History.—The art of paper-making is undoubtedly one of the most important industries of the present day. The study of its development from the early bygone ages when men were compelled to find some means for recording important events and transactions is both interesting and instructive, so that a short summary of the known facts relating to the history of paper may well serve as an introduction to an account of the manufacture and use of this indispensable article.

Tradition.—The early races of mankind contented themselves with keeping alive the memory of great achievements by means of tradition. Valiant deeds were further commemorated by the planting of trees, the setting up of heaps of stones, and the erection of clumsy monuments.

Stone Obelisks.—The possibility of obtaining greater accuracy by carving the rude hieroglyphics of men and animals, birds and plants, soon suggested itself as an obvious improvement; and as early as B.C. 4000 the first records which conveyed any meaning to later ages were faithfully inscribed, and for the most part consigned to the care of the priests.

Clay Tablets.—The ordinary transactions of daily life, the writings of literary and scientific men, and all that was worthy of note in the history of such nations as Chaldea and Assyria have come down to us also, inscribed on clay tablets, which were rendered durable by careful baking. On a tablet of clay, one of the earliest specimens of writing in existence, now preserved in the British Museum, is recorded a proposal of marriage, written about B.C. 1530, from one of the Pharaohs, asking for the hand of the daughter of a Babylonian king.

Waxed Boards.—Bone, ivory, plates of metal, lead, gold, and brass, were freely used, and at an early period wooden boards covered with wax were devised by the Romans. In fact, any material having a soft impressionable surface was speedily adopted as a medium for the permanent expression of men's fancy, so that it is not strange to find instances of documents written on such curious substances as animal skins, hides, dried intestines, and leather. The works of Homer, preserved in one of the Egyptian libraries in the days of PtolemÆus Philadelphus, were said to have been written in letters of gold on the skins of serpents.

Leaves, Bark.—The first actual advance in the direction of paper, as commonly understood, was made when the leaves and bark of trees were utilised. The latter especially came speedily into favour, and the extensive use of the inner bark (liber) made rapid headway. Manuscripts and documents written on this liber are to be found in many museums.

Papyrus.—The discovery of the wonderful properties of the Egyptian papyrus was a great step in developing the art of paper-making. The date of this discovery is very uncertain, but one of the earliest references is to be found in the works of Pliny, where mention is made of the writings of Numa, who lived about B.C. 670. This celebrated plant had long been noted for its value in the manufacture of mats, cordage, and wearing apparel, but its fame rests upon its utility in quite a different direction, namely, for conveying to posterity the written records of those early days which have proved a source of unending interest to antiquaries.

The Egyptian papyrus was made from the fine layers of fibrous matter surrounding the parent stem. These layers were removed by means of a sharp tool, spread out on a board, moistened with some gummy water, and then covered with similar layers placed over them crosswise. The sheets so produced were pressed, dried, and polished with a piece of ivory or a smooth stone. Long rolls of papyrus were formed by pasting several sheets together to give what was termed a volumen.

Roman Papyri.—The Romans improved the process of manufacture, and were able to produce a variety of papers, to which they gave different names, such as Charta hieratica (holy paper, used by priests), Charta Fanniana (a superior paper made by Fannius), Charta emporetica (shop or wrapping paper), Charta Saitica (after the city of Sais), etc. The papyrus must have been used in great quantities for this purpose, since recent explorations in Eastern countries have brought to light enormous finds of papyri in a wonderful state of preservation. In 1753, when the ruins of Herculaneum were unearthed, no less than 1,800 rolls were discovered. During the last ten years huge quantities have been brought to England.

Parchment.—Parchment succeeded papyrus as an excellent writing material, being devised as a substitute for the latter by the inhabitants of Pergamus on account of the prohibited exportation of Egyptian papyrus. For many centuries parchment held a foremost place amongst the available materials serving the purpose of paper, and even to-day it is used for important legal documents. This parchment was made from the skins of sheep and goats, which were first steeped in lime pits, and then scraped. By the plentiful use of chalk and pumice stone the colour and surface of the parchment were greatly enhanced. Vellum, prepared in a similar manner from the skins of calves, was also extensively employed as a writing material, and was probably the first material used for binding books. Until comparatively recent times the term “parchment” comprehended vellum, but the latter substance is much superior to that manufactured from sheep and goat skins.

