A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages bound together and protected by a cover.
The method (called woodcut when used in art) arrived in Europe in the early 14th century.
It originated in the Han dynasty before 220 AD, used to print textiles and later paper, and was widely used throughout East Asia.
In woodblock printing, a relief image of an entire page is carved into blocks of wood, inked, and used to print copies of that page.
Each sheet typically had a hole through which a string could pass, and with these the sheets were tied together with a string to bind like a book.
The text in palm leaf manuscripts was inscribed with a knife pen on rectangular cut and cured palm leaf sheets; coloring was then applied to the surface and wiped off, leaving the ink in the incised grooves.
In India bound manuscripts made of birch bark or palm leaf had existed since antiquity.
The system was maintained by secular stationers guilds, which produced both religious and non-religious material.
The books were divided into unbound leaves (pecia), which were lent out to different copyists, so the speed of book production was considerably increased.
The rise of universities in the 13th century led to an increased demand for books, and a new system for copying appeared.