Top 10 most interesting facts about books

The smell of a new book is a real treat for the senses. Did you know that enjoying this fragrance is called “bibliosmia”? Or that buying books and not reading them is a kind of trend in recent years?

Japanese word tsundoku means “let reading material pile up in your home and never read it“. Interesting, isn’t it? And below you will find 10 more equally interesting facts about books.

10 Papyrus Prissa – the oldest book

Papyrus Prissa, dating from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, can be considered the earliest known book or document. This literary manuscript contains the last two pages of an Instruction addressed to Kagemni, who allegedly served the 4th Dynasty king Snefer, and is a collection of moral principles and admonitions on virtue. The instruction addressed to Kagemni is followed by the only surviving copy of Ptahotep’s instruction.

The papyrus was obtained by the French orientalist Achilles Constant Theodore Émile Prisse d’Avennes in Thebes in 1856. It is preserved in the National Library of France.

9. The binding of the book could be made from human skin

Now it is difficult to imagine that the binding of a book can be made of such material, but in the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries it was in the order of things and was called anthropodermic binding.

For books, skin from the dead was mainly used.such as executed criminals. In addition, a person could indicate in his will that he donates his skin for these purposes (a kind of organ donation after death).

8. In the libraries of medieval Europe, books were chained to the shelves.

In the Middle Ages, books were of great value, since their production was not so massive. Public libraries had only a reading room and there was no subscription, that is, it was impossible to take something home to read, but many wanted to. To do this, they went to the crime and stole books, so libraries were forced to secure them with chains.

The length of such an “anti-theft” was enough to take a book from the shelf and sit down at the table, but it was difficult to take it out of the room. This practice continued until the XNUMXth century, after which it disappeared.

7. Clay books in ancient Assyria

Ashurbanipal is the king of Ancient Assyria, who ruled from 669 to 631 BC. with its capital at Nineveh. He was known to be a cruel king, especially to opponents (The Assyrian empire was vast and the king spent most of his reign in war.)

At the same time, he was a smart person, striving to learn new things, therefore he created one of the greatest libraries. She kept about 1200 different cuneiform texts scattered across 30 clay tablets.

Ashurbanipal, originally trained as a scribe, could read and write, which most kings at the time could not, and he was adept at mathematics. The library had some functions that now seem commonplace, but were new in ancient times: for example, grouped by subject (history and government, geography and science, lists of literature and words, religion) clay tablets in separate rooms with a catalog of the contents of this room.

Ashurbanipal’s library even had a room for secret materials, buried deep under the palace in a separate room, and no doubt heavily guarded.

In addition, the surviving texts have given scholars an excellent understanding of how people lived in the Ancient Near East: their daily lives, religion, wars, and their stories.

A copy of the Epics of Gilgamesh and a huge number of other tablets found in the library proved to be useful in deciphering the cuneiform.

6. People who read fiction are prettier

According to a 2017 study by Kingston University, there is a link between reading fiction and actual social ability.

People who read fiction are more empathetic, open to the views of others, more likely to exhibit positive social behavior..

5. The heaviest book weighs 75 kg

Codex gigas (Giant’s Code), which is also called “devil’s bible”(its pages are littered with drawings of devils and all evil spirits), is rightfully considered the heaviest book in the world.

Its binding is made of wood, and the dimensions are 92×50 cm with a thickness of 22 cm. The creators took more than 624 donkey skins to create the binding and 150 pages (just imagine this).

4. The Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci is the most expensive book ever.

Leonardo da Vinci is an outstanding man of the Renaissance: artist, architect, philosopher, musician, writer, mathematician, geologist, inventor and discoverer. A real genius, an unusual personality and self-taught, whose achievements to this day fascinate scientists and historians around the world. No wonder that the most expensive book in the world was written by him in Milan in 1506-1510. Well, like a book.. It’s 18 sheets of paper, written on both sides and forming a 72-page notebook.

Leonardo’s notes are written in his signature mirror writing, which can only be read with a mirror. The Code provides insight into the inquisitive mind of the Renaissance artist, scientist, and thinker, and is an exceptional illustration of the connection between art and science and the creative potential of the scientific process.

The codex was named after Thomas Leicester, who acquired it in 1719. In November 1994, it was bought by Bill Gates at a Christie’s auction in New York for $30, equivalent to about $802 in 500.

3. The Gutenberg Bible – the first printed book

Gutenberg bible is a printed version of the Vulgate Bible, which was made in movable type by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz in the fifteenth century. In fact, it was not the first printed using a movable type system, but it became the highest quality, reference.

This is the main work of the German, and she marked the beginning of the Gutenberg Revolution and the era of the printed book.

2. The Bible is the most popular book

Although it is not possible to obtain exact figures, there is no doubt that The Bible is the world’s best-selling and widely read book..

A survey conducted by the Bible Society showed that about 1815 billion copies were printed between 1975 and 2,5, but more recent estimates put the number at over 5 billion. The Bible is printed in 349 languages ​​and 2123 languages ​​have at least one Bible.

1. The greatest library in the world existed in Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria was a wonder of the ancient world, a place of art, literature, philosophy and science. Books and scrolls filled with the knowledge of many ancient civilizations have found their way from all over the earth to the walls of this magnificent center of learning in the heart of mighty Egypt.

Built to impress and enlighten, the Library of Alexandria was a center of knowledge for many hundreds of years until it was finally destroyed by conquerors and fanatics.

It is assumed that before the destruction, over 400 scrolls of the text were placed in it. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria is one of the greatest historical cultural losses for mankind.