Paper.—The Chinese are now generally credited with the art of making paper of the kind most familiar to us, that is from fibrous material first reduced to the condition of pulp. Materials such as strips of bark, leaves, and papyrus cannot of course be included in a definition like this, which one writer has condensed into the phrase “Paper is an aqueous deposit of vegetable fibre.”

A.D. 105.—The earliest reference to the manufacture of paper is to be found in the Chinese EncyclopÆdia, wherein it is stated that Ts'ai-Lun, a native of Kuei-yang, entered the service of the Emperor Ho-Ti in A.D. 75, and devoting his leisure hours to study, suggested the use of silk and ink as a substitute for the bamboo tablet and stylus. Subsequently he succeeded in making paper from bark, tow, old linen, and fish nets (A.D. 105). He was created marquis in A.D. 114 for his long years of service and his ability.

A.D. 704.—It has been commonly asserted that raw cotton, or cotton wool, was first used by the Arabs at this date for the manufacture of paper, they having learnt the art from certain Chinese prisoners captured at the occupation of Samarkand by the Arabs. The complete conquest of Samarkand does not, however, seem to have taken place until A.D. 751, and there is little doubt that this date should be accepted for the introduction of the art of paper-making among the Arabs.

Recent Researches.—Professors Wiesner and Karabacek have ascertained one or two most important and interesting facts concerning the actual manufacture of pure rag paper. In 1877 a great quantity of ancient manuscripts was found at El-Faijum, in Egypt, comprising about 100,000 documents in ten languages, extending from B.C. 1400 to A.D. 1300, many of which were written on paper. The documents were closely examined in 1894 by these experts, at the request of the owner, the Archduke Rainer of Austria.

Researches of a later date resulted in the discovery of some further interesting documents which appear to establish with some degree of certainty the approximate date at which pure rag paper, that is, paper made entirely from rag, was manufactured.

Chinese documents dated A.D. 768-786, which have been reported upon by Dr. Hoernle, and others dated A.D. 781-782-787, reported upon by Dr. Stein as recently as 1901, appear to show what materials were used by the Chinese paper-makers in Western Turkestan. The manuscripts mentioned were dug out from the sand-buried site of Dandan Uilig, in Eastern Turkestan.

Professor Wiesner found that all the papers of the Rainer collection were made of linen rag, with an occasional trace of cotton, probably added accidentally. The earliest dated paper was a letter A.D. 874, but two documents, which from other reasons could be identified as belonging to A.D. 792, proved that at the end of the eighth century the Arabs understood the art of making linen paper on network moulds, and further that they added starch for the purpose of sizing and loading the paper.

Professor Karabacek advances some ingenious explanations as to the origin of the idea that raw cotton was first used for paper-making, and he suggests that the legend owes its origin to a misunderstanding of terms. In mediÆval times paper was known as Charta bombycina, and sometimes as Charta Damascena, the latter from its place of origin.

Paper was also made in Bambyce, and a natural confusion arose between the terms, since the word bombyx was used as a name for cotton, and the paper commonly in use suggested that material to the mind of the observer, and the name became corrupted to bombycina.

The suggestions of Professor Karabacek, together with the microscopical investigations of Dr. Wiesner, appear to show that paper made entirely from raw cotton fibre was not known.

Invention of Rag Paper.—Dr. Hoernle, in discussing this question, points out that, taking A.D. 751 as the date when the Arabs learnt the art of paper-making, and A.D. 792 as the date when paper made entirely of linen rag was produced, the date of the invention of rag paper must lie between these two dates. The documents discovered in Eastern Turkestan and bearing the dates mentioned, which papers fill up the gap between the years A.D. 751 and A.D. 792, were found to contain certain raw fibres, such as China grass, mulberry, laurel, as the main constituents, and macerated flax and hemp rags as the minor constituents.

The addition and substitution of rag evidently increased in course of time, and since the improvement thus effected soon became an obvious and established fact, the raw fibres were omitted. Hence the credit of the manufacture of pure rag paper would be given to the people of Samarkand, the date being between the years A.D. 760 and A.D. 792; and further the constitution of such paper has been shown by Dr. Wiesner to be linen, and not cotton, as commonly stated.

