The Book: Its History and Development

by Cyril Davenport

In China the possibility of making thin feltings with silk fibre was probably known at a very remote period, and it is likely enough that from some such unsatisfactory production the better and usable kinds made of vegetable fibres evolved itself. We cannot now say when the possibility of felting together fibres of wood or grass first became known to the Chinese, but it was certainly well understood in the fifth or sixth centuries, because specimens of it still exist.

In the middle of the eighth century, in 751 A.D., there were certain tribal disturbances on the Chinese frontier of Persia, and one of the combatants called in the help of the Chinese. These, however, suffered defeat at the hands of the Arab governor of Samarkand, who brought back some Chinese prisoners to his town. These men were acquainted with the Chinese methods of making paper.

From these Chinese prisoners the Arabs and their friends the Persians learnt the art of paper-making with vegetable fibres, but the supply in this particular very soon gave out, and because enough suitable fibres were difficult to get they mixed them with pulped rags. Eventually the Samarkand paper-makers used rags only, and these they easily got in sufficient quantities from old linen clothes, and also the mummy wrappings from Egypt were made use of in the same way.

From the Arabs the knowledge of paper-making passed rapidly to Europe, and by the middle of the tenth century it had entirely superseded the use of papyrus.

The researches of Dr. J. Wiesner and Dr. J. Karabacek, both professors of the University of Vienna, have been of incalculable value as regards the composition and history of ancient paper, and they were fortunate enough to have the opportunity of examining the papers in the collection of the Archduke Rainer, among which are specimens of very early work. The professors have examined these and other old papers microscopically and chemically, and found that from the beginning it was considered necessary to load papers with some binding or filling substance; they found starch, starch flour, probably from rice, and among the Chinese papers a dressing of powdered gypsum. Without some such dressing the papers would have resembled our blotting paper, and it would have been almost impossible to write upon them.

Professor Wiesner found that Chinese papers of the eighth century were really mixed papers; they contained fibres of mulberry bark, hemp and rags. Rags of fishing nets themselves would contain fibres of flax, hemp, and China grass. But the main constituent of ancient Chinese paper is fibre of mulberry-bark, and I believe it is so still, although China grass fibre is also much used.

Specimens of Chinese papers from the eighth century onwards can be seen at the British Museum. They are soft, but have lasted fairly well, and do not appear to show any wire marks. The colour of these papers is much the same as Chinese papers made now, but in some instances they have certainly darkened as modern wood pulp papers also do.

One of the later specimens, a bank note issued during the reign of the Emperor Hung-wu, A.D. 1368-1399, is made of a darkened pulp, probably due to admixture with a little lamp black, and on it are lighter impressions from large stamps bearing the square seal letters. It is just possible that these marks may be of the nature of watermarks, and were impressed while the pulp was soft and wet, but it is not possible now to take the bank note up from the cardboard on which it has been pasted, as to do so would probably cause it to fall to pieces, so it cannot, for the moment, be properly examined.

Corean and Japanese papers were the same as Chinese, and they all look as if there are no wire marks or watermarks upon them, with the one exception I have mentioned, but Dr. Wiesner says that by the ninth century marks show in many instances which prove that papers were made in moulds or sieves with network bottoms, the impression of which remains like our “chains” or laid marks. In the King’s Library at the British Museum is shown a piece of Oriental paper, an official letter in Coptic, dated A.D. 1048. It does not look so strong or good as the Chinese paper, but resembles thin blotting paper, and shows no wire mark.