Big timeline of drawing, publishing, etc.

NOTE: most of the publishing info drawn from http://www.xs4all.nl/~knops/timetab.html

YEAR	History of writing/books	History of tech drawings
-3500	Sumerians use cuneiform alphabet, pressed in clay with a triangular stylus. Clay tablets were dried and/or fired for longevity. Some even had clay envelopes,' which were also inscribed. Some people consider them to be the earliest form of the book.
-2500	Animal skins are used for scrolls in Western Asia.
-2400	Date of the earliest surviving papyrus scroll with writing.
-1900	Hittites, from between 1900 and 1200 BC, left appr. 15,000 clay tablets
-1800	Book of the Dead, Egypt
-1500	The 'Phaistos disc', found on the island of Crete in 1908, was produced by pressing relief-carved symbols into the soft clay, then baking it. Although it contains the germ of the idea of printing, it appears to be unique.
-950	Leather is made and used for scrolls and writing.
-800	Moabite stone is created with one of the finest specimens of Phoenician writing. The letters resemble Greek.
-650	Papyrus. First rolls arrive in Greece from Egypt
-600	6th C. BC General agreement among Mediterranean cultures on left-to-right writing and reading. Before that, there was L-R, R-L, top-to-bottom, and boustroph edonic (back-and-forth). The Hebrews kept R-L.
-500	Lao-Tze's lifetime, was said to have been archivist of the imperial archives
-431	(431-352 BC) author of Anabasis and Memorabilia.
-295	King Ptolemy I Soter enlisted the services of the orator Demetrios Phalereus, a former governor of Athens, and empowered him to collect, if he could, all the books in the inhabited world. To support his efforts, the king sent letters to all sovereigns and governors on earth requesting that the furnish workd by poets and prose-writers, rhetoricians and sophists, doctors and soothsayers, historians, and all others too (Flavius Josephus). Agents were sent out to scout the cities of Asia, North Africa, and Europe. Foreign vessels calling in at Alexandria were searched routinely for scrolls and manuscripts. Transcripts were returned in due course, but the originals remained confiscated in the library. The story of the 47 AD destruction of the library is only partly true. Some 40,000 of the 700,000 volumes did go up in flames.
-213	Chin Tain Shihuangti, emporer of China, issued an edict that all books should be destroyed (manuscripts on bamboo)
-200	Before 1st C. BC Both Greeks and Romans used wax tablets, framed and backed with wood, for note taking, orders, correspondence, and other temporary information. At times, two or more tablets were joined with thongs or cords, similar to a 3-ringed binder. The Latin name for this was _codex_, from the word for wood. Single wax tablets had been used earlier than this in Mesopotamia, Greece, and Etruria.
-197	197-159 BC In the Middle East, near Pergamum, large herds of cattle are raised for skins to be made into what we now call 'parchment.'
-196	The'Rosetta' stone is cut. It contains the same text in Egyptian hieroglyphic, Egyptian demotic, and Greek writing. It was discovered in 1799 near the mouth of the Nile and served to break the code for deciphering ancient Egyptian works.
-150	The first paper is made in China from macerated hemp fibers in water suspension.
-150	150 BC - 40 AD Approximate dates of the Hebrew and Aramaic documents, Biblical and nonbiblical, found as scrolls sealed in ceramic pots in caves near the Dead Sea in 1957. Some are written on thin, whitish leather similar but not identical to parchment
-100	1st C. BC - 1st C. AD The Romans substituted skin, or membranae, for the wood panels in codices. It is unclear just when this was done and whether membranae was similar to Medieval parchment or to the thin leather of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but it is known that there are no examples or records of this substitution prior to the Romans. Later, Romans used codices to record laws and rules of order, lending the name codes or codicils to such documents.
-100	1st C. AD By the end of this century, the form of the book had largely changed from the scroll to the codex.
-100	Nash Papyrus, oldest known biblical fragment, containing the Hebrew text of the ten commandments. Acquired in Egypt 1902 by W.L.Nash and now in Cambridge University Library.
-39	Libertas. Asinius Pollio establishes first public library in Rome at the Libertas Temple
-28	Augustus. Under the reign of emporer Augustus two large libraries were founded, the Palatine and the Octavian library
47	The great Library of Alexandria was damaged by fire when Julius Caeser besieged the city. It was said at one time to contain copies and translations of all known books (scrolls), between 400,000 and 500,000. It was later ravaged by civil war in the late 200s AD and by 400, nothing was left.
100	Ulpia. Bibliotheca Ulpia founded by Trajan, also serving as emperial archive
105	Chinese history records that papermaking was invented by Ts'ai Lun in the court of Ho'ti in Lei-yang, China. Paper had, in fact, been made in China for at least two hundred years before this date. The first papers were made from hemp, bark, and used fish nets.