These researches are of such interest that we quote Professor Hoernle's translation of the summary of the principal results of Dr. Wiesner's examination of the Eastern Turkestani papers so recently discovered:—

“Taking into account the dates assigned to the papers on palÆographic grounds, the following conclusions may be drawn from the examination of their material:—

“(1) The oldest of the Eastern Turkestani papers, dating from the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., are made of a mixture of raw fibres of the bast of various dicotyledonous plants. From these fibres the half-stuff for the paper was made by means of a rude mechanical process.

“(2) Similar papers, made of a mixture of raw fibres, are also found belonging to the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. But in this period there also occur papers which are made of a mixture of rudely pounded rags and of raw fibres extracted by maceration.

“(3) In the same period papers make their appearance in which special methods are used to render them capable of being written on, viz., coating with gypsum and sizing with starch or with a gelatine extracted from lichen.

“(4) In the seventh and eighth centuries both kinds of papers are of equal frequency, those made of the raw fibre of various dicotyledonous plants and those made of a mixture of rags and raw fibres. In this period the method of extracting the raw fibre is found to improve from a rude stamping to maceration; but that of preparing the rags remains a rude stamping, and in the half-stuff thus produced from rags it is easy to distinguish the raw fibre from the crushed and broken fibre of the rags.

“(5) The old Eastern Turkestani (Chinese) paper can be distinguished from the old Arab paper, not only by the raw fibres which accompany the rag fibres, but also by the far-reaching destruction of the latter.

“(6) The previous researches of Professor Karabacek and the author had shown that the invention of rag paper was not made in Europe by Germans or Italians about the turn of the fourteenth century, but that the Arabs knew its preparation as early as the end of the eighth century.

“The present researches now further show that the beginnings of the preparation of rag paper can be traced to the Chinese in the fifth or fourth centuries, or even earlier.

“The Chinese method of preparing rag paper never progressed beyond its initial low stage. It was the Arabs who, having been initiated into the art by the Chinese, improved the method of preparing it, and carried it to that stage of perfection in which it was received from them by the civilised peoples of Europe in the mediÆval ages.

“(7) The author has shown that the process of sizing the paper with starch in order to improve it was already known to the Arabs in the eighth century. In the fourteenth century the knowledge of it was lost, animal glue being substituted in the place of starch, till finally in the nineteenth century, along with the introduction of paper machines, the old process was resuscitated. But the invention of it was due to the Chinese. The oldest Eastern Turkestani paper which is sized with starch belongs to the eighth century.

“(8) The Chinese were not only the inventors of felted paper and the imitators of rag paper—though in the preparation of the latter they made use of rags only as a surrogate by the side of raw fibres—but they must also be credited with being the forerunners of the modern method of preparing ‘cellulose paper.’ For their very ancient practice of extracting the fibre from the bark and other parts of plants by means of maceration is in principle identical with the modern method of extracting ‘cellulose’ by means of certain chemical processes.”

Paper-making in Europe.—The introduction of the art into Europe seems to have taken place early in the eleventh century, when the Moors manufactured paper at Toledo. The early authorities who have studied this subject express the opinion that the paper produced in Europe at this time was made from cotton rags and from raw cotton, but, in view of the recent researches into the composition of paper, it is difficult to say how this idea arose, unless we accept the explanation offered by Professor Karabacek. In standard encyclopÆdias the following statements are made as to existing early documents printed on paper made in Europe:—

One of the most interesting books on this subject is the “Historical Account of the Substances used to describe Events from the Earliest Date,” by Matthias Koops, published in 1800. This writer appears to have obtained most of his information from German authorities.

The industry of paper-making passed through Spain into Italy, France, and the Netherlands. In 1189 paper was being manufactured at Hainault, in France, and the industry rapidly spread all over the Continent. In 1390 Ulman Stromer established a mill at Nuremberg, in Germany, employing a great number of men, who were obliged to take an oath that they would not teach anyone the art of paper-making or make paper on their own account. In the sixteenth century the Dutch endeavoured to protect their industry by making the exportation of moulds for paper-making an offence punishable by death.

The bulk of the paper used in England was imported from France and Holland, and it was many years before the industry was established in England. This is not surprising in view of the protective and conservative policy of the Continental paper-makers.

