Wove paper is a type of paper first created centuries ago in the Orient, and subsequently introduced to England, Europe and the American colonies in the mid-eighteenth century. [1] Hand-made wove paper was first produced by using a wooden mould that contained a finely-woven brass vellum (wire cloth), upon which the paper pulp was applied and dried, creating a smooth, uniform surface.
Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, paper pulp consisted of cotton and linen rags that were mixed with water and reduced to a fibrous material that was applied to the mould. The appearance of wove paper differs from that of laid paper, which produced a more textured surface due to the manner in which the wire mesh within the paper mould was constructed. The traditional laid pattern consisted of a series of wide-spaced lines (chain lines) parallel to the shorter sides of the sheet and more narrowly spaced lines (laid lines) at right angles to the chain lines. [1]
While the technique of manufacturing wove paper in the Orient originated using natural materials such as fabric and bamboo to create mesh within the mould, eighteenth-century laid and wove paper modernized this process by using woven wire. The originator of the wove papermaking technique using wire appears to have been James Whatman (1702–1759) from Kent, England. [2]
For approximately 500 years, European paper makers could only produce laid paper. In 1757, John Baskerville printed his famous edition of Virgil on this new kind of smooth paper, later referred to as wove (known in Europe as Vélin). The wove paper used in Baskerville's special edition of Virgil is now known to have been made by the elder James Whatman.
America's introduction to wove paper came through the hands of Benjamin Franklin, who, during his tenure in England from 1757 to 1762, befriended John Baskerville, visiting his office in Birmingham on multiple occasions. Baskerville was revered for his continual improvements in typeface, press machinery, printing ink and wove paper in the mid-late 1750s. Franklin procured up to six copies of Baskerville's Virgil directly from the source, at which time paper historians believe Franklin was first acquainted with wove paper. [3]
When Franklin returned to the American colonies in 1762, he decided to utilize this new type of paper first in printing colonial currency in Philadelphia. Examples of Franklin's use of wove paper in currency appear as early as 1764. This particular note, dated June 18, 1764, printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall was issued to the Province of Pennsylvania. [4] Franklin became a great supporter of this superior paper type, and is credited for introducing wove paper to France in 1777. [5]
The creation of wove paper in the American colonies originated through the paper mill of Thomas Willcox at his WIllcox Mill at Ivy Mills in Chester, Pennsylvania. Thomas Willcox and Benjamin Franklin maintained a collegial and personal relationship over decades of collaboration when Franklin ran the press of the Pennsylvania Gazette. Willcox supplied paper for the Gazette and was the exclusive provider of paper for the printing of colonial currency. [6]
Franklin was aware of Whatman's new wove paper used in Baskerville's special edition of Virgil. [3] As such, paper historians believe that Franklin potentially brought back wove wire moulds and samples of Whatman wove paper to the colonies upon returning in 1762 and, in turn, Franklin introduced this new papermaking technique to his close friend and colleague, Thomas Willcox to use in the manufacture of currency paper. 1764 was a pivotal year for colonial currency printing, as British statesman, George Grenville introduced the Currency Act, which attempted to prohibit the American colonies from producing their own currency. Franklin returned to England in November, 1764, in part, to diplomatically resolve England's monopolization of currency. [7]
In response to deteriorating currency printed on laid paper, Franklin was keenly aware of the need to produce currency on a durable paper such as wove, and to increase paper manufacture throughout the colonies through paper mills such as the Willcox Mill.
Thomas Willcox employed the most skilled wire mould maker in the American colonies at this time, named Nathan Sellers. Nathan and his father, John Sellers were the first wove wire mould makers to produce wove paper through the Willcox Mill at Ivy Mills. Detailed account ledgers of the Sellers contain entries for the purchase of wove wire mould supplies as early as 1773. [8]
During the 1770s in colonial America, wove paper was primarily created and used as a printing paper for currency, books, and bound account ledgers. Due to the paper crisis in 1776 resulting from the restriction of imported goods and paper supplies from England during the Revolutionary conflict, the production of laid and wove paper in the colonies was of utmost importance. [9] [10] Benjamin Franklin again led the charge for the collection of cotton and linen rags to make paper pulp, as well as the development of multiple paper mills in the colonies to ensure that essential paper production could flourish in America throughout the Revolution. [11]
With the establishment of the paper machine (1807), the manufacture of paper on a wove wire base would become the predominant standard in the world, with laid paper being relegated to certain specialist uses, such as being used as a support for charcoal drawings. Today more than 99% of the world's paper is made in this manner. [12]
John Baskerville was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wove paper", which was considerably smoother than "laid paper", allowing for sharper printing results.
A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light, caused by thickness or density variations in the paper. Watermarks have been used on postage stamps, currency, and other government documents to discourage counterfeiting. There are two main ways of producing watermarks in paper; the dandy roll process, and the more complex cylinder mould process.
Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a specialized craft and a medium for artistic expression.
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, all paper in a paper mill was made by hand, one sheet at a time, by specialized laborers.