191	Palatine library destoyed by fire
370	Public libraries, in these days there were said to be 28 public libaries in Rome
391	Alexandrian Library destroyed under the direction of Archbishop Theophilus of Antioch (destruction of temple of Serapis)
480	(480-524), the last learned Roman to study the language and literature of Greece. He wrote his DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE while awaiting his execution. The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue of 39 short poems in 13 different meters that paid tribute to the ancient authors and philosophers.
590	Luxeuil. Monastery founded by Columban, first monastery in Gaul. Irish Monks brought along numerous manuscripts
637	Caesarea Library destroyed by Arabs conquering Palestine (library was originally founded by church father Origen who died 309 AD)
687	Undoubtedly one of history's most dramatic book exhumations involves a manuscript copy of the Gospel of St.John that was buried in the year 687 with the body of St. Cuthbert, bishop near Lindesfarne. Two hundred years later Danish invaders sacked the holy compund, carrying with them the remains of Cuthbert. In 1104 the carved wooden casket was opened and the Gospel, a manuscript written in uncial, was found perfectly preserved.
700	Lindisfarne Gospels written on 258 leaves (link to on-line reproductions: http://www.xs4all.nl/~knops/manuscri.html )
715	Codex Amitinus, manuscript of the Vulgate written in Northumbrian uncial.
716	Amiatinus. Codex Amiatinus, made at the scriptorium of the twin monasteries Wearmouth and Jarrow near Newcastle, Northumbria. This codex brings together the entire old and new testament in 1,030 folios in a single binding..
750	Aureus. Codex Aureaus written, probably at Canterbury
750	Canterbury School of manuscript illumination, active until 13th century.
750	Paper making reached Samarkand before 750, Baghdad in 793, Damascus and Cairo in approximately 950. Through the Arab conquest of North Africa and Southern Spain, the invention first reached the Moorish parts of Spain in the 11th century. A mill was recorded at Fez in Morocco in 1100, and the first on the Spanish mainland at Xativa in 1151. It reached Southern Italy in the 13th century, where, untill quite recently, some of the oldest handmade paper mills in Italy were operating near Amalfi, in the Naples area.
750	Willibrord Gospels made appr. 750, probably made by the artists of the Book of Durrow
751	Papermaking introduced in the Islamic world
800	Marbling in Japan, first Turkish marbled paper 1586, first Dutch 1598
800	Kells, Book of. Written and painted at the Columbian monastery of Iona or at the Abbey of Kells in Ireland. 340 folia survived. Since 1661 in Trinity College, Dublin
868	China, oldest known woodblock printing (method was in use much earlier)
868	The first book printed on paper in China, in block printed Buddhist scripts.
896	Colophon, oldest known manuscript colophon, in Books of the Prophets written by Moses ben Asher in Tiberias.
950	Winchester School, 950-1100, characteristic style of manuscript illumination
954	Abingdon Monastery founded by Aethelwold, monks famous for manuscript illumination, Winchester School
1041	In 1403 the earliest known book was printed from movable type in Korea, a process that had been used by the Chinese as early as 1041. In 1450 Gutenberg printed his 42-line Bible in Mainz on a quality of handmade paper that remains unsurpassed to this day. 26 Years later William Caxton brought the art of printing to England, and in 1486 the first English coloured illustrated book was printed in St. Albans.
1068	Fatimite. Library of the Fatimite family (Cairo) destroyed by the Turks
1085	Papermaking in Jativa Spain
1140	Winchester Bible, 1140-1190, English late Romanesque illumination
1147	Utrecht Psalter, Eadwine Psalter, copy of the Utrecht Psalter, example of Canterbury Romanesque written at Christchurch by Eadwine
1238	Papermaking mill established in Capellades, Catalonia
1250	Fore Edge Painting, first on French psalter manuscript	Villard de Honnecourt’s sketchbook (Design and construction drawing; sketch book/ notebook)
1250	The first record of block printing (on paper?) in Egypt.
1276	The important invention of watermarking was made at one of the Fabriano Mills in Tuscany during the second half of the 13th century. One can assume that the reason for the watermark was to give the product a branded trademark of superior quality. There exists a remarkable archive of Fabriano watermarks going back to the first one in 1276, showing a mark for each year until modern times.
