From this substance of Egyptian origin is derived the name of its modern successor—paper. Paper, which in convenience and varied utility is as much in advance of its forerunner as papyrus was in advance of brick, stone, lead, copper, brass, leaves, bark, wood and skins, the successive media for the transcription of human thought.
The exact date of the origin of paper-making has probably yet to be discovered, though the researches of Dr. Aurel Stein and others have traced its antiquity back into the second century, B. C. (see Encyclopædia Britannica).
According to R. W. Sindall (“The Manufacture of Paper,” 1908), the earliest reference to the manufacture of paper is to be found in the Chinese Encyclopædia, wherein it is stated that Ts’ai-Lun, a native of Kuei-yang, entered the service of the Emperor Ho-Ti in A. D. 75, and, devoting his leisure hours to study, suggested the use of silk and ink as a substitute for the bamboo tablet and stylus. Subsequently he succeeded in making paper from bark, tow, old linen and fish-nets (A. D. 105).
The art thus originated and nurtured by the Chinese remained to be transmitted to Europe by the Arabs after their conquest of Samarkand in A. D. 751.
The first centers of the industry founded in the eleventh century were in Spain, at Toledo, Valencia and Xativa. From Spain the craftsmen migrated to Sicily, Italy, France and the Netherlands.
A mill was established at Hainault, France, as early as 1190.
The oldest-known document on cotton paper is a deed of King Roger of Sicily, dated 1102. It is probable that the famous mills of Fabriano sprang from Sicilian sources; their establishment was followed in 1360 by a mill in Padua, and later in Treviso, Bologna, Palma, Milan and Venice, while the first paper-mill of Germany was that of Ulman Stromer at Mainz in 1320.
A most interesting account of this period of paper-making is given as follows by Harold Bayley in his volume, “A New Light on the Renaissance:”
“In the Dark Ages there existed in the south of France a premature civilization far in advance of that of the rest of Europe. Among the arts and industries that flourished in Provençe and the surrounding districts, paper-making was one of the foremost. Not only was this district the cradle of European paper-making, but for many centuries it remained the center of this industry.
“The freedom and prosperity of Provençe attracted large numbers of persecuted Jews and heretics, who took refuge there, and by their industry and intellect augmented the power and influence of the country. So deeply, indeed, did heresy enter into the politics of Provençe, that in 1209 the Church of Rome considered it necessary to launch a crusade against the infected district.