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'Papermaking' is the process of making paper, a material which is ubiquitous today for writing and packaging. Though the word "paper" derives from the Egyptian use of papyrus, true paper, made from pulped fibres, is traditionally ascribed to the Chinese court official Cai Lun, at around 100AD. However, excavated examples of paper from China have been dated to the 2nd century BC. Amate paper was also independently invented by the Mayas no later than the 5th century AD.

Contents

History

Papyrus and parchment

True paper

Significance

Method

Paper sizes

Vatmen Paper

See also

Notes

References

History

Papyrus and parchment

The word ''paper'' derives from its mistaken identity by Greek speaking scholars to the ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was woven from papyrus plants. The Egyptians invented papyrus around 3000 BC. Papyrus is made by crisscrossing thin sections of the papyrus reed, which is ubiquitous in the marshy delta of the Nile river. Papyrus is held together by natural glues within the reed when pressure is applied. The papyrus was smoothened on one side by rubbing it against a flat stone surface with smooth stones. Around 200 B.C. parchment, the split skin of sheep or goat, was developed.^[1]
Unlike tanned leather, the material used by tribes like the Hebrews for their scrolls, Parchment is made from split skins (vellum is whole skins) removed of all hair and stretched over a wooden frame called a hurst. A shortage of papyrus occurred because of the development of the great library of Alexandria, which pushed Attalus of Pergamum (who was building his own rival library) to search for substitute for papyrus.
Early writing materials, such as the Egyptian papyrus was structurally inappropriate for the rapid demands of the press as was Chinese bark of bamboo. parchment, and silk were too expensive. ^[2]

True paper

Papermaking has traditionally been traced to China about 105 AD, when Cai Lun, an official attached to the Imperial court during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), created a sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishnets, old rags, and hemp waste. ^[3] However a recent archaeological discovery has been reported from near Dunhuang of paper with writing on it dating to 8 BC.^[4], while paper used for wrapping and padding was used in China since the 2nd century BC.^[5] Paper used as a writing medium became widespread by the 3rd century,^[6] and by the 6th century sheets of paper in China were beginning to be used for toilet paper as well.^[7] During the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea, while the later Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) was the first government on earth to issue paper-printed money (see banknote).
The technology was first transferred to Korea in 600 and then imported to Japan by a Buddhist priest, Dam Jing (曇徴) from Goguryeo, around 610, where fibres (called ''bast'') from the mulberry tree were used. Printing seems to have been invented in Japan with 1000 prayers being made for temples in 760Ad from stone 'blocks' and the idea went back to China, where the widespread use of paper also enhanced the innovations of printing in with woodblock printing by at least the 9th century (see the ''Diamond Sutra'') and movable type printing first invented by Bi Sheng (990-1051 AD) during the Song Dynasty.
Water was the problem for papermakers in the dry western part of China, and in its slow travel westward reflects the experiments with different raw materials. Western paper was made from old clothes. The secret of papermaking reached Samarkand, in Central Asia, in 751 after papermakers were captured by the Arabs at the Battle of Talas. The method spread through the Arabic empire, and in 793 the first paper was made in Baghdad during the time of Harun. ^[3]
Initially the crusades had opened up the holy lands, and Europe discovered paper, 'charta damascura' for the first time. The secret of paper and silk manufacture was transferred to Damascus, and Italian towns started to get rich importing these goods form the new Christian kingdoms allong the coast. However, ultimately, the Crusades forced the muslim population to retreat in isolation and this disrupted the production, and it was sent to quieter parts of the empire in the east and west.
Persian manufacture was eventually adopted in India. The former rulers of Damascus, the Umayyad dynasty had moved to Spain (Al-Andalus) and production moved to Xavia in the 12th century. With the disaster of the 9th Crusade - the fall of Antioch (1268), Tripoli (1289), and Acre (1291), the last traces of the Christian rule in Syria disappeared - and so did the source of Charta Papyria. So new production of paper moved to Italy in the 13th century from Islamic Spain. They used hemp and linen rags as a source of fiber. Rags from old clothing, etc. were commonly bought by rag collectors and sold to paper makers. The bones were collected to make glue size to seal the paper with
Paper which had been imported in small quantities from Damascus, was now imported to Europe via Islamic Spain. The oldest known paper document in the West is the Mozarab Missal of Silos from the 11th century, probably written in Islamic Spain. The use of paper became increasingly common during the fourteenth century, and is documented as being manufactured in both Italy and Germany by 1400. It then spread rapidly for letters, records, old master prints and popular prints and manuscript books. Prints were initially in woodcut , and from the 1430s in engraving also.
But it was not until printing with movable type was invented, that rag paper became more popular. Parchment was not ideal for printing, being expensive and susceptible to humidity. Paper on the other hand was ideal. But as the demand for books rose, the supply of rags became more and more inadequate and other sources of fiber were actively sought. A great deal of experimentation took place.