1276	Paper. First papermill established in Italy
1283	Fabriano, first Italian papermill was established. Still name of an Italian handmade paper
1290	Edda, Elder Edda (Saemundar Edda) written, presented to King Frederik III by the Icelandic bishop Brynjolfur Sveinsson, now in the Copenhagen Royal Library
1300		Vigevano, Le machine del re (Representational manuscript)
1313	Giovanni Boccacio (1313-1375), author of the DECAMERON.
1325	Biblia Pauperum made in Klosterneuburg near Vienna
1325	Belleville Breviary by Jean Pucelle (Parisian manuscript painter)
1338	Paper, oldest known papermill in France
1340	Berry, Jean duc de (d.1416). Les Tres Riches Heures.
1350		Kyeser, Bellifortis (Representational manuscript)
1373	Bibliotheque Nationale. Charles V is said to be the founder of this library. The 1373 catalogue of his library lists about 1000 volumes, housed in the Louvre
1389	Bedford, John of Lancaster, Duke. The Bedford Missal, 1423
1396	Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
1399	Gutenberg, Johann, d.1468, born in Mainz as Johann Gensfleisch zum Gutenberg
1400	Chaucer died	Master Gun-maker’s Booklets (Practitioner booklets)
1410	Ellesmere Chaucer, illustrated manuscript of the Canterbury Tales
1418	Woodcut, oldest known specimen
1418	Rohan Book of Hours, made for Yolande of Aragon.
1420	Fouquet, Jean, d.1480, leading 15th century manuscript painter (Hours of Etienne de Chavalier)
1420	Jenson, Nocolaus, d. 1480, punchcutter and printer of Venice
1420	Caxton, William, born.
1421	Bisticci, Vespasiano da, d.1498, Florentine bookseller, had people like Cosimo de Medici as customer.
1423	Buxheim Saint Christopher, early dated European woodcut illustrations
1425	Mansion, Colard, d.1484, one of the leading calligraphers in Bruges, Belgium
1425	Marmion, Simon, d.1489. Flemish miniature painter, amongst others Grandes Chroniques de France for Philip the Good
1430	Weyden, Rogier van der, d.1464, illustration in Chronique du Haunaut.
1430	Xylographic. First xylographic books, or block books produced in Germany and Holland
1434	Wolgemut, Michael, d.1519, Nuremberg painter famous for his designs for woodcuts.
1435	Hours of Catherine of Cleves made in Utrecht, Holland
1436	Regiomontanus, Johanes, d. 1476, printer at Königsberg, Germany, publisher of astronomical works
1440	Koberger, Anton, d.1513. Printer in Neuremberg since 1470. First dated book Disciplinarum Platonis Epitome, 1472
1441	Marciana. Bibliotheca Marciana founded by Cosimo de Medici
1448	Chronique du Hainaut, illustration by Rogier van der Weyden (manuscript is in Royal Library of Brussels)
1450	Manutius. year of birth Aldus Manutius (Teobaldo Manucci), d.1515	Taccola’s notebooks and de ingeneis (Sketch-books and notebooks, Representational manuscript)
1453	Constantine library. Many books were burnt in this year (Constantinople captured by the Turks) or carried away and sold
1454	Gutenberg. publication of Turkenkalender (Fust, Schöffer, Gutenberg (??)
1455	Block Books in Europe, between 1455 and 1510.
1455	Biblia Pauperum, first xylographic version made in Germany
1456	Gutenberg. 42-line bible by Gutenberg
1457	Colour printing, earliest example in Mainz Psalter
1457	Mainz Psalter by Fust and Schoffer
1458	Corvinus, Matthias, d.1490, King of Hungary, famous bookcollector
1460	Froben, Johann, d.1527, started printing in Basle 1491. Printer of Erasmus publications
1460	Catholicon of Johannes Baldus printed by Schöffer
1461	Edelstein, der, by Ulrich Boner, printed by Albrecht Pfister of Bamberg, first printed book with woodcut illustrations
1461	Biblia Pauperum issued in Bamberg with handcolored illustrations
1462	Badius Ascensius, Jodocus (1535). Parisian printer
1464	Weijden, Rogier van der, death of.
1465	Biblia Pauperum, first typeset edition made near Brussels, illustrations based on drawings by Rogier van der Weijden.
1465	The first drypoint engravings known in the history of prints are those of the MASTER OF THE HOUSEBOOK, active in Germany between 1465 and 1500. The technique was also used, though rarely, by Dürer, for example in his St. Jerome by a Pollard Willow (1512). The unsurpassed master was to be Rembrandt, who used drypoint on its own, or with etching.
1465	Canticum Canticorum, illustrated by Memling(?) or Van der Weijden(?)
1465	Biblia Pauperum, first typeset edition made near Brussels, illustrations based on drawings by Rogier van der Weijden.
