The Alphabet: A Key to The History of Mankind

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The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind by David Diringer is a comprehensive study of the origins and development of the alphabet. The book delves into the history of writing systems, tracing their evolution from pictographic and ideographic scripts to the development of alphabets. The author explores the impact of the alphabet on human culture and society, examining how it has influenced the development of language, literature, and communication. The book provides a detailed analysis of the different types of alphabets that have emerged throughout history, including the Phoenician, Greek, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets. It also examines the role of the alphabet in the spread of religion, particularly the impact of the Bible on the development of the written word. Throughout the book, Diringer provides numerous examples of how the alphabet has been used to record and transmit information, from ancient manuscripts to modern printing presses. He also explores the impact of the digital age on the future of the written word and the role of the alphabet in shaping our understanding of the world. Overall, The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind is a fascinating and informative study of one of the most important inventions in human history. It provides a comprehensive overview of the development of the alphabet and its impact on human culture and society, making it an essential read for anyone interested in the history of writing and communication. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

David Diringer (1900-1975) was a British linguist, palaeographer and writer. He was the author of several well-known books about writing systems. Dr. Diringer was the founder and director of the Alphabet Museum at Cambridge.

THE purpose of this book is to provide an introduction to the fascinating subject of the history of the alphabet. In the First Part I shall try to give a historical sketch of the development of the non-alphabetic scripts, although the present book will deal more particularly with the origins and development of the alphabet, to which the Second Part is dedicated. The main problems of the primitive means of communicating ideas, of the origins and the beginnings of writing, together with a more detailed study of the non-alphabetic scripts and the development of handwriting, must be left to my next book on writing as a whole.

Even so, a book on the development of the alphabet of the narrow dimensions dictated by publishing difficulties can achieve its goal only if the reader is prepared to accept various limitations. For instance, he must not expect to find a complete bibliography: had this been attempted, the space available would have been filled with nothing but the names of authors and titles of books. Those who wish to pursue the study further are referred to the bibliographical works cited in my book L'Alfabeto nella Storia della Civilta, Florence, Barbera, 1937. Specific references have generally been omitted for the sake of brevity and clearness and in the interest of the general reader; but it must not be supposed that the debt of this book to previous scholars is ignored.

It is not possible to deal in detail with all the alphabets of all the modern nations of the world. I shall, instead, devote more space to less-known problems, to those which present more interest from the standpoint of the history of writing, to the origins of some single scripts, to the connection between the various systems, and so forth. Some chapters may, in consequence, seem disproportionate in comparison with others, since unanimity cannot be achieved on matters of treatment; questions which seem most important to one person, may appear unimportant to others. I shall do my best to simplify as far as possible the more intricate problems by presenting my conclusions and by indicating whenever practicable the basic proofs out of which my conclusions grew.

If it is speech that marks man off from the beast, and the great discoveries of the use of tools, the use of fire, taming animals, tilling the ground, working metals are long strides in his progress, the invention of writing and its improvement into a practical system may fairly be taken as the step leading directly to full civilization.

It is true that one or two recent writers have cried down writing as the instrument by which cliques of priests and rulers enslaved the far more useful handworkers. But without writing these authors could not have brought this injustice to our attention, and it is no doubt by writing that they will set it straight.

Be this as it may, the history of writing makes an attractive story; I have felt the attraction ever since as a schoolboy I read Isaac Taylor's Alphabet, and for more than twenty years I have yearly lectured on the subject. It is difficult to exaggerate how much it has grown since his time, many new scripts have been discovered, to several of them the key had to be found, to a few it is still missing. Some ten years ago Dr. Diringer's great Italian work L'Alfabeto nella Storia della Civilta, for me superseded all former sources. Now I welcome the same store of learning duly increased and recast in an English form. The whole matter has a special interest as affording the best opportunity for studying the phenomena of diffusion and of independent invention and of the mixed process which has been called "idea diffusion," the stimulus to invention afforded by the knowledge that a problem has been solved, though its particular solution may not be known, or may not be acceptable. By its very nature writing keeps a record of its own development. Our author proves with a new completeness the astonishing fact that almost certainly every alphabetic writing of any importance derives from one source, and the obscure scripts were devised by men who were aware of the existence of perfected alphabets. This is a fascinating result; it is so rare in life that so sweeping a generalization is tenable.

Though he calls his book The Alphabet, our author deals first with non-alphabetic writings, the great systems of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China and Central America, and the various ideographic odds and ends.

STUDY OF HISTORY OF WRITING

The first and perhaps the most obvious consideration is that the introduction of the art of writing gives permanence to man's knowledge., Without letters, there can be no knowledge of much importance. The evidences for studying the earlier ethical development of ancient civilization are very scanty, and always indirect, until we reach the introduction of writing and the production of written sources. The study of the history of writing should, therefore, be considered as one of the more important, perhaps the most important, of the departments of historical science, and as a clue to the story of human intellectual progress.

No wonder that in the past writing was held in much esteem. The ancient Egyptians attributed the creation of writing either to Thoth, the god who invented nearly all the cultural elements, or to Isis. The Babylonian god of writing, Nebo, Marduk's son, was also the god of man's destiny. An ancient Jewish tradition considered Moses as the inventor of the script. Greek myths attributed writing to Hermes or to other gods. The ancient Chinese, Indians and many other peoples also believed in the divine origin of the script. Writing had always an enormous importance in learning and a magic power over the unlearned people, in such a way that even to-day "illiterate" is almost synonymous with "ignorant."