A copy of the Gutenberg Bible, in the U.S. Library of Congress

By the invention of movable type printing in Germany about 1450, paper was readily accessible, although still expensive. Vellum remained in use as well, and it was on this that the most expensive copies of the Gutenberg Bible were first printed.
In America, archaeological evidence indicates that paper was invented by the Mayas no later than the 5th century AD.^[9] Called Amate, it was in widespread use among Mesoamerican cultures until the Spanish conquest. In small quantities, traditional Maya papermaking techniques are still practiced today
The Bataks, living in Sumatra, sometimes use as writing material long strips of bamboo, welded by "beating" them together, then folded together, accordion-like, between wooden covers, and bound together with a string of woven rushes. Often long strips of the thin bark of trees -- such books being known as pustakas -- are used. David Diringer. ''The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval, and Oriental'' by David Diringer. Originally published in 1953 as: ''The Hand-Produced Book''. (London: Hutchinson). Reprint. New York: Dover Publications, 1982. ISBN 0486242439 (page 37). Specimens of writing on bark from India are preserved in the British Museum. The people of the Malabar coast also frequently wrote upon bark with a stylus. Ancient books of the Bataks were written in ink on paper made of bark. The Lampong and Rendjang tribes, also inhabiting Sumatra, scratch their message and books on bamboo, tree bark, or certain kind of leaves.

Significance

One of the five major steps in the ancient Chinese papermaking process.

Some historians speculate that paper was the key element in global cultural advancement. According to this theory, Chinese culture was less developed than the West in early ancient times because bamboo, while abundant, was a clumsier writing material than papyrus (although silk was used as a writing medium, yet was often too expensive). Chinese culture advanced during the Han Dynasty and preceding centuries due to the Chinese invention of paper; and Europe advanced during the Renaissance due to the introduction of paper and the printing press.
In the very small quantities needed for popular prints , paper was affordable by the European urban working class and many peasants even in the 1400s, but books remained expensive until the nineteenth century. However even poor families could often afford a few by the 1700s in England, if they so chose.
Paper remained relatively expensive, at least in book-sized quantities, through the centuries, until the advent of steam-driven paper making machines in the 19th century, which could make paper with fibres from wood pulp. Although older machines predated it, the Fourdrinier paper making machine became the basis for most modern papermaking. Together with the invention of the practical fountain pen and the mass produced pencil of the same period, and in conjunction with the advent of the steam driven rotary printing press, wood based paper caused a major transformation of the 19th century economy and society in industrialized countries. With the introduction of cheaper paper, schoolbooks, fiction, non-fiction, and newspapers became gradually available to all the members of an industrial society by 1900. Cheap wood based paper also meant that keeping personal diaries or writing letters became universal. The clerk, or writer, ceased to be a high-status job, and by 1850 had nearly become an office worker or white-collar worker , which transformation can be considered as a part of the industrial revolution.

Method

The art of papermaking. Medieval festival at Monselice.

A rather loose description of how paper is made by hand:

Fibers are floated in a slurry, a thick soup of water and fibers, in a large vat. A wire screen mould with a wooden frame (somewhat similar to an old window screen) is used to scoop some of the slurry out of the vat. The wooden frame is called a "deckle." The impressions in paper caused by the wires in the screen that run sideways are called "laid lines" and the impressions made, unusually from top to bottom, by the wires holding the other wires together are called "chain lines." Watermarks are created by weaving a name into the wires in the mould. This is essentially true of Oriental moulds made of other substances, such as bamboo. Hand-made paper generally folds and tears more evenly along the laid lines.

The wooden frame or deckle leaves the edges of the paper slightly irregular and wavery. This wavy edge is called the "deckle edge" and is one of the indications that the paper was made by hand. Deckle-edged paper is occasionally mechanically imitated today to create the impression of old-fashioned luxury.
Returning to the process: the slurry in the screen mould is artfully sloshed around the mould until it forms an over-all thin coating. The fibers are allowed to settle and the water to run out. When the fibers have stabilized in place but are still damp, they are turned out onto a felt sheet which was generally made of an animal product such as wool or rabbit fur, and the screen mold immediately reused. Layers of paper and felt build up in a pile and a weight is placed on top to press out water and keep the paper fibers flat and tight. When the paper pages are dry, they are frequently run between rollers to produce a harder writing surface. Papers are made of different surfaces depending on their intended purpose. Paper intended for printing or writing with ink is fairly hard, while paper to be used for water color, for instance, is fairly soft.
The wood-based paper was more acidic and more prone to discolor and disintegrate over time, through processes known as slow fires. Documents written on more expensive rag paper were more stable. Both rag and woodpulp paper will develop tan spots called "foxing" caused by impurities or fungi reacting with humidity. The majority of modern book publishers now use acid-free paper. Modern newspapers are commonly printed on cheaper high-acid paper which turns tan and disintegrates rather rapidly, especially in the presence of strong light and humidity.

