What Ancient Books of Greco-Roman World Looked Like?

In Greco-Roman world books usually existed (were

written/published) in the form of scrolls. Papyrus and later parchment
served as materials for these first books. Separate sheets of papyrus
were glued together side by side in a long strip and then wound up on
the roller. These procedures produced a volume (the word originates
from Latin volume, meaning something rolled up). The length of such
papyri roll was determined by the convenience of usage and seldom
exceeded in length 35 feet. Longer literary works would usually be
divided into several parts. Thus the two longest books in the New
Testament, Gospel of Luke and Acts would each occupy a papyrus roll of 31-32 feet long. Some
scholars suggest that this is precisely the reason that we know these writings of Luke as two separate
books and not one1.
The text on the roll created in this way was arranged in number of columns, usually each of
2 -3 inches wide, text was written in direction parallel to the stick. The heights of the columns
depended on the heights of the particular roll. Sometimes rolls would be written on both sides in
which case it is called opistograph.
But scrolls were inconvenient to use: one needs two hands to hold and read, the process
of searching for the particular text was hard as it required rewinding of the roll. The problems also
appeared when rolls were twisting.
Due to these difficulties (especially, the searching for a particular passage in a scroll)
Christian communities early in the second century or, perhaps, late in the first the codex, or leaf form
of the book came into use:
A codex was made by folding one or more sheets of papyrus in the middle and sewing them
together. Christians found that this form had a number of advantages over the roll: (1) it permitted
all four Gospels or all the Epistles of Paul to be bound in one book, a format that was impossible so
long as the roll was used; (2) it facilitated a concentration of the proof texts; (3) it was better
adapted to receiving writing on both sides of the page, thus keeping the cost of production down.2

The codex form of books was even more appreciated in fourth century when parchment
became increasingly popular as a written material. In fact, multiple ancient documents were initially
recognized as Christian writings because they were written in codex form on both sides of leaves.3
Parchment is made from animal hide. The hide (theoretically of any animal, but usually of a sheep
or goat) first had the hair and flesh removed by a solution of lime mordant, and was then trimmed
to size, polished and smothered with chalk and pumice stone to prepare the surface for use.4

Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th
ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 12.
2

Ibid, 13.

Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory
and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1987), 75, 102.
4
Ibid, 76.

Further due to the fact that parchment does not have fibers like papyri that helped scribes
to write in straight lines, it needed to be lined up with the metal stylus (the lines often are still visible
on manuscripts many years after the impressions were made). The vertical column lines were made
the same way as well. Another problem was that hear side and flesh side of skins are of dark and lite
colors. This problem was resolved by arranging the four sheet quire (later this form became standard)
in such order that flesh side would face flesh side and hair side hair side.
The cost of such books was higher in comparison to those made from papyri (fifty or sixty
sheep or goat skins were necessary to produce a copy of the New Testament), but the durability of
such books was much higher.
For Further Reading:
Aland, Kurt, and Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the
Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1987.
Metzger, Bruce M., and Bart D. Ehrman. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission,
Corruption, and Restoration. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.