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CHAPTER 3 - FREE EXPRESSION IN BOOKS
The subject of this story is freedom of thought expressed in writing. Books (and their precursors) represent the best method people have to preserve and share their thoughts and ideas. As a result, the destruction of books represents some of the most flagrant abuses of free expression in recorded history. If we examine how frequently books were destroyed - especially by burning - in the centuries before the American Republic, we can understand why protecting freedom of expression was a first precept in creating the legal foundations of American society. Written thoughts on clay tablets, animal skins (scrolls) and papyrus were early forms of "books." For thousands of years before the printing press, scholars wrote and scribes copied "books" by hand. Sometimes it took a year or more to write, or copy, one manuscript. Often these works were beautifully illuminated with stunning pictures and brightly colored letters. Using our world of cyber evidence, we can actually examine some of those ancient writings which scribes sought to protect from certain destruction by conquering enemies or dictating governments. GO TO STORY INDEX |