MSS. into pages and in this way into book form is said
by Suetonius to have been introduced by Julius Caesar,
whose letters to the Senate were so made up, and
after whose time the practice became usual for all
documents either addressed to, or issuing from that
body, or to or from the Emperors. As that form subsequently
crept into general use, the books were known
as "codices;" and hence the ordinary term as applied
to manuscript volumes.

All classes of "books," the reeds for writing in
them, the inkstands, and the "capsae" or "scrinia,"
the boxes in which the "scapi" or rolls were kept,
are minutely portrayed in ancient wall-paintings and
ivory diptychs (double tablets), and which may belong
to a period near the beginning of the Christian era.

Pliny and Dioscorides have given the formulas for
the writing inks used by the Greek and Roman scribes
immediately before and during their time. Pliny declares
that the ink of the bookmakers was made of
soot, charcoal and gum, although he does not state
what fluid was employed to commingle them. He does,
however, mention to an occasional use of some acid
(vinegar) to give the ink a binding property on the
papyrus.

Dioscorides, however, specifies the proportions of
this "soot" ink. Another formula alluded to by the
same author calls for a half ounce each of copperas