CHAPTER I.
Introduction—Language—Origin of the Art of Writing—Various modes of recording events which preceded it—Materials upon which Men first Wrote—Stones, Bricks, Metals, Skins and Intestines of Animals, Tablets, Leaves, Bark, etc., etc.—The Egyptian Papyrus, from which Paper (so called) was first made—Process of Manufacture—Usual dimensions and extreme durability of Papyri—Modern Paper—Its general advantages to mankind—Supposed period of its Invention—The Introduction of Paper-making into Europe—Historical incidents connected therewith—James Whatman—The superiority of his manufacture—Adoption of the Fourdrinier-Machine—General advantages of Machinery over the Original Process, etc., etc.
Amongst the numerous and diversified objects of human investigation and research, it would, perhaps, be difficult to single out one, more curious and interesting, than that of the medium which bears the symbols of language; which retains the register of circumstances and events of past ages, and which hands down to us the transactions of primeval time, with its intervening periods.
Undoubtedly the noblest acquisition of mankind, perhaps the greatest advantage which we possess, is that of the faculty of speech. Without speech, man, in the midst of crowds, would be solitary. The endearments of friendship, and the communications of wisdom, alike would become unavailing; man, in fact, without speech, could hardly be accounted a rational being.
That the use of speech or language was given to Adam immediately upon his formation, we have no reason to doubt; for from the testimony of Moses it appears, that he not only gave names to every living creature, “to every beast of the field, and to every fowl of the air,” as they were brought to him, but that also as soon as Eve was made he could say—“This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh,” the first sentence which is recorded of his uttering, and which is sufficient to show, that even then, he possessed a competent stock of words to declare the ideas or conceptions of his mind.
Thus was man at once rendered as superior to the brute creation, as in after times by the aid of writing, or the art of drawing those ideas into vision, he was especially distinguished from the condition of uncivilized savages. For of all the arts that contribute to the comfort and happiness of mankind, no one, perhaps, is more intimately connected with our social habits, or more closely entwined with the best and purest feelings of our nature, than that of writing. And yet to conceive or to account for the origin of an art so invaluable in its tendency to elevate and improve mankind, as that of exhibiting to sight the various conceptions of the mind, which have no corporeal forms, by means of hieroglyphics or legible characters, is still as difficult and perplexing, as in past ages it has ever proved to the sagacity of mankind. With the poet of old we have yet to enquire—
“Whence did the wondrous mystic art arise,
Of painting speech, and speaking to the eyes?
That we by tracing magic lines are taught
How to embody, and to colour thought.”
Notwithstanding the great and manifold blessings which men have received from this curious and wonderful invention, it is very remarkable, as a distinguished writer observes, that writing, which gives a sort of immortality to all other things, should, by the disposal of Divine Providence, be without any trace of the memory of its first founders. Indeed, the invention of letters and their various combinations in forming words, amounting, it is computed, to 620,448,401,733,239,439,360,000, without repeating any combination capable of being made from so small a number of letters as that now comprising our alphabet, has something so extremely ingenious and surprising in its application, that most men who have treated the subject, can hardly forbear attributing it to a divine original.
Many have conceived that the theatre of this important legacy to man was Mount Sinai. But it is observable, that previously to the arrival of the Israelites at Mount Sinai, Scripture makes mention of writing as an art already understood by Moses: “And the Lord said unto Moses, write this for a memorial.” (Exodus, 17th ch. 14th v.) Now, Moses seems to have expressed no difficulty of comprehension when he received this command, nor does anything appear to induce the slightest doubt; on the contrary, I think we may safely conclude that Moses was even then well acquainted with the art of writing, or otherwise he would have been instructed by God, as in the case of Noah, when he was required to build the Ark. And further, we find that Moses wrote all the words, and all the judgments of the Lord, contained in the twenty-first and two following chapters of the Book of Exodus, before the two written tables of stone were even so much as promised. The delivery of the tables is not mentioned till the 18th verse of the 31st chapter, after God had made an end of communing with him upon the mount. Nevertheless, I am not prepared to dispute the probability of a divine origin to so wonderful a medium, any more than I am disposed to question the possibility of its resulting merely from what Aristotle terms the Faculty of Imitation; for which, says he, men are so remarkable, even in an uncivilized state. I pass by all questions of the kind, satisfied for the present with the simple fact, that such medium does exist; that through it we become, as it were, introduced to the multitudinous throng of a world’s tenantry, while we thus learn their words, works, and ways, their History, Literature, and Arts, their Science, and Theology; and while even the mummy, recovered from the subterranean recesses of the Egyptian pyramids, may still be said to talk with us, by virtue of the roll of papyrus and its pictured inscription which he holds in his hand;
Writing’s art, which like a sovereign queen,
Amongst her subject sciences is seen;
As she in dignity the rest transcends,
So far her power of good, and harm extends.
In the earliest ages of mankind, very simple means were necessarily adopted, to preserve the remembrance of any important event. During many centuries, tradition, perhaps solely, served to represent that, which in recent times has been more completely effected by the introduction of printing.
At other periods we find trees were planted, heaps of stones, altars or pillars, as we read in sacred history, were erected; and even games and festivals ordered, to keep up the recollection of important facts. Since, however, the art of writing was invented (be the period when it may), various materials have from time to time been made use of, for the purpose of transmitting to posterity the discoveries and deeds of their ancestors. Thus, for instance, the most ancient remains of writing which have been handed down to us, are upon hard substances, such as bricks, stones, and metals, which were used by the ancients for all matters of public notoriety; abundant proofs of which we have in the recent discoveries of Mr. Layard. And Josephus, in the third chapter of the first book of Jewish Antiquities, tells us: that, “the descendants of Seth, leading a happy and quiet life, found out by study and observation the motions and distribution, or order, of the heavenly bodies; and, that their discoveries might not be lost to men (knowing that the destruction of the world had been foretold by Adam, which should be once by fire, and once by water,) they made two pillars—one of brick, and the other of stone, and wrote or engraved their discoveries thereon; so that if the rains should destroy that of brick, the other of stone might continue to show mankind their observations.”
