The Italian kings, Hugo and Lotharis, gave a grant to the Ambrosian church, at Milan, written on the skin of a fish.
In the Alexandrian Library there were the works of Homer, written in golden letters on the skins of animals. In the reign of the Emperor Baliskus, the head and “Odyssey” of Homer, written in golden letters, on the intestines of beasts, one hundred and twenty feet long, were burned at Constantinople.
In the royal library at Hanover, there is a gold plate, written by an independent prince of Coromandel to George II., three feet long and four inches wide, inlaid on both sides with diamonds.
At last we have arrived at the period for the introduction of the Egyptian papyrus, a kind of rush of large dimensions, growing in the marshes on the banks of the Nile. This plant is described as growing in swamps to the height of fifteen feet; the stalk triangular, of a thickness to be spanned, surrounded near the root by short leaves; stalk naked, has on the top a bush resembling the head with hairs, or long thin straight fibres; root brown.
The Egyptian papyrus was manufactured into paper from very fine pellicles near its pith, separated by a pin or pointed mussel-shell spread on a table in such form as was required, sprinkled with Nile water; on the first layer a second layer was laid crosswise to finish the sheet, then pressed, hung to dry, and afterwards polished with a tooth. The Nile water was very carefully used to prevent spots. Twenty skins were the greatest number which could be procured from one plant. Those nearest the pith made the finest paper. Twenty sheets glued together were called scapus, but sometimes scapi went to form a volumen. This part of the business was executed by the glutinatoris, who resembled our bookbinders.
This plant yielded materials for making four sorts of paper.
With respect to other substances for the same purpose, there are many, but as most of these have one generic character, being manufactured from the bark of trees, the detail is not here given, as it might not, perhaps, be generally interesting, especially as nothing new appears in this respect.
With respect to the paper now in use, Dr. Blair says, the first paper-mill (in England, we suppose) was erected at Dartford, in the year 1588, by a German of the name of Spiellman; from which period we may, perhaps, date its manufacture in this country.
It appears, however, that it was known in the East, much earlier; it being observed that most of the ancient manuscripts in Arabic and other Oriental languages, were written upon cotton paper, and it is thought the Saracens first introduced it into Spain.
Anderson, in his “History of Commerce,” says, that till the year 1690, there was scarcely any paper made in England, but the coarse brown sort. Paper was previously imported from France, Genoa, and Holland.—However, the improvement of this article in England, in consequence of the French war, produced a saving to this country of £100,000 annually, which had been paid to France for paper alone.