Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/236

218 P A P E It the Moorish power the manufacture, passing into the hands of the less skilled Christians, declined in the quality of its production. In Italy also the art of paper-making was no doubt in the first place established through the Arab occupation of Sicily. But the paper which was made both there and in Spain, it must be remembered, was in the first instance cotton paper. In the laws of Alphonso of 1263 ft is referred to as cloth parchment, a term which well describes the thick material made from cotton. As, however, the industry was pushed north, into districts where cotton was not to be found as a natural growth or was not imported, other substances had to be pressed into the service. Hence by degrees arose the practice of mixing rags, in the first instance no doubt of woollen fabrics, with the raw material. The gradual substitution of linen, in countries where it was more abundant or where it was the only suitable material at hand, was a natural step in the progress of the manufacture. The first mention of rag paper occurs in the tract of Peter, abbot of Cluny (1122-50 A.D.), adversm Jud&os, cap. 5, where, among the various kinds of books, he refers to such as are written on material made " ex rasuris veterum pannorum." At this early period woollen cloth is probably intended. Linen paper was first made in the 1 4th century ; but in the first half of that century it is probable that woollen fabrics still entered largely into the component parts of the pulp a fact which, however, can only be proved in individual instances by aid of the micro scope. This being the case, it is of less practical advantage to try to. ascertain an exact date for the first use of linen in paper-making than to define the line of demarcation between the two classes of paper, viz., that made in the Oriental fashion without water-marks, and that in which these marks are seen. The period when this latter kind of paper came into existence lies in the first years of the 14th century, when paper-making at length became a veritable European industry. Cotton paper of the Oriental pattern, it is true, is still found here and there in use some time after the manufacture of the water-marked material had begun, but the instances which have survived are few and are mostly confined to the south of Europe. A few words may here be said respecting the extant examples of cotton paper MSS. written in European countries. Several which have been quoted by former writers as early instances have proved, on more recent examination, to be nothing but vellum. The anci&rit fragments of the Gospel of St Mark, preserved at Venice, which were stated by Maffei to be of cotton paper, by Montfaucon of papyrus, and by the Benedictines of bark, are in fact written on skin. The oldest document on cotton paper is a deed of King Roger of Sicily, of the year 1102; and there are others of Sicilian kings, of the 12th century. The oldest known imperial deed on the same material is a charter of Frederick II. to the nuns of Goess in Styria, of the year 1228, now at Vienna. In 1231, however, the same emperor forbade further use of paper for official documents, which were in future to be inscribed on vellum. In Venice the Liber plegiorum, the entries in which begin with the year 1223 ; is made of rough cotton paper; and similarly the registers of the Council of Ten, beginning in 1325, and the register of the emperor Henry VII. (1308- 13) preserved at Turin, are also written on a like sub stance. In the British Museum there is an older example in a MS. (Arundel 268) which contains some astronomical treatises written on an excellent paper in an Italian hand of the first half of the 13th century. The letters addressed from Castile to the English king, Edward I., in 1279 and following years (Pauli in Beridd. Berl. A/cad., 1854) are instances of Spanish-made paper ; and other specimens in existence prove that in this latter country a rough kind of charta bombycina was manufactured to a comparatively late date. In Italy the first place which appears to have become a great centre of the paper-making industry was Fabriano in the marquisate of Ancona, which rose into importance on the decline of the manufacture in Spain. The jurist Bartolo, in his treatise De insigniis et armis, refers to the excellent paper made there in the middle of the 14th century, an encomium which will be supported by those who have had occasion to examine the extant MSS. of Italian paper of that period, which even now excites admiration for its good quality. In 1340 a factory was established at Padua ; another arose later at Treviso ; and others followed in the territories of Florence, Bologna, Parma, Milan, Venice, and other districts. From the line of factories of northern Italy the wants of southern Germany were supplied as late as the 15th century. As an instance the case of Gorlitz has been cited, which drew its paper from Milan and Venice for the half century between 1376 and 1426. But in Germany also factories were rapidly founded. The earliest are said to have been set up between Cologne and Mainz, and in Mainz itself about the year 1320. At Nuremberg Ulman Stromer established a mill in 1390, with the aid of Italian workmen. Other places of early manufacture were Eatisbon and Augsburg. Western Germany, as well as the Netherlands and England, is said to have obtained paper at first from France and Burgundy through the markets of Bruges, Antwerp, and Cologne. France owed the establishment of her first paper-mills to Spain, whence we are told the art of paper-making was introduced, as early as the year 1189, into the district of Hi rault. The French paper of this early date was of course of cotton. At a later period, in 1406, among the accounts of the church of Troyes, such mills appear as molins a toile. The develop ment of the trade in France must have been very rapid, for, as we have already noticed, that country was soon in a position to supply her neighbours as well as to provide for her own wants. And with the progress of manufac ture in France that of the Netherlands also grew. A study of the various water-marks has yielded some results in tracing the different channels in which the paper trade of different countries flowed ; but a thorough and systematic collection and classification of them has yet to be accomplished. Experience also of the different kinds of paper, and a knowledge of the water-marks, aid the student in fixing nearly exact periods to undated docu ments. Rag paper of the 14th century may generally be recognized by its firm texture, its stoutness, and the large size of its wires. The water-marks are usually simple in design ; and, being the result of the impress of thick wires, they are therefore strongly marked. In the course of the 15th century the texture gradually becomes finer and the water-marks more elaborate. While the old sub jects of the latter are still continued in use, they are more neatly outlined, and, particularly in Italian paper, they are frequently enclosed in circles. The practice of inserting the full name of the maker in the water-mark came into fashion in the course of the 16th century. The variety of subjects of water-marks is most extensive. Animals, birds, fishes, heads, flowers, domestic and warlike imple ments, armorial bearings, &c., are found from the earliest times. Some of these, such as armorial bearings, and national, provincial, or personal cognizances, as the imperial crown, the crossed keys, or the cardinal s hat, can be attributed to particular countries or districts ; and the wide dissemination of the paper bearing these marks in different countries serves to prove how large and inter national was the paper trade in the 14th and 15th centuries.