History

     Paper, from the latin papyrus, appeared in China in the 2^nd century A.D. In 105 the director of the imperial workshops, Ts'ai Louen, presented to the Emperor a paste composed of mulberry bark, hamp, rags or old fishing-nets which, once dryed, could be written on.
      In the VIII^th century, Arabs victorious over the Chinese at Samarcande, brought it to the western world. Between Valence, first paper mill in Europe, and the mill of Richard de Bas in Ambert (Auvergne) created in 1326, nowadays museum of paper, three centuries elapsed.
      The invention of printing in the XV^th century finalised the adoption of this new medium.

Paper Making

      Paper pulp is obtained by beating pre-washed fibres (hamp, cotton, flax…) in water with wooden hammers moved by cams, themselves driven by a wheel bathing in the current of a river.
     The pulp thus obtained is washed and spread on to wire mesh belts called moulds which allow water to drain away. When these moulds are set with metalic mesh (vertical laid lines, horizontal wire lines) we obtain laid paper. Before the invention of printing, writers used supports made from goat, sheep or calf skins which explains the word vellum. In the XVIII^th century, some paper-makers wanted to recreate this smooth and plain texture. To achieve this, a very thin wire mesh is put in the bottom of the mould, thus avoiding the weft, the laid lines and the wire lines. It is the so called vellum paper.
      Besides, the greatest paper-makers sign their products with a watermark. It can be a seal or a mark made of metalic mesh placed in the mould thus leaving a print in the thickness of the paper.
      Each sheet of paper is then removed from the mould and put between two felt cloths. Ninety-nine sheets of paper and a hundred felt cloths (this is called a "porse" in French) are put under press together to eliminate the water.


     Then the leaves are taken out to dry on large trebles.

What is used in bibliophily

      The various paper sizes are determined by the sizes of the numerous existing moulds :

• colombier: 69x80cm
• royal size: 50x65 cm
• super royal size: 56x76 cm
• post demy : 44x56 cm
• crown size : 37x48 cm

     The different sizes of books are given by the size of the sheet of paper used and the way it is folded : in-folio says a sheet is folded in two, thus giving a 2 leaves and 4 pages signature, in-quarto gives a 4 leaves and 8 pages signature (folding in 4), in-octavo gives an 8 leaves and 16 pages signature (folding in 8).
      The dimensions of a book are then given by mentioning the size of the paper and its folding, for example in-quarto royal size or in-octavo super royal.
     All rag papers used in bibliophily get their names either from their inventors like Van-Gelder, Panckoucke for the paper from Holland, or from the place where they are made like Vélin de Rives in Isère or Vélins d'Arches in the Vosges. Let us also mention the Auvergne made in the traditional paper mills, the pearly Japanese vellum, the imperial Japanese vellum made from mulberry and the China paper made from bamboo. Those three last papers being very expensive, they are reserved for the " Editions de tête " of bibliophily.
      Besides its aesthetic qualities, the all rag paper has the solidity and the homegeneity needed in bibliophily. It can be moistened in order to get the ink in the carvings of an engraved plate under about a ton. On the other hand it can resist the pressing of typography and finally its stability in time is really superior to wood pulp industrial papers.