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We may observe in passing, that the word Buchstaben, beech-staves, is a direct descendant of these wooden runes. As early as 1695 antiquaries were busy with the Ruthwell Cross, but at the beginning of the nineteenth century profound ignorance still reigned in regard even to the language which the runes were intended to convey.
Leaves of palm or mallow led up to the first forms of papyrus used hence, perhaps, the word leaf of a book. Bark was next pressed into the service of literature and, it has often been suggested, possibly gave rise to the word book, although it seems more likely that book was of runic origin and derived from the beech-staves Buch-staben, on which the runes were expressed.
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