Type and Printing”) that included sutras, treaties, and laws, made it essential to create 2 complete sets. China first used movable type in the 11th century but never was really used. Created by Bi Sheng, characters were made out of clay until the mid 13th century, moving to movable wooden type. The many characters of the Chinese alphabet however, made it less expensive to use wood. By now the Europeans had perfected a much more effective method of movable type (“Short History of Asia’s Influence on Type and Printing”). 

In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg created the printing press. His creation revolutionized movable type. Gutenberg made his tiles out of metal casting, formulated with tin, lead, pewter, and later adding antimony. Making these pieces unfortunately was no task for any ole person. They relied on experienced goldsmiths (like Gutenberg) to create the three main types, the “Punch, Matrix, and Mold” (“Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process”). 

The punch was a metal rod with the letter carved backwards to be driven into the matrix, which was a softer piece of metal. The matrix was then placed into the mold, being filled with hot liquid metal, quickly hardening into a type piece. The punch and matrix would be reused so they ended up creating identical characters. The method would then be called the “Punch Matrix System” (“Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process”). 

Movable Type lasted for about 400 more years until the invention of hard metal typesetting. Movable type began to decline, but it’s impact on print and the ability to put out more information in a faster process created ideas for many of the technology in today’s world.

Works Cited

“Johannes Gutenberg: The Invention of Movable Type.” Johannes Gutenberg: The Invention of Movable Type. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

“Short History of Asia’s Influence on Type and Printing.” Elation Press. N.p., 09 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

“Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process.” Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

“Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.” Harry Ransom Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Photo

Vinne De Low, Theodore. De Vinne 1904-Punch and Matrix, 1904, Web Feb 23, 2017

Each of these inventions have become intricate parts of society and have had dramatic impact on the way people receive media. Either they’ve died down in recent years, or are continuing to expand, each of these publication methods have reached millions of people worldwide.

Newspaper dates back to ancient dynasties in China, where they would use block printed into paper and this occurred during the Tang dynasty. Since then, with the invention of the printing press in  1440, newspaper made its day view in Strasbourg Germany. What was then, the Holy Roman Empire. In 1605 Johann Carolus began printing what would later be credited as the first ever official newspaper, “Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien.” This was a news publication and has influenced the way people tell the news since its start. The printing press was the direct cause of newspapers and they were bound to come into existence as long as printing methods became easier and easier to mass produce large quantities of papers. This helped develop a need for average citizens to at least be able to read. That way they could keep up with the biggest new stories and keep in touch with whats happening in their nation. This is the first time where something that happened yesterday, possibly even in another country, would then reach a commoners doorstep and inform them of the things going on in the world. It was an extremely empowering tool and one that became widely popular. It took less than a hundred years for it to spread across the world to the Atlantic ocean and then eventually into Asia.

Steam Press. This invention goes hand in hand with the Newspaper. In 1810, Friedrich Koenig invented the first steam printing press. This allowed for rapid printing and for daily newspapers rather than weekly copies. The machine was a simple hand press machine made of cast iron, but simply hooked up to a steam press for faster printing. The steam engine, a brand new invention at the time, was being implemented in every form of machinery. Steam engines were attached to many numbers of gadgets to improve efficiency and made life much easier for many Americans. This era is also what many video games refer to as Steampunk. Everything was adapted to fit steam engines (Geoghegan). This phase in history didn’t ignore the printing press. The steam powered rotary printing press was made in the United States in 1843 by Richard M. Hoe. Mr. Hoe revolutionized the industry by adding a rotary press into the mix. The cylinder which replaced the common flat press, started to churn out numerous copies and massive amounts of paper. He tripled the output of the average flat printing press. It allowed millions of copies to be run in a single day.(Moore) This opened up news channels like never before and inspired reading and writing among all social classes.

Jumping ahead to Windows. Windows is the most common operating system in computers worldwide. Made by Bill Gates and his Microsoft team back in 1985. Windows was designed as a simple graphic interface and wouldn’t become a hit until Windows 3 in 1990(Fitzpatrick). This was also the birth of the Word document. This interface allowed for people to create text documents and a number of features, never before seen. This interface opened up and made the creation of printable documents considerably easier for anyone with a computer. Handwriting was no longer an issue and printing became more easily accessible. Windows continued to evolve as a operating system. The operating system(OS) is what everyone is familiar with today. The OS simplifies coding and command functions in computers. The OS basically over simplifies the use of a computer for average people without computer experience. Some of the backlash involved with this is the complaint that people won’t understand the coding involved with the creation and functions of a computer. While this is true, it allowed for computers popularity to hit mainstream with large companies pushing OS’s forward. Such as IBM and Microsoft.

• Cory Price

Newspaper

Steam Press

Windows Logo

Works Cited

Bgfons. bgfons.com/download/2828. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

DiBacco, Tomas V. “Banned in Boston: America’s First Newspaper.” Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, vol. 266, no. 73, 25 Sept. 2015, pp. 1-6. Academic Search Complete, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=95b9c901-9284-475d-bfdb-165a495def2b%40sessionmgr4009&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=109932474&db=a9h. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

Fitzpatrick, Alex. “It Took Microsoft 3 Tries Before Windows Was Successful.” Time.Com, 20 Nov. 2014. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.stevenson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=99555396&site=ehost-live.

Moore, Keith. “Rolling Thunderer.” Professional Engineering, vol. 13, no. 22, 29 Nov. 2000, p. 65. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.stevenson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=3945617&site=ehost-live.

Teleanalysis. www.teleanalysis.com/news/microsoft-christmas-gift-windows-fans-india-23958. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.

WordPress.aehistory.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/screen-shot-2012-10-08-at-1-12-36-am.png?w=298. Accessed 23 Feb. 2017.