The first chapter of Amaranth Borsuk’s The Book sets the foundation of what the book as an object has meant throughout history. The book has transformed and lived different lives depending on the culture that depended on its fluid utility. Retrospectively, the form the book has taken from clay tablet to codex includes a spectrum that has taken centuries to develop. The societies that have taken the form of the book and made it theirs always did so with intent and used the object in their specific cultural context.

The history of the book as an object is fascinating and spans across the world. While it is difficult to pin down the exact definition of what a book is or is not, a key characteristic is the portable form which dates as a far as the Sumerian clay tablets. To further build on that, the identity of books is to facilitate the development of reading, writing, and illustration. Borsuk draws a quote from Jessica Brantley and her work The Prehistory of the Book where she writes, “A book might be best understood as the material support for inscribed language, a category that includes rolls and codices and even monumental inscription, both written by hand and printed by many different mechanism, and also a wide variety of digital media”. The range of materials from papyrus to bamboo to paper are all indicative of a culture that was willing to utilize natural materials in order to fuel their intellectual pursuits. The need of books, writing and reading, comes down to being able to confidently leave thoughts somewhere. The material form of books continues to be developed and refined in a way that encourages current cultures to willingly engage with them. For the modern day reader that means a plethora of digital texts in the form of advertisements, tablets, and handheld phone readings. While Borsuk provides the physical history of the book as an object, it is important to recognize where the current timeline lands. What has been a bundle of folded pages, or one long scroll, has evolved into technology with digitalized layers that disseminate information. It is different, as are all the modes conveyed in the opening chapter, but paramount to recognize the purpose and goals are still similar.