The Currency Act or Paper Bills of Credit Act is one of several Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain that regulated paper money issued by the colonies of British America. The Acts sought to protect British merchants and creditors from being paid in depreciated colonial currency. The policy created tension between the colonies and Great Britain and was cited as a grievance by colonists early in the American Revolution. However, the consensus view among modern economic historians and economists is that the debts by colonists to British merchants were not a major cause of the Revolution. In 1995, a random survey of 178 members of the Economic History Association found that 92% of economists and 74% of historians disagreed with the statement, "The debts owed by colonists to British merchants and other private citizens constituted one of the most powerful causes leading to the Revolution."
Early American currency went through several stages of development during the colonial and post-Revolutionary history of the United States. John Hull was authorized by the Massachusetts legislature to make the earliest coinage of the colony in 1652.
Laid paper is a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. In the pre-mechanical period of European papermaking, laid paper was the predominant kind of paper produced. Its use, however, diminished in the 19th century, when it was largely supplanted by wove paper. Laid paper is still commonly used by artists as a support for charcoal drawings.
A writing material, also called a writing medium, is a surface that can be written on with suitable instruments, or used for symbolic or representational drawings. Building materials on which writings or drawings are produced are not included. The gross characterization of writing materials is by the material constituting the writing surface and the number, size, usage, and storage configuration of multiple surfaces into a single object. Writing materials are often paired with specific types of writing instruments. Other important attributes of writing material are its reusability, permanence, and resistance to fraudulent misuse.
William Rittenhouse was an American papermaker and businessman. He served as an apprentice papermaker in the Netherlands and, after moving to the Pennsylvania Colony, established the first paper mill in the North American colonies, helping to meet the growing demand for paper among the Early American publishers and printers. Rittenhouse married Geertruid Pieters of Eerbeck, Holland, in 1665, before emigrating to the Americas. Rittenhouse was also the first Mennonite bishop in America. Along with his two sons, and their descendants, the Rittenhouse family maintained a papermaking business in Pennsylvania for well over one hundred years. The site of the original mill is now preserved as the Historic RittenhouseTown district of Philadelphia.
Whatman plc is a Cytiva brand specialising in laboratory filtration products and separation technologies.
Paper is a thin nonwoven material traditionally made from a combination of milled plant and textile fibres. The first paper-like plant-based writing sheet was papyrus in Egypt, but the first true papermaking process was documented in China during the Eastern Han period, traditionally attributed to the court official Cai Lun. This plant-puree conglomerate produced by pulp mills and paper mills was used for writing, drawing, and money. During the 8th century, Chinese paper making spread to the Islamic world, replacing papyrus. By the 11th century, papermaking was brought to Europe, where it replaced animal-skin-based parchment and wood panels. By the 13th century, papermaking was refined with paper mills using waterwheels in Spain. Later improvements to the papermaking process came in 19th century Europe with the invention of wood-based papers.
Postage stamp paper is the foundation or substrate of the postage stamp to which the ink for the stamp's design is applied to one side and the adhesive is applied to the other. The paper is not only the foundation of the stamp but it has also been incorporated into the stamp's design, has provided security against fraud and has aided in the automation of the postal delivery system.
James Whatman (1702–1759), the Elder, was a paper maker, born in Kent, who made revolutionary advances to the craft in England. He is noted as the inventor of wove paper, an innovation used for high-quality art and printing. The techniques continued to be developed by his son, James Whatman the Younger (1741–1798). At a time when the craft was based in smaller paper mills, his innovations led to the large scale and widespread industrialisation of paper manufacturing.
The Ivy Mills Historic District is a national historic district located in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It encompasses the ruins of a paper mill, a clerk's house, and the Ivy Mills Mansion House. The mansion house is a 2 1/2-story, five bay wide, stuccoed masonry structure, which includes a saltbox wing and a wide verandah. The original paper mill was erected in 1729, and the original mansion house in 1744. Both of the original buildings were replaced in the early-19th century by the present buildings.
William Parks was an 18th-century printer and journalist in England and Colonial America. He was the first printer in Maryland authorized as the official printer for the colonial government. He published the first newspaper in the Southern American colonies, the Maryland Gazette. He later became authorized as the official printer for the colonial government of Virginia. Parks was also the publisher and printer of the first official collection of the authentic 1733 set of Virginia's laws, and the first colonial publisher and proprietor of The Virginia Gazette newspaper. During his lifetime Parks established four new newspapers in the colonies. He also worked with Benjamin Franklin on several projects related to printing, most notably, the establishment of a paper mill in Virginia, the first such mill south of Pennsylvania.
The Paper and Watermark Museum is a museum of Fabriano, Italy. Based on the paper-making tradition of Fabriano, which is documented since the 12th Century, the museum focusses on handmade paper and watermark techniques in Medieval Italy.
David Hall was a British printer who immigrated from Scotland to America and became an early American printer, publisher and business partner with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. He eventually took over Franklin's printing business of producing official documents for the colonial province of Pennsylvania and that of publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper that Franklin had acquired in 1729. Hall formed his own printing firm in 1766 and formed partnership firms with others. He published material for the colonial government.
Thomas Willcox was a colonial-era paper mill owner in Concord Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The Ivy Mills supplied paper used for currency for the Continental and United States governments as well as many South American governments. Willcox was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, made printing paper for him and received the first orders for paper used in colonial American currency from him.
Early American publishers and printers played a central role in the social, religious, political and commercial development of the Thirteen Colonies in British America prior to and during the American Revolution and the ensuing American Revolutionary War that established American independence.
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