The making of books and the depositories of them prior to the invention of printing, and especially during the Middle Ages or from the fifth century to the fifteenth, inclusive, are matters of all but romantic interest. In the very early times and in all the principal cities of Greece and her colonies there were professional scribes who engaged in the business of copying and caring for books, the same as we now have our professional "book-keepers" (though with a different application) and our printers and librarians. This was peculiarly the condition in the later Grecian and the earlier Roman times. The accredited—though almost incredible—number of volumes in some of the ancient libraries, as at that of Alexandria—notwithstanding the slow and laborious process of their making, when every book made was a separate production—is proof positive of the extent of this industry. It was equally true of the very early times—of the times of ancient Assyria. That scribes, giving their whole attention to the production of their books, were very numerous in the period of the cuneiform writings is inferred from the immense quantity of their writings contained in the great libraries, and from the fact that in some periods almost every document is found to have been written by a different scribe. Women are known to have been employed as scribes.62

The treasures of learning and letters, preserved from the pre-Christian times, as at Samos, Athens, Megara, and Pergamos, quickly found their way (in the early centuries of our Era) from Greece, the fountain source of books and culture, into all those parts of the world with which she was brought into commercial relations and whither the conquests of Alexander had already carried the Greek culture and literature. And so it came to pass that to the cities of the Mediterranean and the Euxine there was a constant flow of books; and, in many of them, extensive libraries were collected and treasured. At a later time, when the making of books had greatly declined in consequence of the enveloping cloud of ignorance, the monks, dignitaries of the Church and even princes, brought a steadfast devotion to the copying of the religious books—especially the Bible—though not neglecting the classic literature. Noble Christian ladies, too, shared in this copying of the Bible as a form of ascetic work providing, as they believed, heavenly merit and the means of subsistence. A Christian sometimes copied for himself a gospel or some letters of evangelists, or even one or more books of the Old Testament; and we are told that wealthy Christians sometimes helped their poorer brethren by providing them with copies.

The production of books was mostly but not wholly confined to the early centuries of the Christian Era; it certainly did not extend to any considerable degree beyond the fifth century. It is within the historical facts to say that, from the fifth century on, inclusively, throughout the "Dark Ages" or for nearly a thousand years, the business of making books greatly declined, and was limited largely to books which persons of rank, literary taste, or religious devotion, themselves copied for personal use or gratification, and to books copied in the religious houses. Persons of wealth or position, too, would sometimes employ copyists or men of sedentary habits or scholarly tastes, and even their slaves who were fitted for this occupation, to transcribe such books as could be secured for the purpose. (A slave of this period was often not the dull and degraded bondman which we are accustomed to associate with the designation "slave" but he might be a man in all ways superior to his master.) Among the copyists of the times were educated persons who, by reason of the misfortunes of war, the handicaps of fate, or the hard contingencies of life—such as the loss of possessions or the reverses of fortune—had fallen into a subject condition of servitude and were employed by their masters as secretaries, scribes, and even as personal advisers and trusted friends. Origen, perhaps the greatest Bible scholar of the ancient Church, is said to have been supported by a rich admirer who put a number of slave copyists at his disposal. These copyists were sometimes employed to further the commercial enterprises of their owners also; for books generally had a marketable value—often a high commercial value—notwithstanding the dearth of intelligence and decline of learning. There were times when the possession of a book, especially the Bible, was regarded as a treasure-trove, and the owning of a book by whomsoever written was considered a fact worthy of record by a biographer.

So also, toward the close of the Middle Ages when smaller libraries had been established in abbeys and schools, as in France and Spain, manuscript books were borrowed from neighboring libraries and copies were made therefrom to increase many local collections. It was a custom, furthermore, in wide areas for libraries to exchange duplicate copies of books and thus the extension of literature went on even in the "Dark Ages," though with a fluctuating progress. More than this, since much of the literature of the times was written upon the fragile papyrus, a constant renewal of books was made necessary in order to replenish, maintain, and enlarge existing libraries and private collections. This, in the later days, furnished occupation for impecunious students of the universities as well as for slaves, professional scribes, and occupants of the religious houses.

But in the intellectual torpor that abounded, and in the pall of almost universal ignorance that overcast the civilized world—under which there were princes and kings who could not even read—it is unreasonable to suppose, notwithstanding the feeble intellectual flickerings that lingered, that there was any very considerable demand for literature during a long period of time, or for a large portion of the "Dark Ages." It was the fact, as says Hallam, the historian of this period, that "a cloud of ignorance overspread the whole face of the Church, hardly broken by a few glimmering lights, who owe much of their distinction to the surrounding darkness." And he portrays at length the gross darkness that enveloped the people, both clergy and laity.63 In an age when scarcely anybody could write or even read, when learning had well-nigh disappeared under the pall of ignorance, we may easily believe that books were neither extensively made nor highly valued. To again quote from Hallam: "If it be demanded by what cause it happened that a few sparks of ancient learning survived throughout this long winter, we can only ascribe their preservation to the establishment of Christianity. Religion alone made a bridge, as it were, across this chaos and has linked the two periods of ancient and modern civilization." Similar is the testimony of Mr. George H. Putnam: "In the centuries which elapsed between the downfall of the Roman Empire and the invention of printing, the centers of intellectual activities and of scholarly interests were undoubtedly the churches and the monasteries, and it is probable that if it had not been for the educational work done by the priests and monks, and for the interest taken by them (however inadequately and ignorantly) in the literature of the past, the fragments of this literature which have been preserved for to-day would have been much less considerable and more fragmentary than they are. As I understand history, the literary interests of the world owe very much to the fostering care given to them by the Church, or by certain portions of the Church, during the troublous centuries of the early Middle Ages. Throughout these centuries the Church not only supplied a standard of morality, but kept in existence whatever intellectual life there was."64