LIBER (fiifi\iovX a book. The most com-
mon material on which books were written
by the Greeks and Romans, was the thin
coats or rind {liber, whence the Latin name
for a book) of the Egyptian papyrus. This
plant was called by the Egyptians Byblos
(^v/3Aof), whence the Greeks derived their
name for a book QSi^Amv). The papyrus-



tree gnrows in swamps to the heigrht of ten
feet and more, and paper {charia) was pre-
pared from the thin coats or pellicles which
surround the plant. Next to the papyrus,
parchment {tnembrana) was the most com-
mon material for writing upoiL. It is said
to have been invented by Eumenes H. king
of Pergamus, in consequence of the prohibi-
tion of the export of papyrus from Egyirt
by Ptolemy Epiphanes. It is probable, how-
ever, that Eumenes introduced only some
improvement in the manufacture of i>arch-
ment, as Herodotus mentions -writing ob
skins as common in his time, and says that




Ancient Writing Materials. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)



the lonians had been accustomed to give the
name of skins (£i</>depai) to books. The an-
cients wrote usually on only one side of the
paper or parchment.* The back of the paper,
instead of being written upon, was usually
stained with saffron colour or the cedrus,
which produced a yellow colour. As paper
and parchment were dear, it was frequently
the custom to erase or wash out writing of
little importance, and to write upon the
paper or parchment again, which was then
called Palimpaeatua (iroAifxi/f^oTo?). The paper
or parchment was joined together so as to
form one sheet, and when the work was
finished, it was rolled on a staff, whence it
was called a volumen ; and hence we have
the expression evolvere librvm. When an
author divided a work into several books, it
was usual to include only one book in a
volume or roll, so that there was generally
the same number of volumes as of books. In
the papyri rolls found at Herculaneum, the
stick on which the papyrus is rolled does not
project from the papyrus, but is concealed
by it. Usually, however, there were balls
or bosses, ornamented or painted, called um-
bilici or comuay which were fastened at each
end of the stick and projected from the
papyrus. 