Manuscripts created on parchment or vellum can last over 1,000 years; examples from 1000 CE are still magnificent and readable. The oldest known fragments date back 4,400 years. Paperback books usually last for about 20 years. Hardcover books usually last for about 60 years, or so. In some cases they can last longer. Nevertheless, the very existence of printed books was diametrically opposed to their handwritten parchment or vellum manuscript predecessors right from their inception. This fact can easily be evidenced from the following paragraph, written by Dr. Arnold in his introduction to De laude scriptorum (In Praise of Scribes), a 15th century treatise praising scribes by Johannes Trithemius, a scholar, Benedictine monk, polyglot—who at the time of writing of this text was one of only five people in all of Germany that could read both Latin and Ancient Greek (that bit is in the treatise)—and at the time abbot at the Benedictine abbey of Sponheim near Bad Kreuznach (believe it or not, he was also the teacher of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa—yes, that Cornelius Agrippa!).
“It is significant that De laude scriptorum was written precisely at the time when through the invention of printing the medieval art of copying by hand had apparently lost its raison d’etre. Trithemius must have thought otherwise as the existence of his work De laude scriptorum seems to indicate. There is obvious evidence that the men of his time already preffered for reasons of economy and convenience the printed texts rather than written ones. This changed attitude is documented by the fact that a large number of parchment codices, the result of the ascetic industry of generations of monastic scribes, was consigned to more utilitarian purposes – or so it was thought. The plain truth is that these manuscripts were systematically destroyed: the individual folia were detached and given to bookbinders – horribile dictu – as scraps for covering or binding books. If texts were now available in print and accessible in the respective libraries, their manuscripts were considered dispensable.”
—Introduction to De laude scriptorum by Johannes Trithemius
Just as this is the case, so too is it the case that digital books have been diametrically opposed to the existence of their printed book predecessors, since their very inception, as well. This can be evidenced by the fact that so many publishers are suffering now, while ebook sales are increasing.
At the turn of the millennium, digital books were just starting to become available, and it was still a very niche market. Publishers were really just beginning to experiment with digital versions. But ebook sales skyrocketed to over $1.5 billion in the U.S. by 2012, capturing a significant share of the reading market. Over this same period, physical book sales experienced a notable contraction, with the value of the adult fiction market in the U.K. alone dropping by more than a third between 2009 and 2014. Even more recently, the global ebook market has continued its steady expansion, growing from approximately $18 billion in 2025 and projected to reach $23.6 billion by 2031, reflecting a sustained shift in reading habits as physical books represent a shrinking portion of the market.
The fundamental problem is that digital books depend entirely on connected devices and the vast infrastructure behind them: servers, fiber optics, and the entire network that keeps it all running, whereas with a physical book, all you need is an existing copy in your hand, and you can read it. If we ever reach Kessler Syndrome, or if we reach civilizational collapse for other reasons, it’s unlikely that that complex network will remain. Greek civilization, as an independent political and cultural entity, largely collapsed before the Roman Empire rose to its peak (and obviously before Western Civilization as we know it today truly took shape). Yet, the Romans were Graecophiles. Why? Because significant amounts of Greek writing and artwork had been preserved.
They actively studied, commented on, and taught Greek philosophical and literary texts
and displayed Greek art and sculptures in their buildings. They loved Greek philosophy. Roman statesmen like Cicero wrote in praise of Greek literature. When the Roman Empire fell, the Greek influence continued. This can be seen from people like the 13th century theologian Thomas Aquanius who was famous for attempting to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity, or from philosophers like John Locke, who used exstensive allusions to Greek sources in his political writings, and who is himself the most quoted political philosopher in the writings of the founding fathers of the United States of America, and framers of the U.S. Constitution. The examples are never-ending.
And why did all this happen? It’s simple. It’s because they had networks of books, not books that needed networks of infrastructure for their actual existence.
As a millennium-old dictum goes:
Claustrum sine armario est quasi castrum sine armamentario
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