краткое содержание текста The Printed Word.
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The earliest books were written on tablets of wood or pieces of bark. In Greece and Rome people used a small stick called "stylus" to write on tablets of wood covered with wax. In Assyria and Babylonia clay tablets were used for writing. The earliest books of the ancient world were also written on papyrus and skins of young animals. Though paper has been known in China since the first century, the secret of papermaking came to Europe much later.
The first public library was founded in ancient Rome about 39 B.C. By the time of the Middle Ages all books were handwritten and often beautifully decorated. The first people to invent printing were the Chinese. In Europe there were several people who can be called inventors of printing. The best-known is Johann Gutenberg from Germany.
The first printing press in England was set up by William Caxton at Westminster in 1476, and the first printing press in Russia - by Ivan Fedorov in Moscow in 1564.
The 19th century saw the appearance of a proper system of public libraries. Now most countries have their own national libraries. Many old university libraries have rich collections of books. The great libraries of the world are the British Museum Library in London, the Library of Congress in the United States, the Beijing Library in China, the State Public Library in Moscow, Bibliotheque Nationale in France. The world's largest is the US Library of Congress.
Modern libraries do their best to help people get information as quickly as possible using computers and electronic catalogues.