1466	Petrucci, Ottaviano, d.1539. Printer in Venice who established a papermill that remained active until the 19th century
1466	Ars Moriendi published first time
1466	Erasmus, Desiderius, d.1536
1467	Italy. First book printed in Rome by Ulrich Han
1467	Hypnerotomachia Poliphili written by Francesco Colonna
1468	Gutenberg dies February 3rd
1469	Arches Papermill in Vosges, France
1469	Bookbinding, the first time the roller or roulette appeared in German binderies
1471	Malermi Bible (Italian translation of the Vulgate) first printed in Venice by Wendelin da Spira
1471	Durer, Albrecht, d.1528
1472	Cranach, Lucas, d.1553. German painter and woodcutter.	Valturio’s de re militari (Drawings in technological treatises)
1472	DIVINE COMEDY, first printed edition of Dante's epic poem	Anonymous of the Hussite Wars (Practitioner booklet)
1472	Speculum Humanae Salvationes printed by Gunther Zainer
1473	Burckmaier, Hans, d.1531. After Durer leading (book)illustrator.
1473	Ducali bindings, from 1473-1600, bindings made for the edicts, decrees and governor's commisions issued by the Doges of Venice
1473	Philobiblon. Richard de Bury's treatise written in praise of books
1475	Belgium, First books printed by Colard Mansion of Bruges
1477	Intaglio. First book with intaglio illustrations 'Il Monte Sancto di Dio' published in Florence
1479	Grolier, Jean, d.1565. Famous French bibliophile, famous for the bindings of his books
1479	Carpi, Ugo da, d.1533, leading engraver of Venice and Rome, likely one of the developers, inventors of chiarusco printing
1482	Poeticon Astronomicon by Erhard Ratdolt, illustrated with allegorical woodcuts
1483	Cologne Bible by Anton Koberger of Nuremberg
1486	Chevalier Libere, printed 1486 by Gotfred van Os at Gouda (book deals with Charles the Bold)
1486	Caxton, William prints his first books in England, in Westminster
1489	Denmark. Bookprinting came to Copenhagen with the arrival of the Dutch printer Gotfried van Os, who called himself Gotfred of Ghemen
1490	Blado, Antonio, d.1567. Printer in Rome, had cursive type face designed by Arrighi.	Leonardo da Vinci begins work on his Codex Madrid (Sketchbooks and notebooks)
1493	The earliest known etchings are by Daniel Hopfer, active at Augsburg between 1493 and 1536, the Swiss Urs Graf, and Dürer, who did five etchings on iron, among them The Agony in the Garden, and The Cannon. Lucas van Leyden (1489-1533) also used this technique on a few rare occasions. The earliest Italian etching is by Parmigianino (1503-1540), whose prints are more sketchy and spontaneous than those of the Northern artists. Etching is above all the medium of Rembrandt: with it he reached a depth and universality of expression never equalled in the history of prints.
1493	Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik published with illustrations by Wolgemut
1493	Leeu, Gerard, d.1493, printer at Gouda, Holland
1494	Brant. Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff published, illustrated with woodcuts, among them the famous Bookfool woodcut by Durer (?)
1494	DAS NARRENSCHIFF by Sebastian Brant, first publication. Within fifteen years the work appeared in one Latin, three French, one Dutch, one Low German and an English version. One reason often cited to explain Brant's far-reaching appeal was that he wrote in short chapters, mixed his *fools* skillfully, and maintained a fluid style that engaged his readers.
1494	Narrenschiff, Ship of Fools, by Sebastian Brant, published by Bergmann von Olpe, Basle, illustrated with 114 woodcuts.
1494	Brant. Sebastian Brant's Narrenschiff published, illustrated with woodcuts, among them the famous Bookfool woodcut by Durer (?)
1494	Narrenschiff, Ship of Fools, by Sebastian Brant, published by Bergmann von Olpe, Basle, illustrated with 114 woodcuts.
1495	Bembo. First Latin book from the Aldus' press was Pietro Bembo's dialog about Aetna (printed in a roman type that became the model for later French types, including Garamond's
1495	Griffo, Francesco, cut 'old face' roman type for Aldus Manutius
1495	Bale, John (1563). Compiler of first bibliography in England
1495	Manutius, Greek Grammar, first book published by Manutius
1495	Lufft, Hans, d.1584, printer-publisher of Wittenberg
1495	Manutius, Edition of Aristotle in five volumes, first complete edition in Greek, printed/published between 1495-1498
1497	Holbein, Hans, d.1543.
1497	Neudörfer, Johann, d. 1563, writing master of Nuremberg, his 'Fundament' was the first writing book to be published (collection of Fraktur scripts).
1498	Durer's Apocalypse series woodcuts
1498	Music Printing using movable type invented by Ottaviano Petrucci of Venice
1499	Printing Press, oldest known reproduction of, in Dance of Death printed in Lyon by M.Huss
1499	Hypnerotomachia Poliphili printed by Manutius
1500	Garamont, Claude, d.1561. Parisian type designer and punchcutter
1501