China’s printing inventions

 Printing is a very important factor in the history of books. Many discoveries would arrive centuries later if it hadn’t been invented. The first step towards the printers we have today was the woodblock printing. It was created in 6th century in China, during the Tang dynasty. That system used engraved wooden matrices that were inked and then presses onto a sheet of paper. Because of this creation printing is considered one of the great inventions of Ancient China. Another stage in the history of printing was the movable-type printing. This idea also originated in China. In 1041 Bi Sheng invented the movable clay type. It was breaking easily but the quality was improved in 1298 by Wang Zhen who used a much stronger wooden type. Printing plays the key role in the history of books. Without it we wouldn’t be able to spread them all around the world.

Source:

https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/blog/brief-history-printing/

The first book

 The first book ever written that we know of is „The Epic of Gilgamesh”. This story is regarded as the earliest surviving literature. It’s a mythical retelling of a historical figure Gilgamesh, the king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, which originated in ancient Mesopotamia. It was written somewhere between 1500 - 1200 BC in the world’s oldest known form of writing - archaic cuneiform.  This form appeared around 3400 BC in the ancient Sumerian civilization. It was originally a language using pictographs which later became syllabic. The first book obviously didn’t look anything like the books we know today. It was written on twelve clay tablets which nowadays can be found at the British Museum. „The Epic of Gilgamesh” is the first written work, the first incredible story in the see of millions that are created till this day.

The first writing materials

Humans always had an urgent need to communicate with each other. Writing was a very important form of communication, which is why today I'm going to talk about the first ever writing materials. The earliest material that people used to write on was clay. It needed a bit of preparation but it was easy to use. Damp clay was formed into a tablet on which people wrote usually using a cut reed. The tablets could be reused or become permanent by baking. Another important step towards paper was The Egyptian Papyrus discovered around 3000 BC. The name papyrus comes from the plant it was made of. People cut stripes down the plant, lined them up, hammered them down and let them dry in the sun. This material was used for the longest time because of its flexibility and smooth structure. Both of those discoveries we're the key steps towards the paper we're using today and what comes with it - the first books to ever exist.

Source: 

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=ady1