Codex

• The Codex was a form of Book that evolved in competition to the Scroll around the first century CE and by the sixth century CE had replaced it.
• In Latin Codex means ‘Tree Trunk’ or Wooden Block’. The Plural in Latin is Codices.

The Scroll versus the Codex

• The main form of book in the Ancient World was the Scroll
• The Scroll was hand written.
• Either Paper was used, made from Papyrus only grown in Egypt, or Parchment made from calfskin, goatskin or sheepskin when Papyrus was not available.
• It had to be unrolled between two spindles and could be read vertically or horizontally.
• Information took time to access and read.

The Codex

• The Codex evolved from the wooden wax Writing Tablet.
• It was written by hand on sheets of paper or Vellum, and bound together to form a spine and had thick outside covers.
• It could also be folded like a concertina between the covers.
• Any page could be accessed at the same time, unlike the Scroll which required to be unrolled from its two wooden spindles.

Use of the Codex

• It started to appear in the first century CE, and was possibly used by Julius Caesar.
• Martial was the first Roman to describe the use of the Codex.
• During the Early Roman Empire. Christians in particular used Codices to reproduce The Bible.
• By 300 CE it was in equal use with the Scroll which was the main form of book in the Ancient World.
• By the sixth century CE the Codex had replaced the Scroll

Other forms of Book

• Palimpsest
• Papyrus
• Scroll
• Vellum