Paper and Printing Recipes / A Handy Volume of Practical Recipes, Concerning the Every-Day Business of Stationers, Printers, Binders, and the Kindred Trades

by John Sawtelle Ford

Qualities of Good Paper.

A good paper ought to feel tight and healthy, not clammy and soft, as if a little muscle were required. Paper-makers say that a good paper has “plenty of guts” in it, a forcible if not extremely polite expression. In buying a good paper always look out for the “guts.” Clay gives paper a soft feel. Perhaps the first qualification about a good writing paper is its cleanliness and freedom from specks of all kinds. A dirty paper is never salable except to dirty people and firms who don’t mind using dirty materials.