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 TWELFTH CENTURY.

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given to children for copy-books — hence the Latiii term, adtmarta, a Dote book, loose papers.

The wiitere of the Codica Seteripti, or as they were sometimes called Codicet Palirnpsetti, emploTed various methods to obliterate the an- cient writings; sometimes they pared off the sgt&ce of the parchment or vellum manuscripts ; Himetimes they boiled them in water; at other times discharged the ink by some chemical pro- cess, particularly by the use of quick lime ; and sometimes only partially defaced the writing vith a sponge; or where it was already faded thnnigh age, pursued their transcription without further era.sure. These processes, so destructive to literature, were commenced at a very early poicd, for in the canons of the council of truth, held in the seventh century, we find one made expressly against this, and similar practices. " They that tear, or cut the books of the Old or New taiammtjor of the holy doctors, or sell them to the depraTors of boolu, or apothecaries, or any one who will make away with them, unless they be worn out and useless, is excommunicated for a year; — they that buy them, except to keep, or seU again for the benefit of themselves or others, or eormpt them, let them be excommunicated ! "

By tiiis barbarous operation, religion and sdeoee were equally outraged, and the very words of God obliterated, to make way for such writings, as have yielded but little to the instruc- tion or amelioration of posterity. Nor was the pnctice confined to the obliteration of the sacred lecords only ; many classical works of high repu- tation were also sacrificed to gain or superstition. Tbns, in the place probably, of some of the finest writers of antiquity, philosophers, poets, histo- lians, and grammarians, we have missals, con- fesaooals, monkish rhymes, and execrable and ponile legends. In the fourteenth and fifteenth oatories the erasure of writing became so com- non in Germany, that fearing the use of erated parchment in public instruments might prove ininrious to the public, efficacious measures were adopted to prevent this disorder. Accordingly the patents, by which the emperors elevated peisons to the dignity of a count, with power to promrte imperial notaries, usually contained the KtUowing (jause : — " On condition that they shall not employ old and erated parchment, but it AiH he rirgin, (i. e. made of abortive skins) and quite new." These literary depredations were oecasioned by that extraordinary scarcity and harness of materials for writing upon, which edited during several ages, in most parts of ttaoft. Great estates were often transferred fina one to another by a mere verbal agreement, and the delivery of ^rth and stone before wit- nenes, without any written deed.

Cicero, writing to his friend Trebatius, who had written to him on parchment, which had been before used, betrays a fear that Trebatius had erased his letter, to save the expense of buying new parchment. Angelo Mai, succeeded in deciphering a part of C icero's Treatue on Repuhlict, Which had been partially erased, in order to sub- RituteSt Augustine's Commentary on thePstdms.

1135. At this time, the manner of publishing the works of authors, was to have them read over for three days successively, before one of the universities, or other judges appointed by the public ; and if they met with approbation, copies of them were then permitted to be taken, which was usually done by monks, .scribes, illuminators, and readers, who were brought up, or trained to that purpose, for their sole maintenance and support.

1153. Petrus Mauritius, called the venerable, a cotemporary of St. Barnard, who died on this day, has the following express passage on linen rag paper :— " The books we read every day," says he, in his Treatise against the Jews, " are made of sheep, goat, or calfskin ; or of oriental plants, that is the papyrus of Egjpt : or of lags: ex nuurU veterumpannorum.' " These last words signify undoubtedly the paper, such as is now used.

There is no country which has not hadits learn- ed and elaborate inquirersasto the means through which Europe became acquainted, sometime in this century, with the article of paper. Casiri, however, whilst employed in translating Arabic writers, has discovered the real place from which paper came. It has been known in China, where Its constituent part is silk, from time immemorial. In the thirtieth year of the Hegira, (in the middle of the seventh century) a manufactory of similar paper at Samarcand ; and in 706, fif^-eight years afterwards, one Youzef Amrii, of Mecca, discover- ed the art of making it with cotton, an article more commonly used in Arabia, than silk. This is proved by the following passage from Muhamad Al Gazeli's " De Arabicarum Antiquitatum Eru- ditione :" — ^" In the ninety-eighth year of the Hegira, " says he, " a certain Joseph Amrii first of all invented paper in the city of Mecca, and taught the Arabs the use of it." And as additional proof, that the Arabians, and not the Greeks of the lower empire, as it has long been affirmed, were the inventors of cotton paper, it may be observed, that a Greek of great learning, whom Montfaucon mentions as having been employed in forming a catalogue of the old AlSS. in the king's library, at Paris, in the reign of Henry II. always calls the article "Danuucut Paper." The sub- sequent invention of paper, made from hemp or flax, has given rise to equal controversy. Maffei and Tiralwschi have claimed the honour in behalf of Italy, and Scaligcr and Meerman, for Ger- many; but none of these writers adduce any in- stance of its use anterior to the 1 4th century. By far the oldest in France is a letter from Joinvillc to St. Louis, which was writtena short time before the decease of that monarch in 1270. Examples of the use of modern paper in Spain, date from a century before that time : and it may be sufficient to quote, numerous instances, cited by Gi-egorio MayaiLS, namely, a treaty of peace concluded between Alfonso II. of Aiagon, and Alfonso IX. of Castile, which is preserved in the archives at Barcelona, and bears date in the year 1178; to this we may add, the fueros (privileges) granted to Valencia by James the Conqueror, in 1251.