440 
and on top another layer was laid, 
with the fibers running at right angles 
to the lower layer. The two layers 
were then fastened together by mois- 
ture, glue, and pressure until they 
formed one fabric—a fabric which, 
though now so brittle that it can easily 
be crumbled into dust, probably had 
a strength nearly equal to that of 
good paper. 
The manufacture of parchment for 
writing purposes has an interesting 
history. According to Varro, the 
learned Roman encyclopedist of the 
first century B. C., as reported by 
Pliny the Elder,? it was Eumenes of 
Pergamum, a city in Mysia of Asia 
Minor, who promoted the manufac- 
ture and use of parchment. This 
ruler, probably Eumenes II, who ruled 
from 197 to 159 B. C., planned to 
found a library in his city which would 
rival the famous library of Alexandria. 
This ambition did not please his rival, 
Ptolemy of Egypt (probably Ptolemy 
Epiphanes, 205-182 B. C.), who 
clamped an embargo on the export of 
papyrus sections. It was this embargo 
which forced Eumenes to develop the 
production of vellum, which from the 
place of its origin received the Greek 
name fergamene (whence our English 
word “‘parchment” is derived). What- 
ever may be thought of the details of 
this story, the core is doubtless true, 
namely, that a high quality of parch- 
ment was developed at Pergamum, so 
much so that the city became famous 
in the manufacture and export of this 
writing material and gave its name to 
the product. 
Parchment or vellum—the two words 
are often used interchangeably, but 
exact writers restrict the word “vel- 
lum” to describe a finer, superior 
quality of parchment *—was made 
from the skins of cattle, sheep, goats, 
and antelopes, and especially from the 
2 Pliny, Natural History, XIII, 21. (The 
whole section down to 27 deserves careful 
reading.) 
8 W. Lee Ustick, ‘‘Parchment and Vellum.” 
The Library, a Quarterly Review of Bibliog- 
raphy, 4th ser., vol. 16, pp. 441-443, 1936. 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
young of these animals. After the 
hair had been removed by scraping, 
the skins were washed, scraped with 
pumice, and dressed with chalk. De 
luxe editions, according to St. Jerome, 
who did not approve of such extrava- 
gance,* were made of vellum dyed 
purple and written with gold and 
silver inks. Ordinary editions were 
written with black or brown ink and 
had headpieces and initial letters 
colored with blue or yellow or (most 
often) red ink—whence the word 
“rubric,” from ruber, the Latin word 
fOr red: 
Vellum or parchment continued to 
be generally used until the late Middle 
Ages. At that time the use of paper 
made of cotton, hemp, and flax, having 
been introduced into Europe from 
China by Arabian traders, became 
popular and supplanted other writing 
materials. 
The Form of Ancient Books 
The manuscripts of the New Testa- 
ment have been preserved chiefly in 
two forms, the roll and the codex (that 
is, the book form with leaves). The 
papyrus roll or scroll was made by 
gluing together, side by side, separate 
sheets of papyrus and then winding 
the long strip around a stick, thus pro- 
ducing a volume (a word derived from 
the Latin volumen, “something rolled 
up”). The length of such a papyrus 
roll was limited by convenience in 
handling the roll; the normal Greek 
literary roll seldom exceeded 35 feet 
in length. Thus an author was dis- 
couraged by factors beyond his control 
from writing a very long book. Each 
of Luke’s books, the Gospel and the 
Acts, would have filled an ordinary 
papyrus roll of 31 or 32 feet in length. 
Doubtless this is one of the reasons why 
Luke—Acts was issued in two volumes 
instead of one (Acts 1:1). 
On the roll thus formed the writing 
was arranged in a series of columns, 
each about 2 or 3 inches wide. The 
4 See his Preface to Job, and his Epistle 
XXII, 32 (to Eustochium). 
