An ancient Greek book called the Book of Archimedes was once known for its great value, but why is it so precious? Only by looking at the production process of the book will you understand the meaning. What's going on here? If you want to know, let Xiaobian reveal the secret for you:
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In 1998, the Christie Auction House in New York held a grand auction, and the lots at this auction appeared to be particularly "shabby", just a yellowed and worn-out book. But surprisingly, the auctioneer's auction reserve price for the old book was $800,000, equivalent to about 5 million yuan, which is simply higher than the sky. What's so magical about this book? It's actually quite simple, because it's the legendary Archimedean Parchment. The Book of Archimedes, once considered to be the essence of the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes, has long since been lost, but now it is "resurrected from the dead", which is really shocking.
Archaeologists have studied the Archimedean Parchment and found that the book is only a small prayer book from the medieval period, but through the investigation of the instrument, it was found that there were some handwriting in the depths of the original book paper, and the handwriting itself had been deliberately erased. It can be seen that the Archimedean Parchment book is a "book in the book", which belongs to the typical case of "waste utilization" of the ancients, and has a very important value in itself. The reason why "Archimedean Parchment" will be so popular, in fact, there is an important reason, that is, the material of the book itself is not easy to obtain, the production of parchment is very complicated and cumbersome, and even people lament the difficulty of the ancient people's life and production, and at the same time admire the wisdom and diligence of people at that time.
Sheep are a docile animal and an indispensable domestic animal in the development of human society. "Sheep are all treasures", lamb can be eaten, sheep manure can be made into fertilizer, sheep skin can also be processed into various types of clothing, so that people feel unprecedented warmth in the cold winter. In ancient Greece, the Writing System of Europeans had matured, but as a carrier of written inheritance, people had not found suitable materials. By chance, people found that sheepskin can be made into an ideal writing material, which also set off a revolution using sheepskin as a carrier of writing inheritance.
When the sheepskin is completely peeled off, the fur is covered with a lot of grease, so the grease must be scraped off during rough processing and placed in a cool place to air dry. After air-drying, the sheepskin needs to be grafted, the process of pilariing is time-consuming and laborious, and some corrosive chemical liquids need to be added. Under the strong corrosion of chemical liquids, the sheepskin becomes soft and thin, so that the steps of flattening, cutting, binding, etc., can be carried out to make a book that can be written.
How much did parchment cost at the time? You may not believe it, but according to historical records, the holders of parchment books are mostly nobles and wealthy merchants, because the price of a small parchment book can be equivalent to a vineyard. If you travel back in time to modern times, a parchment book might be a 150-square-meter house in Beijing's second ring road, which is staggeringly expensive. The reason why parchment books will show a "sky-high price" is on the one hand because it is difficult to make, and on the other hand, it is more difficult to write. As an example, the hand-copied English religious texts of the 12th century are the most luxurious of parchment books, which share 468 sheets of parchment and take more than four years to copy. In addition, at least six artists are responsible for drawing the patterns in the book, making the whole book luxurious and noble.
There is no doubt that although parchment contributed to the spread of writing to a certain extent, due to its high price, it could only be limited to wandering in high society, and could not be more widely popularized vertically, and both the inheritance of writing and the spread of religion were blocked out of an invisible wall. But this situation did not last long, Europeans ushered in the dawn of culture, from China through the Arab import of paper began to enter the European cultural circles, low price, durable characteristics, so that the spread of European culture has an important material basis, Parchment book has finally withdrawn from the stage of history, become synonymous with ancient history in the museum exhibition hall. Of course, the Parchment Book has not been completely eliminated, it still symbolizes solemnity and authority, Europeans and Americans are still willing to write the most important documents on parchment, such as the "American Declaration of Independence" in 1776, the "United States Constitution of the United States" in 1789, and the "Bill of Rights" in 1791, which are the three major historical documents that laid the foundation of American politics.
The contribution of the four great inventions of ancient China to the development of all mankind is obvious to all, especially the invention of paper, which directly promoted the inheritance of European regional culture. I have to say that in fact, compared with the parchment book worth thousands of gold, paper may be the most "cattle" writing material.
References: The Contribution of Sheep to History by Li Wei published by Yangzhou Publishing House
Wen xiucai, editor-in-chief of Wenlan Hairun Studio, written by: Special history writer: Changshan Zhao Zi worm