Authors and their public in ancient times

by George Haven Putnam

Strabo speaks of the excellent organization of the book scribes of Alexandria, and states that Roman methods of bookmaking were derived from Alexandria. The fact that for a number of centuries the entire supply of the most important of the materials required was derived from Egypt, gave an enormous advantage to the development of publishers in Alexandria. Even after the perfection of the methods for the preparation of parchment, papyrus retained its place in the preference of writers, Greek and Roman, and until about the fourth century A.D. the use of parchment continued very inconsiderable. But the papyrus was produced only in Egypt. It was therefore a serious blow at the literary undertakings of the kings of Pergamum when Philadelphus, in pursuance of his policy of concentrating in Alexandria the production of literature, prohibited for some years the export from Egypt of papyrus. It was this embargo that gave a temporary stimulus in Pergamum to the production of dressed skins, and the special interest taken by Pergamum in this industry caused the most carefully finished of the skins (very different in their appearance from the old time διφθέραι) to bear the name of parchment, pergamentum. With the removal of the embargo, however, the writers in Asia Minor appear in the main to have speedily gone back to the use of the more convenient papyrus; the production of parchment languished, and when in the latter Empire, parchment again came into vogue, as its manufacture could as well be carried on in many other places, it did not remain an important product of Pergamum.

Not only in Pergamum but also in Antioch was the attempt made, through the founding of museums (i. e., libraries with schools attached) to create literary centres, but these efforts met with no considerable or lasting success. Mahaffy points out that these cities were, during the larger portion of their existence as separate capitals, much more frequently engaged in the excitement of campaigns than was the case with Alexandria. The position of the latter, practically secure against invasion and outside of the great struggles and contests which kept Asia Minor in a state of agitation, was peculiarly advantageous for the development of literary and scholastic interests.

Attractions were offered to literary men by the Court of Antioch, and Syria became under Greek and Macedonian influence a home of Hellenism, but no important literary undertaking took shape under the Seleucids except the translation by Berosus, the Chaldean High Priest, of certain cuneiform records, a work which was dedicated to Antiochus I.[120] The only large example in literature of Syrian Greek is presented by the New Testament, as the Septuagint remained the most important record of the Greek of Alexandria.[121] The library gathered at Antioch appears after the Roman occupation to have been destroyed or dispersed. The larger collection at Pergamum was, according to Plutarch, given by Antony to Cleopatra, and was absorbed into the Museum of Alexandria.

It is probable that in Alexandria not only the publishers but also the authors secured returns from the profits of book-production. It is difficult to explain in any other way the gathering of authors in Alexandria from all parts of the Greek world and their frequent references to their business arrangements for the production of their books. A definite piece of evidence is also afforded by the statement of Strabo, previously referred to, that the publishing methods of Rome were derived from those existing in Alexandria; and in Rome, as we shall see in a later chapter, a system of compensation to authors certainly came into practice. It is, however, unfortunately, the case, that no trustworthy data have been found from which can be gathered the details of the business relations of the Alexandrian authors with their publishers. Birt points out that the government itself went into the publishing business on a considerable scale, and its competition may easily have caused perplexities to the publishers. We have already seen that the Museum had, under the directions of the King, taken pains to purchase the most authoritative texts known of the classic authors, while in certain cases they secured the entire supplies of the copies known to be in existence. Staffs of copyists were gathered in the Museum, and under the editorial supervision of the salaried Fellows, editions in more satisfactory form than had heretofore been known were produced for the public. It is not shown whether these copies were offered for sale directly at the Museum, or whether arrangements were entered into with the leading booksellers for their distribution in Alexandria and throughout the reading world. It is probable, however, that the latter course must have been adopted, for it is not likely that the Museum undertook to establish connections for the sale of its editions in foreign countries, while it is certain that for their university editions a wide and continual sale was secured.

One of the changes introduced in book-making methods under Philadelphus was the substitution of papyrus rolls of small and convenient size for the enormous scrolls heretofore in use. According to Birt, the average length of these larger rolls had not exceeded five hundred inches, or about forty-one feet, but instances are cited, in the earlier Egyptian literature, of rolls (principally Hieratic) reaching a length of one hundred and fifty feet. In the fifth century there was burned in Byzantium a Homeric roll one hundred and twenty feet in length.[122] It is possible that the writer of the Apocalypse may have had one of these enormous scrolls in his vision when he beheld the record of the sins of Babylon reaching to the heavens.

Callimachus, the grammarian, who seemed to have had as much responsibility as any man of his group in shaping the literary work of the Academy of Philadelphus, gave utterance to the dictum, “A big book is a big nuisance,” τὸ μέγα βιβλίον ἴσον ἔλεγεν εἶναι τῷ μεγάλῳ κακῷ,[123] and from his time the cumbersome scrolls began to disappear, and as well for the new editions of the classics as for the literature of the day, the small rolls came into use. These smaller rolls would contain in poetry from 350 to 750 lines each, so that for the Iliad and Odyssey, for instance, thirty-six rolls were required. For works in prose each roll would usually contain from 700 to 1500 lines, while specimens have been found with as few as 150 lines.[124] Such rolls would comprise from ten to at the most two hundred pages.[125]

Birt is of opinion that this question of the extent of the sheets available for the writer and the nature of the divisions in the subject suggested by the division in the material, had a very marked influence upon the style, proportioning, and subdivisions of works of literature. He goes so far as to ascribe to this cause the evolution of epigrammatic literature, vers de société, and light and superficial court poetry of the Alexandrian school, which formed so sharp a contrast to the massive tragedies of the great poets of Attica. I can but think, however, that Birt has got the causation reversed, as it seems more probable that a certain style of writing should have brought about a change in the method of dividing writing paper than that the paper-makers should have been in a position, simply by changing the form of their rolls, to evolve a new style of literature, or even to play any important part in such evolution.

This increasing use of small rolls must, of course, be taken into account in calculating the number of works contained in all the post-Alexandrian libraries as well as in the great collection of the Museum of Philadelphus.

Birt ascribes to the limitation presented by the size of the rolls the division of narratives into “books,” but it is certainly the case that there are examples of such division in the works of writers of a much earlier date, when large rolls were still customary. Xenophon’s Anabasis, for instance, is so divided.[126] The books in this are also peculiar, as before mentioned, in being preceded by summaries of the preceding books. The length of a dramatic poem was naturally determined by the time that could be allotted for the performance. They contained from 1300 to 1700 lines, and each drama constituted a “book,” although several books might, even under the new fashion of smaller rolls, still be included in one roll.

As fresh supplies of the classic writings came to be distributed through the civilized world, more particularly, of course, among the Greek cities, the monopoly established by the policy of the Ptolemies for the Alexandrian editions gradually came to an end, and the production of books took a fresh start in other centres. The monopoly of the paper-makers, however, continued, for nowhere but in the valley of the Nile could the papyrus be made to grow, and during the first two or three centuries of the Roman Empire the extent of the book-making markets supplied by the paper industries must have been so enormous that it is difficult to understand how the growth of the papyrus, in the limited district suitable for it, could have been sufficient to meet the requirements. To modern Egypt, according to Wilkinson and other authorities, the plant is unknown, for it has entirely disappeared from its ancient habitat on the banks of the Nile. It would seem, therefore, that, like flax and the cotton plant, it required for its existence certain special conditions which could be insured only through careful cultivation. The words of the Hebrew prophet have thus been realized: “The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, ... shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.”[127] It is probable that the cultivation was finally brought to a close in the seventh century, when the Saracens took possession of Egypt.