On Paper and Paper-marks
William Blades · The Library · 1889
On Paper and Paper-marks.T HE history of the invention of paper has yet to be written, especially for English readers.We have a few notices here and there concerning specimens of early paper, and the locality of 15th or even 14th century European paper mills is known; but the whole subject has been neglected, and we must look to France and especially Germany for trustworthy information.Dr.Joseph Karabacek, of Vienna, has lately published (1887) an essay upon Das arabische Papier, as well as upon Neue Quellen tur Papiergeschichte, and Dr. Julius Wiesner has issued Die mikroskopische Untersuchung des Papiers (1887).In France, too, M. C. M. Briquet has issued some important works upon the same subjects, the conclusions in which, so far as the historical part is concerned, are embodied in the following remarks:-The essays of Dr. Karabacek, which appeared originally in Mitthalungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erxherxog Raiiur, are founded upon a careful examination of documents discovered some years ago in Egypt, and known as the El-Faijum find, the whole of which was secured for the library of the Archduke Bignier.The collection contains in all 12,500 documents on paper, being dissertations and letters concerning the administration of the district, receipts, lists of taxes, &c The language of all is either Arabic or Coptic, and the dates, where any, are of course in the Hegira sera, which M. Briquet has translated into the corresponding years of the Christian sera.Many of the more ancient are dateless, but can with tolerable certainty be dated ant* A.D. 800; 24 are dated earlier than 900; 77 between 913 and 1009, and so on up to A.D. 1397, which is the latest document in the collection.Some of the pieces specially treat of the manufacture and sale of Egyptian papyrus and Arabic paper, yielding us strong evidence that the latter gradually superseded the former between the years 800 and 1000, after which papyrus is no more used.So far as Paper is concerned Mr. Karabacek's researches entirely