In the sacred text we are further informed, that great stones were directed to be set up by the children of Israel, after the passage of the Jordan, and being “plastered with plaster,”—which appears to have been a very common practice—“thereon were to be written all the words of the law very plainly.” In the book of Job, which some suppose to have been written by Moses, we have an obscure intimation of the method employed in registering upon the rock, “graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever.” But, although there is apparently a want of clearness in our translation of the passage, by no means does it affect the idea of Job’s desire to give the greatest possible permanence to the words he then uttered. He exclaims, “Oh that my words were now written,” or, (though probably not an exact translation,) “Oh that they were printed in a book;” and more (he adds) “that they were even graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever;” which latter clause some take to be in reference to the leaden tablets which are found to have been in very early use. But I rather favour the interpretation, for which I am indebted, to my much esteemed friend the Rev. Dr. Croly; that as a still more indelible and effectual mode of perpetuating his thoughts, it was Job’s conception that his words should be graven in the rock with an iron pen, or tool, and the interstices afterwards filled with lead, in order that the contrast occasioned thereby might render them the more readily intelligible to those who happened to travel that way.
Herodotus also mentions a letter engraven on plates of stone, which Themistocles, the Athenian general, sent to the Ionians, about five hundred years before the birth of Christ. Lead, however, and similar metals being less difficult to write upon, and more simple and convenient, afterwards superseded to a great extent the use of such unwieldy substances as bricks and stone. And subsequently we find others of a still more pliable texture employed, such as the skins of animals, bark, wood, and the leaves of trees. Solomon, for instance, in the Book of Proverbs, in allusion to the practice of writing upon thin slices of wood, advises his son to write his precepts upon the tables of his heart. And the prophet Habakkuk was commanded to write a vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. Solomon, as you are aware, lived a thousand years, and Habakkuk about six hundred and twenty six, before the Christian era. At a later period, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, when enquired of as to what he would have his child called, asked, we are told, for “a writing table, and wrote, saying, his name is John.” Amongst the Romans, it was customary for the public affairs of every year to be committed to writing by the high priest, and published on a table; such tables being exposed to view, either in their market-places or temples, in order that the people might have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with their contents.
At an early period in their history, both Greeks and Romans appear to have commonly used either those plain wooden boards, or boards covered with wax. It is probable, that at first the tables were written upon just as they were planed, and that the overlaying them with wax was an improvement on that invention. A very decided advantage being thus obtained, in the facility afforded for erasing any inaccuracies that might have occurred, and consequently of correcting the manuscript. The practice of writing upon tablets of one kind or another, appears not to have been entirely laid aside, until the commencement of the fourteenth century; and, indeed, even in our day, tablet books of ivory are occasionally used, for writing upon with black lead pencils.
The use of boards was in some measure superseded by that of the leaves of palm, olive, poplar, and other trees. And, although in Europe, all these disappeared upon the introduction of the papyrus and parchments, in some countries the use of them remains even to this day. Perhaps a record of this old custom may still be found in the word leaf, which we continue to apply to sheets of paper, when sewed up into the form of a book. According to the account of Pliny, the Egyptians were the first to use the palm leaf, and books written on it are still preserved in the East India Museum, as also in the Library of the British Museum.
The mode of preparation, after cutting into strips of the length and width required, is simply to soak them for a short time in boiling water, after which they are rubbed backwards and forwards over a smooth piece of wood to make them pliable, and then carefully dried. The letters or characters being written or rather engraved thereon with an iron style, which, piercing the outside covering, makes indelible letters; and by afterwards rubbing the writing over with some dark coloured substance, such as soot or charcoal, the parts etched or scratched, have greater relief imparted to them: and the writing is more easily read.
Notwithstanding many paper mills have been erected in India, the natives, I understand, frequently prefer this method, not only for the ordinary purposes of correspondence and accounts, but even in some quarters for government documents of importance.
I must here express my sense of the kind assistance which has on several occasions been afforded me by the Rev. Benjamin Bailey, late of Cottyam, Allepie, Madras, who has not only given to the world a translation in Malayalim of the entire Bible, but has also compiled two voluminous dictionaries, for rendering assistance in the study of that language. This gentleman has recently afforded me an opportunity of inspecting many great curiosities of the kind: indeed, before me is now lying a very neat little specimen written in Malayalim by him (St. Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy), which shows, in a remarkable degree, the astonishing distinctness which may be produced by this singular mode of writing.
The style with which the letters are engraven upon the leaf is usually worn in the girdle as a prominent ornament of dress. The case which protects it containing also a small knife, employed in preparing the slips, and likewise a little instrument which is used for piercing the leaves, in order that cords may be passed through them for the purpose of securing the manuscript, as may be seen in the instance of various documents both in the East India Company’s Museum, and also in the Library of the British Museum.
A work which I possess, termed the Kammavakyam, written in the Pali language, in Burmese character, upon palm leaf, is thus secured between very handsome covers. It is a Catechism of Sacred Rites, used by the Buddhist priesthood in the examination of a candidate for admission to that order. A translation of it here, however, would be no more consistent in point of matter contained, than it would be in reference to the subject I am treating. Its character and language throughout are truly humiliating to human nature.
In the British Museum there are many very singular documents of the kind, one in particular, which is written upon 390 leaves, bound, as it were, in a frame of gilt copper in the form of a tortoise, screws being passed through the strips instead of cords, the fastenings, with some addition, representing the limbs of the animal. And in the East India Museum may be seen a smaller one, protected by stout wooden covers, which has been carved to represent some animal, apparently a pig. The custom of writing upon leaves of trees, appears to have given rise to the adoption also of the interior bark; the outer being seldom made use of, in consequence of its extreme coarseness. When employed, it is customarily folded over, to admit of its being written upon both sides. The only documents of this kind, which have come under my notice, have been Batta manuscripts, from the island of Sumatra.
