Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Codex


A codex is composed of many books; a book is of one scroll. It is called codex by way of metaphor from the trunks (codex) of trees or vines, as if it were a wooden stock, because it contains in itself a multitude of books, as it were of branches. In schools, in accounting and for taking notes wax tablets was the normal writing material. Wax tablets had the advantage of being reusable: the wax could be melted and a new text carved into the wax. The custom of binding several wax tablets together is a possible precursor for modern books .Also the etymology of the word codex suggests that it may have developed from wooden wax tablets.

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