(U 



epigram, wherein he informs the public at what shop his works may be 

 obtained, and advises purchasers, for convenience sake, to procure the 

 copies which ai*e bound up in the manner then coming into use, — 



"Qui tecum cupis esse meos ubicunque libellos 

 Et comites longce quseris habere vioe! 

 Hos erne, quos arctat brevibm viemhrana tabellis 

 Scrinia da magnis — me manus una capit," &c. 



" All you that wish to liave my writings constantly with you, and to take them 

 as your companions on long journeys, purchase those copies which are compressed 

 within short leaves of parchment. Let great manuscripts be deposited in Scrinia 

 — one hand will suffice to carry me." 



It will be observed that nearly the same words are used in both of 

 the two last epigrams for the purpose of describing bound hooks. 



The tabulae ceretse or pugillares had been long in use, and indeed 

 were supposed to be the irivaK Trrufcroc, or Diptycha, mentioned b}-- 

 Homer.* Herodotus also speaks of a dtXTiovdnrrvxov made of wood, 

 and covered with wax. They were also employed for every description 

 of writing, provided it was of moderate length. Quintilian says, " It 

 is easy to write on wax, and to cancel what has been written, and then 

 to write on it again, "f Three of these fastened together, by a cord or 

 ring passed through one of the edges of each, were called triptycha 

 (three folds) ; five were called pentaptycha (five folds), &c. Even letters 

 were written upon the tablets, and secured by a packthread sealed with 

 wax. The process of writing upon them is thus beautifully described 

 by Ovid in the 9th book of his Metamorphoses. The nymph " Biblis " 

 is supposed to be in the act of writing to Caunus : — 



" Et meditata manu coraponit verba trementi. 

 Dextra tenet ferrum, vacuam tenet altera ceram. 

 Incipit et dubitat — scribit — damnat que tabellas — 

 Et notat — et delet — mutat culpat-que probat-que. 



Scripta Soror fuerat — visum est delere Sororem" &c. 



A few years ago, a most curious and interesting discovery was made 

 of two of these antient waxen tablets in a perfect state of preservation — 

 one in an old Roman gold mine, near the village of Abrudbanya, in 

 Transylvania, the other in a mine in the village itself. From the names 

 of the Consuls for the year being given, its precise date is found to be 

 A.D. 169. Both of the tabulae are triptycha, and of the size of small 

 octavo ; one is made of beechwood and the other of fir ; their inner side 

 is covered witii wax, now almost black with age, and surrounded with a 

 raised margin. The middle tablet has wax on both sides, with similar 

 margins. The wax, which is not thick upon either, is thinner upon the 