Before the art of making paper was known to the Chinese, they appear to have cut pieces of silk to such sizes as they wished to make their books, and thereupon painted the letters with pencils; the silk being first steeped in a kind of size, to prevent the colour from running. But such material being liable to decay, various animal substances were afterwards employed, as being of a more durable nature. Of course the skins were principally used, after being tanned; but their bones, and even entrails, were also made use of for the like purpose. Thus, in the “History of Mahomet,” we read that the Arabians used the shoulder bones of sheep, on which they carved remarkable events with a knife, when, after tying them with a string, they hung those chronicles up in their cabinets. And in the library of Ptolemy Philadelphus, which is said to have contained 700,000 volumes, were the works of Homer, written in golden letters, on the skins of serpents. I might mention, that the term volume here, should not be understood in the sense which it is now customary to receive it, but in its derivation from the Latin; signifying simply a roll, which was the most ancient form of book.
Parchment, or the skins of beasts, dressed and prepared in a manner rendering them fit for writing upon, appears to have been employed at a very early period. Diodorus Siculus informs us, that the Persians of old wrote all their records on skins; and Herodotus also alludes to sheep skins, and goat skins, as in general use among the Ionians about 440 years before the Christian Era. The word Parchment is a corruption of the Latin Pergamena, from Pergamus, which some allege to have been the place of its invention. But it is very probable that in the time of Eumenes, who was king of Pergamus, (about 200 years before Christ,) the circumstance of increased consumption merely occasioned the discovery of a better method of dressing the skins; from which fact alone, and perhaps with sufficient reason, the origin of the present term was derived. Eumenes, about that period, appears to have endeavoured to form a library at Pergamus, which should surpass that of Ptolemy Philadelphus at Alexandria, and in so doing enraged Ptolemy to that degree, that he immediately prohibited any further exportation from Egypt, of the papyrus which by that time was coming into very general use, and thus effectually put a stop to Eumenes’ emulation in that particular. It may be, however, that this prohibition was not solely occasioned by jealousy, but by Ptolemy’s fearing that his dominions, which were so much improved in arts, sciences, and civilization, since the discovery and adoption of the papyrus, (of which we shall presently speak), would be again reduced to a state of ignorance for want of it; the plant sometimes failing in unfavourable weather, while the supply invariably proved unequal to the demand. The people of Pergamus, therefore, were obliged to devise other means, and the improved manufacture of parchment would seem to have been the result. But, that Eumenes on this occasion invented the art of making parchment is exceedingly dubious; for in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other parts of Scripture, we find mention made of rolls of writing: in all probability rolls of parchment.
The manner of reading such rolls may be gathered from a passage extracted from Hartley’s “Travels in Greece,” which serves also to elucidate the peculiar scriptural expression of their being “written within and without.” You began, (says he) to read by unfolding, and you continued to read and to unfold, till, at last, you arrived at the stick to which the roll was attached; then you turned the parchment round, and continued to read on the other side of the roll, folding it gradually up until you completed the writing, thus were they “written within and without.”
Papyrus, from which the term paper was derived, is the name of a celebrated plant, once extensively used by the Egyptians for making various articles of utility, such as baskets, shoes, cordage, and the like. Some writers state that of this plant the little ark was made, in which the parents of Moses exposed him upon the banks of the Nile, and of this it was that the most ancient paper was manufactured. Not as would now be customary, by first reducing it to a pulp, nor, indeed, in any way as resembling modern paper, except that in both, vegetable fibre is the basis. That a plant once so useful, and for ages in Egypt so commercially valuable, should have totally disappeared, being altogether unknown to modern botanists, appears scarcely credible; yet so it is. For the ancient descriptions of the papyrus, as a flag or bulrush, with a triangular stem that could barely be spanned, and which grew to the height of ten feet, or even considerably more, in the immense marshes occupying a large part of the surface of lower Egypt; a leafless wood, as it were, or as one writer describes it, a forest without branches, the bare stem being surmounted only by a head of long, thin, straight fibres, is certainly quite irreconcilable with the nature of the plant which now bears that name, and of which one of the stoutest growth has been very kindly furnished me by Sir W. J. Hooker, from the Royal Gardens at Kew.
In the prophecy of Isaiah a very remarkable prediction occurs with reference to this plant. “The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.” Doubtless, we may believe that this prophecy has literally received its fulfilment.
With reference to the mode in which the paper was manufactured from this plant, two distinct opinions have been handed down to us. One, that the epidermis being removed, the spongy part was cut into thin slices, which were steeped in the waters of the Nile, or in water slightly imbued with gum; after which two layers were placed one above another, carefully arranged in contrary directions, that is, lengthwise and breadthwise, which, after being dried, were finally smoothed and brought to a fit surface for receiving writing, by being rubbed with a tooth or piece of polished ivory.
Another method said to have been adopted in preparing this material, was simply that of separating the thin concentric coats, or pellicles of the plant which surrounded the stock, by means of a needle or pointed shell (on an average about twenty from each stalk), and afterwards extending them longitudinally side by side on a table, a similar layer being placed across them at right angles; in which state they were moistened with water, and while wet put under pressure, being afterwards exposed to the rays of the sun, and finally polished as in the former case, with some hard substance, such as a tooth or shell, not merely for the purpose of improving the surface, but to prevent its absorbing the ink. The saccharine matter with which the whole juice of the plant is said to have been impregnated, being usually sufficient to cause the adhesion of the strips together.
So great was the importance of this manufacture at some periods, that Gibbon informs us of one Firmus, who raised the standard of revolt in Egypt against the Emperor Aurelian; that he boasted he would maintain an army solely from the profits of his paper trade. At another time, in the reign of Tiberius, there happened such a scarcity of paper, from causes that are not mentioned, that the Senate, in order to prevent a riot, were obliged to appoint commissioners to distribute paper to the applicants according to their respective demands.
