paper by quentin fiore

       The manufacture of paper by hand enjoys a long and fascinating history--the unbroken tradition of an esthetic craft and a practical art. The art of papermaking gives us our most basic material for written communication: the silent tongue frequently more eloquent than our speaking tongue. In the papered world in which we live, a world of bank notes, billboards, and belles letters, we tend to forget the tool which first made possible this handsome material: the paper mold--simple and ingenious-- which is the central figure of this article. by Quentin Fiore

"Quentin Fiore, graphic designer, calligrapher, typographer, and paper enthusiast, became interested in the neglected study of handmade paper some years ago. Mr. Fiore regards paper as not merely a surface but an integral part of any graphic presentation. The hand-decorated paste-paper at right was made under his direct supervision. In dedication to the late Harrison Elliott, friend and paper scholar--a modest tribute to his kind encouragement and expert guidance in the study of the "white art."

       Handmade paper is a jewel, sought after by those whose tastes crave something that has been touched by human hands ; something nurtured by tradition and with a personality all its own. Paper as we know it today is far removed from the delicate craft of the papermaker whose traditions stretch back nearly two thousand years and across the world. It took handmade paper a millenium (105 A.D. to 1151 A.D.) to make its remarkable journey from China, through the Middle East and Africa, and then to Europe through Spain, where the Pillars of Hercules were just an invasion away from Moorish Africa.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead on papyrus - a laminated substance made from the inner
 bark of a tall sedge found along the banks of the Nile river. Read more about it.

       But eons before man produced paper, it was being made in the great coal forests of the carboniferous era, when among the lords of the earth were some of the insects of today. Among these was the Hymenopterous of the family of Vespidae, known simply as the "paper wasp." Millions of years ago, this lowly insect, which we have good reason to shy away from, developed the first true paper. We have had to learn to imitate the natural process of this winged papermaker who, without benefit of vats, molds, beaters and all the other appointments of the papermaker's trade, nibbles away at any source of dry wood, masticates it, and then exudes a paste -like substance which serves as a binder for her miraculous product. With this paper, she constructs a form of habitation that is, apart from the material used, a marvel of technology to which architects are returning as a source for creative inspiration.

Above, A letter "O" from the 
Berthold manuscript (German)
written and illuminated on vellum, an
exquisite medieval writing material
from skins of calves.  Also referred
to as a sacramentary (hymnal)

       Many materials were used for the purpose of communication before man learned to imitate this first papermaker. Thoughts, in the form of words and images, were carved upon stone ; scratched into clay tablets ; cut into brass, copper, bronze, lead, and wood; painted upon the walls of caves, leaves, and barks of trees, upon laminated surfaces such as Amatl, Huun, Tapa, and Papyrus, on cloth such as silk, and also upon animal skins‚Äî vellum and parchment. Before speaking of paper, it might not be amiss to clear away two common misconceptions of paper on the part of some. One of the materials used as a writing surface before the development of paper is particularly important because it has mistakenly come down to the present day as the first form of paper. The word for it, familiar to every schoolboy, is "papyrus." The mistaken notion is perhaps due to the etymology of "paper": the Latin word "papyrus," from which our word "paper" derives. Thus papyrus is often confused with paper, or at best, thought of as its earliest form. It is in no sense either of these things, for papyrus was made from the pith of a tall sedge found in great quantities along the banks of the Nile and was used as a writing substance in Egypt and by the neighboring Mediterranean people. The basic difference between paper and papyrus lies in their manufacture: papyrus is a laminated surface of 'strips of the sedge pith while paper is made by macerating fibers to produce an aqueous solution of pulp.
       Another substance which is often confused with paper is so-called "rice paper." Much prized by some as the most typical product of oriental papermakers, this elegant, very white thin substance is not paper at all. In reality, it is the pith of a plant that grows in Formosa, which is cut spirally into strips, and is usually used to make charming artificial flowers. Unfortunately, and inaccurately, the term "rice paper" has come to mean all oriental papers. Although rice is the universal staple of the Orient, it cannot be used to make paper.
       Before the advent of paper, and for several hundreds of years after its appearance in Spain, Europeans derived an exquisite writing surface from the prepared skins of lambs and calves. These skins were made into vellum and parchment and were used by the scribes and illuminators of medieval Europe in place of papyrus, since the papyrus sedge could not be practically raised on the continent. Man's ability to "make do" with the materials available to him accounts for the many differences in paper throughout the world. For instance, the Arabs of Samarkand (751 A.D.), although they had probably come into contact with oriental papermaking through wars, had no mulberry tree from which to form paper; linen rags, plentiful in the land at the time, were therefore used as a substitute pulp material. Apart from various substitutes proposed from time to time, there are, broadly speaking, two basic categories in which hand papermaking materials fall: vegetable fibers in their natural state, and cotton and/or linen rags. Vegetable fibers are used in the Orient, while rags form the basis from which pulp is made in the West.

A Russian birch bark letter (14th century) See also an example
from Native Americans here called, "Wiigwaasabak"

       If there is one man in all history who deserves credit for conceiving the process by which handmade paper is made, he is a Chinese eunuch named Ts'ai Lun, a privy councilor to the Eoyal Court of Ho Ti. An ancient Chinese scholar wrote: "Under the reign of Ho Ti (89-105 A.D.), Ts'ai Lun, of Lei-yang, conceived the idea of making paper from the bark of trees, discarded cloth, and hemp well-prepared; the paper was then in use in the entire universe." Perhaps Ts'ai Lun, denied the pleasurable pursuits that often distract other men, found time to gaze at the paper wasp and wonder why man too could not make paper. But Ts'ai Lun did find time to become involved in a court intrigue as an inventor of slanders against a member of the Imperial family and his end was worthy of the most confirmed stoics of another culture: having given himself up to the minister of Justice, Ts'ai Lun experienced such deep feelings of remorse and shame that he ended his life by bathing and dressing himself in his most elaborate robes and quaffing poison. Ts'ai Lun left behind him a legacy far greater and of far more import than that of many a conqueror. History, full of Tamerlanes and Caesars, records only one Ts'ai Lun. Ts'ai Lun saw, with unusual insight, the possibilities of manufacturing a writing substance from strips of silk which remained after newly mounted scroll manuscripts had been trimmed. Waste of this sort would naturally concern a man with the type of mind with which Ts'ai Lun was endowed. It was clear to him that after beating these silk left-overs until they were reduced to a fibrous pulp, some contrivance was needed upon which this aqueous substance could be poured and, after drying, formed into a writing material of very economical manufacture. What was required was a screen which would retain the matted fibers on its surface and at the same time allow the excess water to drain through. Thus was born the paper mold, and it is to this simple device that this article pays homage.

• the paper mold: simplicity and ingenuity
• paper's journey from china to america
• the love of the craft in japan
• the invention of the hinged mold
• waterpower and wind mills in europe
• new materials sought
• introduction of the rigid wire mold
• the paper mold illustrated
• glossary and bibliography 

More About Paper History:

• The unfolding history of paper