Alva Review-Courier -

“No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks.” – Alice Cooper.

According to an article by Amanda Foreman in the Wall Street Journal, a fragment of the world’s oldest book was recently discovered. It is dated to 260 B.C. and had been recycled for cartonnage, a papier-mâché-like material used in mummy caskets. It was made of papyrus, which comes from a wetland sedge plant.

Ancient writing was usually contained in scrolls, which were difficult to handle. But as literacy increased, a “durable, stackable, skimmable, stitched-leaf book made sense.” The article...