Since mankind found ways to communicate the written word, whether it be in the form of cave art or on the tans of hides using the colors of our earth's berries, publishing has been a mainstay in the world of communication.
 
Hidden for centuries in a sealed-up cave in north-west China, this copy of the ‘Diamond Sutra’ is the world’s earliest complete survival of a dated printed book. It was made in AD 868. Seven strips of yellow-stained paper were printed from carved wooden blocks and pasted together to form a scroll over 5m long. Though written in Chinese, the text is one of the most important sacred works of the Buddhist faith, which was founded in India.
 
How do we know how old this copy is?

It’s dated in a colophon – a note printed at the end of the scroll. The note reads “Reverently made for universal distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents” followed by the Chinese calendar date for 11 May 868. Wang Jie did not make the book himself, but enabled its making – a pious act by which he would have gained much merit.

Although not the earliest example of a printed book, it is the oldest we have bearing a date. By the time it was made, block-printing had been practiced in the Far East for more than a century. The quality of the illustration at the opening of this ‘Diamond Sutra’ shows the carver of the printing blocks to have been a man of considerable experience and skill.

Is there any true way to know how long ago the first words of mankind were written? And being written were they not given to another to read? It is presumed it had to be otherwise there would never have grown the concept of the word "book".

Though our first writings were elementary in style the writing transgressed into a deeper more profound experience. From writings on a cave wall to the reeds of river grass ironed out to make paper words were going to find their way to flourish. Stories would find lives that outlived our own and writers would become immortal just because their thoughts never passed over to the other side.

What is the significance of dates? Nothing really but to the select few who tend to forget where writing was forged from - where it began and why. The first printing press introduced to the world was by invented by Johannes Gutenberg, a German craftsman and inventor. Gutenberg is best known for the Gutenberg press, an innovative printing press machine that used movable type. And so progress begins....or in mass production as was seen by the men and women of these times. But truth be known, books were being passed around long before this and there was no mainstream publisher handing them out for six pence or a shilling.

It was a form of underground art sought by those who wished to be free to read something other than religious texts. And so began the books published by authors whom grew to be very famous and whom are still read in classrooms today.