The ancient Egyptians wrote on papyrus, which was made from reeds. The Romans used parchment, which was made from sheep or goat skin.
The Chinese invented paper about 100 AD, but Europeans did not find out how to make it for another 700 years. The process in Europe was then gradually improved.
Most early documents were laboriously copied by hand. Otherwise, each page could be carved in a block of wood which was inked and hence copied.
A printing press with type made of individual letters which are assembled
together was developed in Germany about 1448. By 1500 printing presses had
been set up throughout Europe. This began a great revolution in reading,
writing and literature.
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