Final answer:
The earliest manuscripts were primarily preserved and published by monasteries in Europe, where monks copied out books by hand. Other civilizations like the Chinese and Egyptians also had substantial contributions to manuscript preservation and creation with inventions like the printing press and the use of papyrus scrolls.
Step-by-step explanation:
The earliest manuscripts were preserved and published by a) Monasteries in Europe. Historically, monastic communities were fundamental to the preservation of learning in the post-Roman world. Monks would manually copy books to buttress the work of missionaries and to keep handy the knowledge they thought was essential from the ancient world.
Simultaneously, other ancient civilizations such as the Chinese and Egyptians also contributed to the preservation of manuscripts. The Chinese invented the printing press and the ancient Egyptians used parchments made of the fibers from a reed plant called papyrus. They wrote down their thoughts in stone inscriptions on temple walls and on tomb walls, in addition to making records on papyrus scrolls.
It is important to note that writing developed independently in several parts of the world, including Sumer, where the earliest evidence of sentient writing system, cuneiform script, around possibly 3000 BCE appears.
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