The papyrus roll used in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, written on one side only with a reed pen. The text was in columns, the lines of which ran parallel the length of the roll. The final papyrus sheet of the volumen was rolled around a knobbed rod which served as a handle. The rolls were stored in boxes or on shelves, and, in the latter case, had an identifying label of vellum attached to the end of the roll. The label, which was sometimes colored, bore the title of the work. A wooden case (manuale) was sometimes used to protect the edges of the roll. "Volumen" is Latin for "a thing rolled up." -- http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/don/dt/dt3718.html