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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.