The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

among scribes, “You shall not strike wax with iron.” 4
Afterwards it was established that they would write on
wax tablets with bones, as Atta indicates in his Satura,
saying (12):
Letusturn the plowshare and plow in the wax with a
point of bone.
The Greek term graphium is scriptorium in Latin, for
is “writing.”
x. Papyrus sheets (De cartis) 1. Egyptfirst provided
the use of papyrus sheets, initially in the city of Memphis.
Memphis is the Egyptian city where the use of
papyrus sheets was first discovered, as Lucan says (Civil
War 4.136):
The sheet of Memphis is made from the bibulous
papyrus.
He called papyrus bibulous (bibulus) because it drinks
(bibere) liquid. 2. A‘papyrus sheet’ (carta) issocalled
because the stripped rind of papyrus is glued together
‘piece by piece’ (carptim). There are several kinds of
such sheets. First and foremost is the Royal Augustan, of
rather large size, named in honor of Octavian Augustus.
3. Second,theLibyan, in honor of theprovince
of Libya. Third the Hieratic, so called because it was
selected for sacred books (cf. , “sacred”) – like the
Augustan, but tinted. 4.Fourththe Taeneotic, named for
the place in Alexandria where it was made, which is so
called. Fifth the Saitic, from the town of Sais. 5.Sixththe
Cornelian, first produced by Cornelius Gallus, prefect
of Egypt. Seventh the commercial, because merchandise
is wrapped in this type, since it is less suitable for
writing.
xi. Parchment (De pergamenis) 1. Because the kings
of Pergamum lacked papyrus sheets, they first had the
idea of using skins. From these the name ‘parchment’
(pergamena), passed on by their descendents, has been
4 The maxim plays on ferrum, “iron object, sword.”
5 The lighter and darker faces of parchment sheets correspond to
the flesh and hair side of the skin. But Isidore, perhaps along with
Persius, refers to tinted parchment.
6 Isidore refers to deluxe books, some still extant, made with gold
and silver lettering on purple sheets.
7 Awordfor ivory (elephantus) also means “elephant,” perhaps
causing a confusion registered here.
8 Or, “...inadrylittle book of smooth mallow-leaves.”
The Etymologies VI.ix.2–xii.3 141
preserved up to now. These are also called skins (membranum)
because they are stripped from the members
(membrum) oflivestock. 2. Theyweremadeat
first of a muddy color, that is, yellowish, but afterwards
white parchment was invented at Rome. This
appeared to be unsuitable, because it soils easily and
harms the readers’ eyesight – as the more experienced
of architects would not think of putting gilt ceiling
panels in libraries, or any paving stones other than
of Carystean marble, because the glitter of gold wearies
the eyes, and the green of the Carystean marble
refreshes them. 3. Likewise those who are learning
money-changing put dark green cloths under the forms
of the coins, and carvers of gems look repeatedly at the
backs of scarab beetles, than which nothing is greener,
and painters [do the same, in order that they may refresh
the labor of their sight with the greenness of these
scarabs].
4. Parchment comes in white or yellowish or purple.
The white exists naturally. Yellowish parchment is of two
colors, because one side of it is dyed, that is yellowed, by
the manufacturer. With regard to this, Persius (Satires
3.10):
Now the book and the two-colored parchment with its
hair scraped smooth. 5
5. But purple parchment is stained with purple dye; on
it melted gold and silver on the letters stands out. 6
xii. Bookmaking (De libris conficiendis) 1.Among the
pagans, certain categories of books were made in fixed
sizes. Poems and epistles were in a smaller format, but
histories were written in a larger size. They were made
not only on papyrus sheets or on parchment, but also on
the intestinal membranes of elephants 7 or on the interwoven
leaves of mallows or palms. 2. Cinna mentions
this type thus (fr. 11):
On Prusias’s boat I have brought as a gift for you these
poems through which we know the aerial fires, poems
much studied over with Aratus’s midnight lamps,
written on the dry bark of smooth mallow. 8
3.Itfirst became usual to trim books in Sicily, for at first
they were smoothed by pumice, whence Catullus says
(1.1):
To whom am I giving my charming little book just now
smoothed with dry pumice?