Papyri vary much more in length than in breadth, and upon this fact I would dwell, as decidedly favouring the conception that the outer coat merely was employed in preparing the writing material. Indeed, in every specimen which I have examined, I have found the slips of which it is composed rarely exceeding twelve or fifteen inches even lengthwise. Whereas, if they had been produced from the pithy part of the stem, after being cut into slices, there would have been no difficulty whatever in manufacturing the paper of the entire length, which, as I have already stated, sometimes exceeded ten feet.
The breadth of papyri seldom exceeds eighteen inches, sometimes they are not more than four inches in width, which I imagine to have been determined by the length of the outer coats or pellicles taken from the plant; the length, of course, being carried to any extent, simply by fastening one sheet to another. The largest specimen of which I have heard is one at Paris, measuring thirty feet in length. The most interesting which we possess in this country is one which may be seen in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum, which appears to have been written in Latin in the year 572, upon a roll of papyrus, eight feet and a half long, and twelve inches wide. It is a deed relating to the sale of a house and land at Ravenna.
Though papyri found on mummies are often in a good state of preservation, it is necessary to be very careful in handling them. The roll, owing to its being pressed under the swathings of the mummy, being completely flattened, and from the unvarying high temperature of the tomb to which it has for so long a time been subjected, is frequently so dry and brittle, that if any attempt be made to unroll it without previous precaution, small pieces will continually fall off. Still, the durability of this writing material is one of its best qualities. It can, in some instances, be rolled and unrolled after the lapse of many centuries without any detriment to it; but the complete preservation of such specimens is generally to be attributed to their being kept from the air either in wooden or earthen vessels, frequently in the interior of the Idol to which the mummy was once wont to present his offering, which is usually of some grotesque, or even hideous form, altogether unworthy of mention as representing any created thing, either upon the face of the earth, or in the waters beneath. Not long since I was shown one, containing a roll of papyrus, which had been roughly carved out of wood, somewhat resembling an overgrown cat in a sitting posture. And this so called god, as appears to have been customarily the case, was taken from the tomb, where it stood over the mummy, with two very beautiful vases, which at one time contained fragrant oils, believed to be acceptable to the Idol, placed in front. The papyri thus curiously preserved, usually contain an account of the rank or station which the dead once filled, and occasionally some description of the particular rites and ceremonies observed with reference to the worship.
With respect to the period at which the ancients began to make a writing substance of the papyrus, or, indeed, of the name of the originator, nothing decisive is known. It would, however, appear from the prophecy in Isaiah, which has been already referred to, in which mention is made of paper reeds by the brooks, that paper made of such reeds was actually in use when that prophecy was written. And in accordance with this conception, the learned Dr. Gill, in his commentary says, “On the banks of the Nile grew a reed, or rush, called by the Greeks papyrus, or byblus, from whence come the words paper and bible, or book, of which paper was anciently made, even as early as the time of Isaiah,” now nearly 3000 years ago.
The kind of pen ordinarily used for writing upon this material was simply a reed, cut and split just as our quill pens at present are, but with a point not quite so sharp.
I have in my possession some very fine specimens of what is usually called Bark Cloth, which, in its manufacture, approximates more nearly to that of modern paper than any other substance with which I am acquainted. It is formed from the bark of a small tree, or shrub, called the Paper Mulberry (morus papyrifera), which grows wild in the southern provinces of China, in Ava, in the Burmese country, and in India, as well as in all the Asiatic and Polynesian islands from Japan to Otaheite. If a strip of this bark, which is remarkable for the fineness of its texture, after being soaked in water, be laid on a smooth stone, and then carefully beaten with a bat or mallet, the surface of which is cut into fine ribs, the fibres will become separated more or less from one another, and if the beating be carefully conducted, the bark will ultimately assume the appearance of a web of fine linen, two pieces of bark being made to incorporate with one another simply by laying them so as to overlap a little, and then beating again. In this simple way the material is formed; and by a short exposure to the sunshine when wet, becomes perfectly white. To render it fit for writing, it is afterwards polished in a manner similar to the papyrus, by rubbing it with a shell or other hard substance until it has very much the appearance of parchment; and that it bears ink perfectly well, may be seen by an inspection of some Javanese Works, which are contained in the library of the Hon. East India Company.
The bat or mallet employed by the natives in preparing this material is usually about 15 inches in length, and from two and a half to three inches square, one side being grooved very coarsely, another somewhat finer, a third exceedingly fine, and the fourth generally cut in chequers or small squares. The bark is first beaten with the coarsest side of the instrument, and then, in turn, with those parts which are finer, the resinous matter contained in it being usually found sufficiently adhesive.
Without, however, dwelling longer upon this portion of our subject, which time will not permit, let us now proceed to trace out, in some measure, the history and progress of that more perfect and ingenious invention, MODERN PAPER; and in so doing, I can hardly forbear making some allusion to the incalculable advantages which have resulted to mankind from the introduction of so ingenious and extraordinary a discovery. It certainly would appear very remarkable, that not only amongst mankind generally, but even with those intimately associated with that branch of commerce, so little interest should be found to exist in an acquaintance with its origin and advancement, beyond the bare knowledge which directly concerns them. It is true that with them, no less than with people in general, the very indispensableness of the material renders familiarity at once an unconscious stumbling-block, to any conception of the grandeur of its importance, or its vastly interesting, and varied associations. Yet what infinite trouble and labour, what fruitless consumption of time, has not been saved by the invention of paper. How many toilsome and dangerous experiments have not philosophical projectors been spared. What laborious investigations and study have not thus been abridged, by the facts of others’ researches being so conveyed to posterity—knowledge, more than any one man could have attained to in a thousand years, though born with faculties in maturity. To enumerate all the advantages which the invention of paper has afforded mankind, it were, indeed, useless to attempt; for, whether we look at the traveller, traversing sea and land, without the knowledge of geography, and navigation; without those beautiful charts of the ocean, by which he is now enabled to proceed with safety, and even to predict with certainty, his arrival at the most distant ports: or, whether we look at the man of science, who being neither artist, nor manufacturer, is thus enabled to communicate his plans and projects with accuracy and ease, for mechanics afterwards to improve and perfect: or, indeed, whether we view the growing youth, educated with such facility in the principles of their duty, backward even to barbarous states, softened and enlightened by means of the discovery; its value, in the applicability of its purposes, stands out alike in each, declaring it distinctly above all other inventions, as truly the most wonderful, useful, and important, which has ever yet transpired in any age of the world; inasmuch, as without it, every other discovery must necessarily have continued comparatively useless to society. For, be it remembered, that in contrasting the results of this invention, with the productions of former periods, we are, in fact, arraying in our train, the mighty arm of the press against the feeble efforts of an unwieldy style, or the tedious and uncertain process of the slow-paced pen, which prior to an acquaintance with the art of printing, were the only means mankind possessed for spreading the influence and advantages of learning amongst their fellow-creatures. And, again, how highly interesting is it, to observe the prodigious advancement resulting from an ingenious and successful application of machinery in the one case, serving at the same time to develop to our wonder and amazement the extraordinary capabilities of production which have since been revealed by the Printing Machine. Truly may we now pronounce—
The Press! the venerated Press!