Paper sizes

A blank sheet of paper

In the beginning of Western papermaking, the paper size was fairly standard. A page of paper is referred to as a "leaf." When a leaf was printed on without being folded, the size was referred to as "folio." It was roughly equal to the size of a newspaper sheet.
When it was folded once, it produced four sides or pages, and the size of the pages or a book made of such pages was referred to as "quarto" (4to).
If the original sheet was folded in half again, the result was eight sides, referred to as "octavo" (8vo), which is the size that most books, such as the average novel, use to this day.
An "octavo" folding produces four leaves, the first two and the second two will be joined at the top by the second fold. The top edge is usually "trimmed" to make it possible to look freely at each side of the leaf. However, many books are found that have not been trimmed on the top, and these pages are referred to as "unopened." Many people reading "unopened" books will use their finger, a pencil, or some other inadequate instrument to rip open the top of the pages, leaving an irregular tear. A letter opener or a knife carefully used is a more appropriate tool.
An octavo book produces a printing puzzle. Pieces of paper are printed when they are folio size. To provide for the proper alignment of numbered pages, pages 8 and 1 are printed right-side-up on the bottom of the sheet, and pages 4 and 5 are printed up-side-down on the top of the same sheet. On the opposite side, pages 2 and 7 are printed right-side-up on the bottom of the sheet, and pages 6 and 3 are printed up-side-down on the top of the sheet. When the paper is folded twice and the folds trimmed, the pages fall into proper order.
Try folding a paper in half by turning the top half down and creasing it, and then fold it in half again by turning the left side over the right. You have the format for an octavo page arrangement. If you number the pages in order and then open the paper to full size, you will see the numbers as described above.
Smaller books are produced by folding the leaves again to produce 16 pages, known as a "sixteen-mo" (16mo). Other folding arrangements produce yet smaller books such as the thirty-two-mo (32mo).
When a standard-sized octavo book is produced by a large leaf folded two times, two leaves joined at the top will be contained in the resulting fold (which ends up in the gulley between the pages). This group of 8 numberable pages is called a "signature" or a "gathering." Traditionally, printed signatures were stacked on top of each other in a "sewing frame" and each signature was sewn through the inner fold to the signature on top of it. The sewing ran around leather bands or fabric tapes along the backs of the signatures to stabilize the growing pile of signatures.
The leather bands originally used in the West to stabilize the backs of sewn books appear as a number of ridges under the leather on the spine of leather books.
The ends of the leather strips or fabric bands were sewn or glued onto the cover boards and reinforced the hinging of the book in its covers.

Vatmen Paper

''Vatmen Paper'' was a type of paper made in The Netherlands that was 17 inches wide and 44 inches long. 44 inches is chosen because that is how far the papermaker could stretch his arm.{cite} The reason for 17 inches is unknown.

See also

★ Bookbinding

★ Kraft process

★ Paper

★ Printing

★ Movable type

★ Woodblock printing

Notes

1. ''Handbook of Pulping and Papermaking'', Second Edition (Hardcover) by Christopher J. Biermann (Author). Page number 1. Hardcover: 754 pages. Publisher: Academic Press; 2 edition (July 22, 1996)
2. ''Paper & Paper Making Ancient and Modern''. By Richard J. Herring, George Croly. Page XII. Published 1863. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green. 134 pages. Digitized May 3, 2006. Google Book Search, New York Public Library copy. page xii
3. papermaking. (2007). In: ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved April 9, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online
4. World Archaeological Congress eNewsletter 11 August 2006 [1]
5. Needham, Volume 5, 122.
6. Needham, Volume 5, 1.
7. Needham, Volume 5, 123.
8. papermaking. (2007). In: ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved April 9, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online
9. The Construction of the Codex In Classic- and Postclassic-Period Maya Civilization Maya Codex and Paper Making

References

★ Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.

★ Cropper, Mark (2004). ''The Leaves We Write On''. London: Ellergreen Press