MATERIALS TO WRITE ITPON BEFORE INVENTION OF PRINTING. 



049 



est efl'ort, tlicv i)irsonted successively the entire code of laws to the 

 eyes of tlie beholders. (Fig-. 24.)" 



Ill Rome the laws were written iijjon hoards of oak. which were 

 exhibited in the Forum. The word '' album " ])robably ori^ifinated in 

 the Koman custom of insci-ibing in black ink upon tablets of wood, 

 painted white, their annals or daily hai)])('uinos.'' 



St. Jci'onic informs ns also that small boai'ds and cnbes of wood 

 were employed to en<>rave the alphabet ii])on. to teach the children to 

 read. 



The tablets in use amonj^: the Komans and throu_i>-hout the middle 

 ages were made of wood. They were likewise made of lead, ivory, 





Fig. 24. An attempt at a restoration of the 

 tables of Solon (Azores) from Geraiul's Fio. 25. Wood ta,blet with Greek iii- 

 descriptiun. scription. 



parchment, and even of the bark of trees. In the time of the poet 

 Fortunatus not onl}' were tablets of ash used, but small, smooth rods 

 as well.'' 



The Eg-y})tians ol)served the custom of })utting " tablai " (fig. 25)'^ 

 upon their coffins. These tablets contained the names and attributes 

 of the deceased person. All that have thus far been collected seem 

 to date from the Roman occupation, since the inscriptions are in 

 Greek. 



a Geraud (11.) Essai sur les livres dang I'antiquite, Paris, 1840, 8°, pp. 19-20. 



b (ieraud, op. cit., p. 2u. 



c Ibid., p. 21. 



"J Le Blauc (Edui.), Revue arclieulos:., 1874. ji. 242 et seq. 