Freedom’s impenetrable shield—
The sword that wins her best success,
The only sword that man should wield.
It is stated that the daily aggregate printed surface of the Times alone, actually exceeds that of thirty acres, and the Illustrated London News, on one occasion, sent forth no less than 500,000 double numbers, or one million sheets. In fact, 2000 reams, exceeding seventy tons in weight.
The manufacture of four or five hundred square feet of paper per minute, and 12,000 impressions per hour, are now matters of every day occurrence, although it should be borne in mind, that without the paper machine, pouring forth its miles of web, these corresponding advantages in printing could not have been developed.
We may take as an instance, that book of books, which Pollok very beautifully describes as—
“The only star
By which the bark of man could navigate
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss
Securely!”
Although now a handsome copy, printed on tolerably fine paper, gilt edged, and bound in embossed roan, may be purchased for one shilling, in the reign of Henry the Third, it is recorded that two arches of London Bridge were built for a less sum than that for which a Bible could be procured. And, as we continue the search still further back, the contrast becomes increasingly interesting. For let it be remembered, that the sixty-six books of which the Bible is composed, were not always contained in so convenient a form. During the sixteen centuries which were occupied in making known this revelation to man, not only were the advantages which we possess altogether unknown, even in their rudest form, but substitutes, apparently far less promising than many we have referred to, were also at one period and another directed to be employed. As for instance, to Ezekiel, Jehovah once said, “Thou also son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.” And elsewhere, “Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel, his companions.”
Of course there have been occasions when certain portions of the Scriptures were very beautifully inscribed (more particularly of the New Testament) sometimes in letters of gold, on parchment of the richest purple. Still they were manuscript, and as such, not unfrequently occupied the labour of individuals for years. Instances are upon record, of fifty years in the life of one man being engaged in the execution of a single copy of the Scriptures. In the present day it is, perhaps, impossible for us properly to appreciate the skill, the labour, and the immense expenditure employed in such productions.
For now, by the aid of the printing machine, we have an entire copy struck off in the space of one minute; and such were the almost miraculous efforts of the British and Foreign Bible Society last year, that they actually issued, in nearly 150 known languages, an average circulation of a copy for every minute throughout the year.
It is much to be regretted that in tracing the origin of so curious an art as that of the manufacture of modern paper, any definite conclusion as to the precise time or period of its adoption should hitherto have proved altogether unattainable. The Royal Society of Sciences at Gottingen, in 1755 and 1763, offered considerable premiums for that especial object, but unfortunately all researches, however directed, were utterly fruitless. The most ancient manuscript on cotton paper appears to have been written in 1050, while Eustathius, who wrote towards the end of the 12th century, states that the Egyptian papyrus had gone into disuse but a little before his time. To reconcile, however, in some measure contradictory accounts, it may be observed, that on some particular occasions, and by some particular persons, the Egyptian paper might have been employed for several hundred years after it ceased to be in general use, and it is quite certain, that although the new invention must have proved of great advantage to mankind, it could only have been introduced by degrees. Amongst the records which are preserved at the Tower of London I have seen a letter addressed to Henry the Third, and written previously to 1222, which appears to be upon strong paper, of mixed materials. Several letters of the following reign, which are there preserved, are evidently written on cotton paper. Were we able to determine the precise time when paper was first made from cotton, we should also be enabled to fix the invention of the art of paper making as it is now practised. For the application of cotton to the purposes of paper making, requires almost as much labour and ingenuity as the use of linen rags. Some have conceived, and I think with sufficient reason, that China originally gave birth to the invention. Certain it is, that the art of making paper from vegetable matter reduced to pulp was known and understood there long before it was practised in Europe, which did not take place until the 11th century, and the Chinese have carried it to a high degree of perfection. Several kinds of their paper evince the greatest art and ingenuity, and are applied with much advantage to many purposes. One especially, manufactured from the inner bark of the bamboo, is particularly celebrated for affording the clearest and most delicate impressions from copper plates, which we ordinarily term india proofs. The Chinese, however, make paper of various kinds, some of the bark of trees, especially the mulberry tree, and the elm, but chiefly of the bamboo and cotton tree, and occasionally from other substances, such as hemp, wheat, or rice straw. To give an idea of the manner of fabricating paper from these different substances, it will suffice, (the process being nearly the same in each,) to confine our observations to the method adopted in the manufacture of paper from the bamboo,—a kind of cane or hollow reed, divided by knots, but larger, more elastic, and more durable than any other reed. The whole substance of the bamboo is at times employed by the Chinese in this operation, but the younger stalks are preferred. The canes being first cut into pieces of four or five feet in length, are made into parcels, and thrown into a reservoir of mud and water for about a fortnight, to soften them; they are then taken out, and carefully washed, every one of the pieces being again cut into filaments, which are exposed to the rays of the sun to dry, and to bleach. After this they are boiled in large kettles, and then reduced to pulp in mortars, by means of a hammer with a long handle; or as is more commonly the case, by submitting the mass to the action of stampers, raised in the usual way by cogs on a revolving axis. The pulp being thus far prepared, a glutinous substance, extracted from the shoots of a certain plant, is next mixed with it in stated quantities, and upon this mixture chiefly depends the quality of the paper. As soon as this has taken place