Paper-making in England.—The actual period at which the manufacture of paper was first started in England is somewhat uncertain. The first mention of any paper-maker is found in Wynkyn de Worde's “De Proprietatibus Rerum,” printed by Caxton in 1495, the reference being as follows:—

And John Tate the younger, joye mote he brok,
Which late hathe in England, doo
Make thys paper thynne,
That now in our Englyssh
Thys booke is prynted inne.

John Tate was the owner of a mill at Stevenage, Hertfordshire. In the household book of Henry VII. an entry for the year 1499 reads, “Geven in rewarde to Tate of the mylne, 6s. 8d.”

In 1588 a paper mill was erected by Sir John Spielman, a German, who obtained a licence from Queen Elizabeth “for the sole gathering for ten years of all rags, etc., necessary for the making of paper.” This paper mill was eulogised by Thomas Churchyard in a long poem of forty-four stanzas, of which we quote two:—

I prayse the man that first did paper make,
The only thing that sets all virtues forth;
It shoes new bookes, and keeps old workes awake,
Much more of price than all the world is worth:
It witnesse bears of friendship, time, and troth,
And is the tromp of vice and virtue both;
Without whose help no hap nor wealth is won,
And by whose ayde great works and deedes are done.
Six hundred men are set to worke by him
That else might starve, or seeke abroad their bread,
Who now live well, and goe full brave and trim,
And who may boast they are with paper fed.
Strange is that foode, yet stranger made the same,
For greater help, I gesse, he cannot give
Than by his help to make poore folk to live.

The industry made but little progress for some time after Spielman's death, and up till 1670 the supplies of paper were obtained almost entirely from France. The first British patent for paper-making was granted to Charles Hildeyard in 1665 for “the way and art of making blue paper used by sugar bakers and others.” The trade received a great impetus on account of the presence of Huguenots who had fled to England from France in consequence of the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685.

In 1695 a company was formed in Scotland for the “manufacture of white and printing paper.”

Improvements in the art were slow until 1760, when Whatman, whose name has since become famous in connection with paper, commenced operations at Maidstone. Meantime the methods by which the rags were converted into paper were exceedingly slow and clumsy, so that the output of finished paper was very small.

Some interesting details as to the early manufacture of paper in England are given by Mr. Rhys Jenkins, and from his account of “Early Attempts at Paper-making in England, 1495-1788,” the following extracts have been made:—

Early Methods.—The most rapid development of the industry appears to have taken place in Holland. The rags used for paper-making were moistened with water and stored up in heaps until they fermented and became hot. By this means the dirt and non-fibrous matter was rendered partially soluble, so that on washing a suitable paper pulp was obtained. The washed rags were then placed in a stamping machine resembling an ordinary pestle and mortar. The mortars were constructed of stone and wood, and the stamps were kept in motion by levers which were raised by projections fixed on the shaft of a waterwheel. The operation of beating thus occupied a long period, but the paper produced was of great strength.

The invention of the “Hollander,” a simple yet ingenious engine which is deservedly known by the name of the country in which it first originated, gave a tremendous impetus to the art of paper-making, as by its means the quantity of material which could be treated in twenty-four hours was greatly increased. Unfortunately the date of the invention of this important machine has not been definitely traced. The earliest mention of it seems to occur in Sturm's “VollstÄndige MÜhlen Baukunst,” published in 1718. It was in extensive use at Saardam in 1697, so that the invention is at least some years previous to 1690.

On this point Koops says: “In Gelderland are a great many mills, but some so small that they are only able to make 400 reams of paper annually, and there are also water mills with stampers, like those in Germany. But in the province of Holland there are windmills, with cutting and grinding engines, which do more in two hours than the others do in twelve. In Saardam 1,000 persons are employed in paper-making.”

The First Fourdrinier Paper Machine.

Up till the year 1799 paper was made entirely in sheets on a hand mould, but during the last few years of the eighteenth century a Frenchman, Nicholas Louis Robert, manager for M. Didot, who owned a paper mill at Essones, had been experimenting for the purpose of making paper in the form of a continuous sheet, and eventually produced some of considerable length.

The idea was taken to England by Didot's brother-in-law, Gamble, and introduced to the notice of Messrs. Fourdrinier, wholesale stationers, of London.

Fig. 4.—The First Paper Machine, A.D. 1802. Plan and Elevation.