From Scribe To Author

“The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.” — Susan Sontag

Wilhelm Gunkel

Franciscan Saint Bonaventura (1221 - July 15, 1274) has defined scribe, compilor, commentator and author as given below:

Scribe: a writer who copies the work of others word-for-word. There's no alteration of any word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph.

Compiler: a writer who puts together the work of others without adding anything of his own.

Commentator: a writer who writes the work of others with additions of his own for the purpose of explanation. The text in the principal place has been written by someone else.

Author: a writer who writes both his own work and that of others such that his work is in the principal place while adding the works of others for purposes of confirmation.

In today's world, the name of the author is important. But it wasn't always so. In ancient times, the name or identity of the writer was unimportant. What's important to the ancient people were the opening words of the text with which they'd identify the text. This medieval tradition goes back to the time of the Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets.

The concept of the modern author has emerged only after the introduction of print:

1. Printing,
2. The cheaper costs of paper,
3. Rise of literary fame, and
4. Financial gain, have resulted in the use of the book's title, author, and publisher. This new tradition has made the identity of the author indispensable.

The Medieval people would consider it a meritorious action to copy and circulate another man's manuscript. But today, you can imagine what will happen if somebody has decided to perform that ancient "meritorious action"?