the whole is again beaten together until it becomes a thick viscous liquor, which, after being reduced to an essential state of consistency, by a further admixture of water, is then transferred to a large reservoir or vat, having on each side of it a drying stove, in the form of the ridge of a house, that is, consisting of two sloping sides touching at top. These sides are covered externally with an exceedingly smooth coating of stucco, and a flue passes through the brickwork, so as to keep the whole of each side equally and moderately warm. A vat and a stove are placed alternately in the manufactory, so that there are two sides of two different stoves adjacent to each vat. The workman dips his mould, which is sometimes formed merely of bulrushes, cut in narrow strips, and mounted in a frame, into the vat, and then raises it out again, the water passing off through the perforations in the bottom, and the pulpy paper-stuff remaining on its surface. The frame of the mould is then removed, and the bottom is pressed against the side of one of the stoves, so as to make the sheet of paper adhere to its surface, and allow the sieve, (as it were) to be withdrawn. The moisture, of course, speedily evaporates by the warmth of the stove, but before the paper is quite dry, it is brushed over on its outer surface with a size made of rice, which also soon dries, and the paper is then stripped off in a finished state, having one surface exquisitely smooth, it being seldom the practice of the Chinese to write or print on both sides of the paper. While all this is taking place, the moulder has made a second sheet, and pressed it against the side of the other stove, where it undergoes the operation of sizing and drying, precisely as in the former case.
The very delicate material, which is brought from China in pieces only a few inches square, and commonly, but erroneously, termed rice paper, is in reality but a membrane of the breadfruit tree, obtained by cutting the stem spirally round the axis, and afterwards flattening it by pressure. That it is not an artificial production may very readily be perceived by contrasting one of the more translucent specimens with a piece of the finest manufactured paper, by the aid of the microscope.
The precise period at which the manufacture of paper was first introduced into Europe appears to be rather a matter of uncertainty. Paper mills, moved by water power, were in operation in Tuscany at the commencement of the fourteenth century; and at Nuremberg, in Germany, one was established in 1390, by Ulman Stromer, who wrote the first work ever published on the art of paper making. He seems to have employed a great number of persons, all of whom were obliged to take an oath that they would not teach any one the art of paper making, or make it on their own account. In the following year, when anxious to increase the means of its production, he met with such strong opposition from those he employed, who would not consent to any enlargement of the mill, that it became at length requisite to bring them before the magistrates, by whom they were imprisoned, after which they submitted, by renewing their oaths. Two or three centuries later, we find the Dutch in like manner, so extremely jealous with respect to the manufacture, as to prohibit the exportation of moulds, under no less severe a penalty than that of death.
Fuller makes some exceedingly curious observations respecting the paper of his time, which may, perhaps, be introduced here with advantage. He says—“Paper participates in some sort of the character of the country which makes it; the Venetian being neat, subtile, and court like; the French light, slight, and slender; and the Dutch thick, corpulent, and gross, sucking up the ink with the sponginess thereof.” He complains that the paper manufactories were not then sufficiently encouraged, considering the vast sums of money expended in our land for paper out of Italy, France, and Germany, which might be lessened, were it made in our nation. “To such who object,” says he, “that we can never equal the perfection of Venice paper, I return, neither can we match the purity of Venice glasses, and yet many green ones are blown in Sussex, profitable to the makers, and convenient to the users, our home-spun paper might be found beneficial.”
With reference to any particular time or place at which this inestimable invention was first adopted in England, all researches into existing records contribute little to our assistance. The first paper mill erected here is commonly attributed to Sir John Spielman, a German, who established one in 1588, at Dartford, for which the honour of knighthood was afterwards conferred upon him by Queen Elizabeth, who was also pleased to grant him a license “for the sole gathering for ten years of all rags, &c., necessary for the making of such paper.” It is, however, quite certain that paper mills were in existence here long before Spielman’s time. Shakspeare, in the second part of his play of Henry the Sixth, the plot of which appears laid at least a century previously, refers to a paper mill. In fact, he introduces it as an additional weight to the charge which Jack Cade is made to bring against Lord Saye, “Thou hast most traitorously corrupted,” says he, “the youth of the realm, in erecting a grammar school, and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used, and contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper mill.”
Understanding that some five-and-thirty or forty years since it was asserted by the then occupier of North Newton mill, near Banbury, in Oxfordshire, which at that time was the property of Lord Saye and Sele, that such was the first erected in this country for the manufacture of paper, and also that it was to that mill Shakspeare referred in the passage just quoted, I recently communicated with Lord Saye and Sele as to the plausibility of the supposition; remarking at the same time as I would now, that although it was of course quite impossible to award the immortal bard great credit for chronological accuracy, it must, I thought, be admitted, that so marvellous an invention, unless really in existence, could not by any possibility of conception have been conjured up even to supply the unlimited necessities of the poet’s strain. His Lordship, however, at once terminated the probability of this mill taking the precedence, even of Sir John Spielman’s, by informing me that the first nobleman succeeding to that title who had property in Oxfordshire, which he acquired by marriage, was the son of the first Lord Saye, to whom Shakspeare makes reference.
The earliest trace of the manufacture in this country occurs in a book printed by Caxton, about the year 1490, in which it is said of John Tate—
“Which late hathe in England doo make thys paper thynne,
That now in our Englyssh thys booke is prynted inne.”
