Parchment's a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin. Its most common use's as the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It's distinct from leather in that parchment's limed but not tanned, therefore it's very reactive with changes in relative humidity and isn't waterproof. The finer qualities of parchment are called vellum. History According to the Roman Varro, Pliny's Natural History records (xiii.21) that parchment was invented under the patronage of Eumenes of Pergamum, as… (More on Parchment)