Making books in Low-Tech & LT:Companions 1 & 3

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Jussi Kenkkilä

Printing at TL4 the materials (paper) cost $750 and labor (movable type) $1210, totaling at $1960 (56%).

I'm not going to go through each example, but I should note here that a handscrew press can manage an entire basic library (25,000 pages) in a single man-month. As a skilled scribe makes $800/month, you're looking at a of $1550. Presumably, the other $2k or so is going into binding, upkeep, organization, and so forth.

Originally Posted by Jussi Kenkkilä

Hand-copying at TL3 the materials (paper) cost $6000 and labor (cursive at 4000 words/day) $96 250, totaling at $102 250 (292% of $35k).

As I noted upthread, a scribe is probably producing at a faster rate than this by taking a penalty. A document that is 74% to 91% (depending on tool quality) perfectly legible, with the remainder being a slightly-harder-to-decipher scrawl, is likely acceptable compared to one that's 98% perfectly legible but takes over twice as long. The former seems appropriate for a typical library, the latter would be more likely found in a higher-quality one.

Additionally, note that the prices given in LTC3 are explicitly for TL4, not TL3. I already showed how the prices can work out at TL4. If you're wanting to match the assumptions from LTC3, you'll want to start with that.

Originally Posted by Jussi Kenkkilä

Hand-copying at TL3 the materials (parchment) cost $60 000 and labor (calligraphy at 1250 words/day) $308 000, totaling at $368 000 (1051% of $35k).

Well, yeah, a piece of art is going to be a lot more expensive than a utilitarian book. GURPS prices for swords are horribly off if you're assuming they have gilded blades and gem-studded hilts as well.

...

All in all, keep in mind that the LTC3 prices and weights are explicitly noted as rough averages, not absolute numbers. If you'd prefer to go with different values, feel free to do so.