His mill was situate at or near Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, and that it was considered worthy of especial notice is evident from an entry made in Henry the Seventh’s Household Book, on the 25th of May, 1498—“For a rewarde geven at the paper-mylne, 16s. 8d.” And again in 1499—“Geven in rewarde to Tate of the mylne, 6s. 8d.”
Still, it appears to me far less probable that Shakspeare alluded to this mill, although established at a period corresponding in many respects with that of occurrences referred to in connection, than to that of Sir John Spielman’s, which, standing as it did in the immediate neighbourhood of Jack Cade’s rebellion, and being esteemed so important at the time, as to call forth the marked patronage of Queen Elizabeth; while the extent of the operations carried on there, if we may judge from the remarks of a poet of the time, were equally calculated to arouse undivided national interest; one can hardly help thinking, that the prominence to which Shakspeare assigns the existence of a paper mill, coupled as such allusion is with an acknowledged liberty, inherent in him, of transposing events, to add force to his style, as also with very considerable doubt as to the exact year in which he wrote the play, that the reference made was to none other than that of Sir John Spielman’s establishment of 1588, concerning which we find it said—
“Six hundred men are set to work by him,
That else might starve or seek abroad their bread,
Who now live well, and go full brave and trim,
And who may boast they are with paper fed.”
Be the introduction or establishment of the invention, so far as this country is concerned, when it may; little progress appears to have resulted therefrom, even so late as the middle of the 17th century. In 1695, a company was formed in Scotland “for manufacturing white writing and printing paper,” relating to which, “Articles concluded and agreed upon at a general meeting at Edinburgh, the 19th day of August,” in the same year, may still be seen by those who are sufficiently curious, in the Library of the British Museum. It is also recorded in the Craftsman (910), that William the Third granted the Huguenots refuged in England a patent for establishing paper manufactories, and that Parliament likewise granted to them other privileges, amongst which, in all probability, that very unsatisfactory practice of putting up each ream with two quires composed entirely of sheets spoiled in course of production. Their undertaking, however, like that of many others, appears to have met with very little success.
In fact, the making of paper here scarcely reached any high degree of perfection until about 1760-5, at which period the celebrated James Whatman established his reputation at Maidstone.
The report of the Juries of the Great Exhibition of 1851—a work from whence information might very naturally be sought, and which one would have supposed to be unexceptionable in point of authenticity,—contains, I regret to say, a very unfortunate misstatement with reference to the position of Mr. Whatman at that time. It is there stated that he gained his knowledge of the manufacture prior to establishing these well-known mills “by working as a journeyman in most of the principal paper manufactories of the Continent,” which is altogether an erroneous assertion; for Mr. Whatman previously to his being engaged as a manufacturer, was an officer in the Kent Militia, and acquired the information, which eventually rendered him so successful, by travelling in the suite of the British Ambassador to Holland, where the best papers were then made, and the insight thus obtained enabled his genius to effect the great improvements afterwards so universally admitted.
At the present time, Whatman’s papers (so called) are manufactured at two mills, totally distinct, both of which are still worked by the descendants of Mr. Whatman’s successors; the paper in the one case being readily distinguished by the water-mark, “J. Whatman, Turkey Mill,” and in the other, by the water-mark simply “J. Whatman,” but bearing upon the upper wrapper of each ream the original and well-known stamp, containing the initials L. V. G., which are those of L. V. Gerrevink, as celebrated a Dutch manufacturer prior to Mr. Whatman’s improvements, as Mr. Whatman’s name has since become in all parts of the world.
In making so marked an allusion to this particular manufacture, I am bound, perhaps, to qualify it in some measure by directing attention to the comparatively recent application of continuous or rotatory motion which has, indeed, effected no more wonderful or extraordinary results than in the singular conversion of pulp into paper.
The largest paper now made by hand, which is termed Antiquarian, measures 53 inches by 31, and so great is the weight of liquid pulp employed in the formation of a single sheet, that no fewer than nine men are required, besides additional assistance in raising the mould out of the vat by means of pulleys; while by the aid of the paper machine, the most perfect production may be ensured, of a continuous length, and eight feet wide, without any positive necessity for personal superintendence.
The principle of paper making by machinery is simply this, instead of employing moulds and felts of limited dimensions, as was originally the practice, the peculiar merit of the invention consists in the adaptation of an endless wire-gauze to receive the paper pulp, and again an endless felt, to which in progress the paper is transferred; and thus by a marvellously delicate adjustment, while the wire at one end receives but a constant flow of liquid pulp, in the course of two or three minutes we may have, carefully wound on a roller at the other extremity, the most beautiful and serviceable of fabrics. Instead of counting sheets in course of production as formerly, or even measuring the length by yards, we may actually have the paper drawn out as it were, and wound up, miles in length. In the recent Dublin Exhibition, a sheet was exhibited which was said to have been of sufficient length to wrap round the world; but, I must confess, that I am not in a position to vouch for the accuracy of the statement. An anecdote, however, is told, (the truth of which I have no reason to doubt,) of the patentee of this machine, and a relative or friend of his, of some considerable standing and influence in the pottery district, who were dining together about the period at which this machine was first adopted; when the one speaking of the advantages which he conceived the new mode would prove to his friend, alluded above all others to the remarkable capability which it possessed of producing paper of any length that could possibly be required. “Well,” said his friend, “I very much doubt that, but if you can make me five miles of the quality I require, I shall certainly have little hesitation in admitting all the perfection and suitability which you have laboured to impress upon me.” The very next day the machine was set to work, and timed, in order to ascertain the required length wound upon the reel, which, after being charged with Excise duty, was forwarded without delay to its destination; and, as may be conceived, to the utter astonishment of his incredulous friend.
