The development of the book was guided by one easy thing-- how many people could check out them.

As expected, basically every little thing has transformed a lot in the last 2,000 years. Without all the bells and whistles it basically boils down to the reality that we have actually discovered more, each generation passing down their knowledge to the one that follows it. Without books, that wouldn't have been feasible, and some of the best books of all time that line the racks of the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones' stores are wellsprings of understanding that just the most found out would have had access to throughout the huge majority of human history. We are in an extremely fortunate position; not just because we can stride into a bookshop and pick up many books filled with interesting insights into the operations of the universe, however since a lot of people can read at all.

It most likely goes without stating, but all throughout history the position and function of the book within society has been inextricably related to the rates of literacy. In the ancient world, it's believed that just around a quarter of people could read, so texts, taking the shape of scrolls, were developed to be read aloud. However, after the fall of Rome that number dropped and it was entrusted to monks, the few that could read in Western society, to secure the classic books of antiquity. As uncommon and valued objects, they were opulently decorated with carved ivory embedded with gold, silver, and gems. Monks would invest their lives painstakingly copying out the great works of the ancient world by hand, so the covers themselves would not have been considered as almost as crucial nor as important as the work within.

Immediately after the renaissance, rates of literacy slowly increased to incorporate the upper classes. Printing likewise made books much more easily offered; they were no longer in danger of becoming extinct and could be easily distributed. Nevertheless, it was not up until the Victorian period that literacy rates exploded to even come close to what they are at present, going from under half the population at the beginning of the nineteenth century to over 90% by its end. This surge in reading and writing remained in part helped with by the birth of the publishing market as the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books and the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books understand it today. Alongside conventional novels, cheap paperbacks were specifically promoted to the lower classes for the very first time in history. Currently, the huge bulk of nations have rates of literacy well over 99%, but there are still places where as little as a third can read.