The ancient Greek city of Pergamum, famous in ancient times, cannot be found on a modern map: now it is the Turkish town of Bergama, which is located 26 kilometers from the Aegean Sea. But the glory of the ancient settlement remained for centuries: here in the II century BC. that improved parchment appeared that became the basis of the first durable books.
In Pergamum, this ancient writing material began to be made from specially made skins of sheep, goats and other animals. He became a forced alternative to the popular papyrus. The reason for the new choice was the conflict between Egypt and Pergamum and the ban on the export of Egyptian papyrus from the country: the Pergamans were preparing to open the richest library at that time, which could compete with the Alexandrian one. The situation was hopeless, and the search for new material forced the city's artisans to pay attention to the skins of domestic animals. They undertook to carefully, on both sides, process the calfskin until it acquired special strength, flexibility and white-yellow color. They called the new made miracle sheets in Greek parchment (the Romans gave it another name - “membrane.”) At first, scrolls like papyrus ones were made of parchment. Later, the format of books familiar to the present look appeared from thin leather sheets connected by metal brackets into a block. It got the name "code". Protective wooden planks covered with leather, which were attached at the top and bottom to protect the pages, soon became a binding (hence the phraseological phrase "read a book from blackboard to blackboard"). The technology for creating parchment required a lot of ingenuity. Initially, freshly removed animal skins were washed, blood and dirt were removed from them. Then, for 3-10 days, they were soaked in a lime solution - this way the wool was removed more easily. Then the skins were pulled on wooden frames, the hair and subcutaneous tissue residues were removed with a curved knife, and polished. To prevent the remaining fat from interfering with the absorption of ink, chalk powder and special calcium compounds were rubbed into the parchment. To bleach the dried plates, pastes based on milk, lime, and flour were used. They wrote on sheets of parchment with reed sticks or a specially sharpened pen. The color of the parchment was usually light. However, for luxury editions, he was painted in different colors, for example, purple. On such pages, lines were drawn in gold and silver. Parchment codes, parchment have existed for centuries. State letters, laws and especially valuable books were written on it not only in Europe, but also in Asia Minor, Africa and other countries. In the XI-XII centuries in Russia they had not yet learned how to make their own parchment - they brought it from Byzantium and the West. Writing books on Russian parchment began in the 13th century. There is evidence that about 300 sheep skins were used to make the first copy of the Bible published by Gutenberg. In the Moscow Armory Chamber, the Cathedral Code of 1649 is carefully kept - paper that is produced by the pulp and paper industry and is widely used for packaging, as well as for technical purposes. It is distinguished by high strength, grease resistance, moisture resistance and environmental friendliness.