It is a fact, which certainly deserves to be noticed for its singularity as well as for the strong point of view in which it places the merits of this invention, that an art of such great importance to society as that of the manufacture of paper, should have remained for at least eight centuries since paper is first believed to have been in use, and that upwards of 200 of those years should have elapsed since its first introduction into England, without any mechanical improvement whatever as regards the processes which were then employed. It is true, that various attempts from time to time were made, but in every instance they appear to have met with very little success. In France, an ingenious artist contrived three figures in wood to do the work of the vatman, the coucher, and the layer; but, after persevering for six months, and incurring considerable expense, he was at length compelled to abandon his scheme. And although paper was previously manufactured in China, in Persia, and indeed throughout all Asia, sometimes of considerable length, I might mention that it was so, not by machinery, but by means of a mould of the size of the paper intended to be made, suspended like a swing, and having men placed at the distance of about every four feet, for the purpose of producing an uniform shaking motion, after the mould had been immersed in the vat, in order to compact the pulp.
Such then was the rude state of this important manufacture, even up to the commencement of the present century, when another ingenious Frenchman, named Didot, brought over to this country a small model of a continuous machine, with the view of getting the benefit of English capital and mechanical skill to bring it into an operative state; and fortunately for the vigorous development of this embryo project, which had proved an abortion in France, he communicated his ideas of the practicability of the measure to a mercantile firm of considerable opulence, who, with great public spirit, at once concluded an agreement with him for the purchase of a principle which might be said at that period never to have been tried. The firm alluded to was that of the Messrs. Fourdrinier, who at that time, and for several years afterwards, were the principal stationers and paper manufacturers in Great Britain.
In order to accomplish the arduous object which those gentlemen then had in view, they appear to have laboured without intermission for nearly six years, when, after incurring an expense which would have exhausted any fortune of moderate extent (upwards of £60,000), they at length succeeded in giving some sort of organization and connection to the mechanical parts, for which they obtained a patent, and finding eventually that there was little prospect of being recompensed for labour and risk, or even reimbursed their expenses, unless Parliament should think proper to grant an extension of their patent, they determined upon making a fresh application to the Legislature for that purpose. But, it would appear that although in the Bill as it passed the House of Commons, such prolonged period extended to fourteen years; in the Lords it was limited to seven, with an understanding that such term should be extended to seven years more in the event of the patentees proving, upon a future application, that they had not been sufficiently remunerated. No such application, however, was made, in consequence of a Standing Order of the House of Lords, placed on their journal subsequently to the passing of the said act; which regulation had the effect of depriving the Messrs. Fourdrinier of any benefit whatever from the invention; and ultimately, so great were the difficulties they had to encounter, and so little encouragement or support did they receive, that the time and attention required to mature this valuable invention, and the large capital which it absorbed, were the means of reducing that wealthy and liberal firm to the humiliating condition of bankruptcy; and only within the past few months the surviving partner, Mr. Henry Fourdrinier, to whom mainly we owe the success of the invention, and as unquestionably our present high position in the scale of nations, was carried to his grave, in his ninetieth year, comparatively a beggar. A leading article in the Times, June 17, 1847, speaking of Mr. Henry Fourdrinier, thus concludes by advocating his claims:—“Three days only are past since an assembly, illustrious for rank and station, met to celebrate and immortalize the memory of Caxton. What more fitting or graceful opportunity of paying a tribute of respect and justice to his fellow-labourer in an adjoining field? the one the father of printing, the other the inventor of a process by which the full benefits of printing have been realized to the civilized world. And in the case of Mr. Fourdrinier this advantage is found, that he can receive in person the tribute of a nation’s gratitude; an octogenarian, he still lives; unlike Caxton, he is not yet a subject for posthumous honours. It is not a monument he wants, but justice. The world, no doubt, according to ancient precedent, would rather pay its tribute of admiration, if we should not rather say its debt of homage, after death. But it is fortunately in the power of the present age to point to a modern example of tardy but full reparation made to a living man, a great improvement upon the old rule, the mockery of a national funeral, and Westminster Abbey. Lord Dundonald’s case will always stand as a brilliant exception to the common neglect of contemporary merit, and by his side it would be well to place, at no great interval, the man who in a humbler sphere, but better suited to an age of peace, has benefitted humanity by facilitating the diffusion of letters, and the acquisition of knowledge.” Powerful and influential as is that journal, however, this worthy man was still left to combat so bitter a reverse, without even the means of procuring comfort in his declining years.
But I am happy to say that an appeal has lately been made to that particular branch of trade so materially benefitted by the invention, the paper manufacturers, in the hope that thus a sufficient fund may be raised to furnish his surviving daughters with a competent annuity for the remainder of their days. And I sincerely hope that the results of this laudable effort may speedily prove to be as worthy the spirit of its originators, as on the part of the public generally it deserves consideration, as being supremely a national duty. For, be it remembered, that while the value and importance of such an invention to the paper maker is sufficiently clear and conclusive, from the fact of its general adoption throughout the united kingdom, by no less than 700 manufacturers (averaging, probably, twice that number of machines); so on the other hand, we surely cannot remain unmindful of its effects and benefits upon ourselves, when in contrasting the results of the paper-making-machine with the productions of a former period, we find the cost reduced to the consumer considerably more than one-half, in some instances to actually a fourth.
Thus then, it will be seen that as civilization has advanced, the facilities for recording and transmitting facts have uniformly improved and multiplied until now, instead of oral tradition, necessarily uncertain; instead of the bark and leaf, perishable or fragile; instead of the papyrus, so brittle; the parchment, so costly; the raw cotton paper, so expensive; instead of inscriptions by the unwieldy style and by the slow-paced pen, we have now a cheap, serviceable material, manufactured from the most useless of fabrics, and even from the very refuse of our clothing, which, conjointly with that art which preserves all other arts, enables us far to surpass in recording and transmitting power, even the greatest demands in the world’s history.
Note.—Since the “proof” sheet was put into my hands, I have heard with very great satisfaction, that some interest has at length been awakened in the case of the Fourdriniers, and that a list has been commenced, headed with liberal subscriptions from his Grace the Duke of Sutherland, the Right Hon. the Earl of Harrowby, the Proprietors of The Times, Illustrated London News, and several leading firms connected with the Paper Trade.—R. H.