Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
I thought a "codex" was, by definition, hand written, not machine printed.
Is there another word?
If not, then if techie slang like ebook and pbook don't satisfy, then perhaps we need to coin a new retronym.
But I bet there's already another word.
|
Codex means it's in pages in a bound format rather than a scroll, or at least that's it's original meaning. At that time all "books" were hand written as there were no printing presses.
From Concise Encyclopedia:
Manuscript book, especially of Scripture, early literature, or ancient mythological or historical annals. The earliest type of manuscript in the form of a modern book (i.e., a collection of pages stitched together along one side), the codex replaced earlier rolls of papyrus and wax tablets. Among its advantages, it could be opened at once to any point in the text, it permitted writing on both sides of the leaf, and it could contain long texts. The oldest extant Greek codex is the Codex Sinaiticus (4th century AD), a biblical manuscript. Codices were developed separately by pre-Columbian Mesoamericans after c. AD 1000.
Modern usage is mostly to refer to these very old books. I've seen it used to refer to an official compilations or lists such as a "drug codex" and also to refer to bound books in general.
Greg