A Conversation for The Birth of the Book: From Roll to Codex
Modern Rolls
Phoenician Trader Started conversation Jul 15, 2008
The English Parliament used rolls for all of its bills until quite recently - the 1850s. Each roll would be passed between the houses and amended and rewritten and eventually, signed off by the Monarch. The big tower of the Houses of Parliament (the Victoria Tower) is actually a huge fireproof vault and contains all of the Acts all the way back to Henry VII.
The logest roll is over a quarter of a mile long.
The switch to Codicies, made somewhat later than the rest of the Christian West, has made the archivists' jobs much easier.
It costs about £15,000 to prepare the Appropriations Bill for her Majesty each year as a codex. This is somewhat cheaper than if it were a roll. The Appropriations Bill allows Her Majesty to tax money from her loyal subjects to pay for schools, kidney machines and wars - it does tend to be quite complicated and long.
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Modern Rolls
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