The Ancient Art Of Parchment Making

Note: The use of parchment apparently dates all the way back to the time of Herodotus (5th cent BC) when books were called "skins" in some parts of Greece. Papyrus was a lot more common, though. According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. rev., "[i]n the production of books parchment played only a minor role compared with papyrus, which remained the dominant writing material throughout Greek and Roman antiquity."