The most an cient mode of writing was on bricks, and on tables of stone, afterwards on plates of various materials, on ivory, on the bark of trees, and on their leaves.

Specimens of most of these modes of writing may be seen in the British Museum. No. 3478, in the Sloanian library, is a Nabob's letter, on a piece of bark about two yards long, and richly ornamented with gold. No. 3207, is a book of Mexican hieroglyphics, painted on bark. In the same collection are various species, many from the Malabar coast, and other parts of the East. The latter writings are chiefly on leaves. The prophecies of the Sibyls were on leaves. There are seve ral copies of Bibles written on palm-leaves, still preserved ii various collections in Europe. The ancients, doubtless, wrote on any leaves they found adapted for the purpose. Hence the leaf of a book, as well as that of a tree, is derived.

In the book of Job, mention is made of writing on stone, and on sheets of lead. The law of Moses was written on stone, Hesiod's works were written on leaden tables; lead was used for writing, and rolled up like a cylinder, as Pliny states. The laws of the Greeks were engraven on bronze tables. In the shepherd state, they wrote their songs with thorns and awls, on leather. The Icelanders wrote on walls; and Olaf, according to one of the sagas, built a large house, on the balks and spars of which he had engraven the history of his own and more ancient times; while another northern hero appears to have had nothing better than his own chair and bed, on which to perpetuate his own heroic acts. The Arab's took the shoulder-bones of sheep, on which they carved re-markable events with a knife, and after tying them with a string, they hung these chronicles up in their cabinets.

These early inventions led to the discovery of tablets of wood; and as cedar is incorruptible, from its bitterness, they chose this wood for cases or chests to preserve their most important writings. From this custom arises the celebrated expression of the ancients, when they meant to give the highest eulogium of an excellent work, et cedro digna locuti; that it was worthy to be written on oedar. These tablets were made of the trunks of trees; the use of them still exists, but in general they are made of other materials than wood. The same reason which led them to prefer the cedar to other trees, induced them to write on wax, which is incorruptible from its nature. Men generally used it to write their testaments, in order the better to preserve them: thus Juvenal says, Ceras implere capaces. This thin paste of wax was also spread on tablets of wood, that it might more easily admit of erasure.

They wrote with an iron bodkin, as they did on the other substances we have noticed. The stylus was made sharp at one end to write with, and blunt and broad at the other to deface and correct easily; hence the phrase vertere stylum, to turn the stylus, was used to express blotting out. But the Romans forbade the use of this sharp instrument, from the circumstance of many persons having used them as daggers. A schoolmaster was killed by the pugillares, or table-book, and the styles of his own scholars. They substituted a stylus made of the bone of a bird, or other animal, so that tl cir writings resembled engravings. When they wrote on softer materials, they employed reeds and canes, split like our pens at the points, which the Orientalists still use to lay their colour or ink neater on the paper.

By the word pen in the translation of the Bible, we are to understand an iron style. Table-books of ivory are still used for memoranca, written by black-lead pencils. The Romans used ivory to write the edicts of the senate on; and the ex-pression of libris elephantinis, which, some authors imagine, alludes to books which for their size were called elephantine. others more rationally conclude, were composed of ivory, the tusk of the elephant.

Pumice was likewise a writing material of the ancients, which they used to smooth the roughness of the parchment, or to sharpen their reeds.

In the progress of time, the art of writing consisted in painting with different kinds of ink This novel mode of writing occasioned them to invent other materials proper to receive their writing. They now chose the thin bark of certain trees and plants; they wrote on linen, and at length, when this was found apt to become mouldy, they prepared the skins of animals. Those of asses are still in use; and on those of serpents, etc. were once written the Iliad and Odyssey. The first place where they began to dress these skins was Pergamus, in Asia; whence the Latin name is derived of Pergamena, or parchment. These skins are, however, better known amongst the authors of the purest Latin, under the name of membrana, so called from the membranes of animals of which they were composed The ancients had parchments of three different colours, white, yellow, and purple. At Rome, white parchment was disliked, because it was more subject to be soiled than the others, and dazzled the eye. They generally wrote letters of gold and silver on purple or violet parchment. This custom continued in the early ages of the church; and copies of the Evangelists of this kind are preserved in the British Museum.

When the Egyptians employed for writing the bark of a plant or reed, called papyrus* or paper-rush, it superseded all former modes, because this was the most convenient. Formerly there grew great quantities of it on the sides of the Nile. It is this plant which has given the name to our paper, although the latter is composed of linen or rags. After the eighth century the papyrus was superseded by parchment. The Chinese make their paper with silk. The use of paper is of great antiquity; it is what the ancient Latinists call charta, or charta. Before the use of parchment and paper passed to the Romans, they contrived to use the thin peel which was found on trees, between the wood of these trees and their bark. This second skin they called liber, whence the Latin word liber, a book, and library and librarian, in the European languages, and the French livre for book; but we of northern origin derive our book from the Danish bog, the beech-tree, because that being the most plentiful in Denmark, was used to engrave on. Anciently, instead of folding this bark, this parchment, or paper, as we fold ours, they rolled it according as they wrote on it; and the Latin name which they gave these rolls has passed into our language as well as the others. We say a volume or volumes, although our books are composed of pages cut and bound together. The books of the ancients on the shelves of their libraries, were rolled up on a pin, and placed erect, titled on the outside in red letters, or rubrics, and appeared like a number of small pillars on the shelves.

* A specimen of the papyrus is to be seen at the British Museum; it is the first known in England. It was brought by Mr. Bruce, and giver to Sir Joseph Banks, who presented it to the British Museum.