CODEX, the name given to the earliest forms of manuscript (q.v.) in book form, i.e., the collection of written pages stitched together which replaced the earlier roll of papyrus and the wax tablets (which when hinged or bound together formed the first codex or caudex) ; also the Latin form of the English word code (q.v.), meaning a body of law or regulations. For examples of famous codices, see the articles BIBLE, PALAEOGRAPHY, and LIBRARIES.