[Ansteorra] paper selection

[Coblaith Muimnech]

I could use some advice on choosing paper for an A&S project I'm  
working on.  It's to be an armorial, primarily inspired by the one at  
<http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/ausgaben/thumbnailseite.html? 
id=00001647&seite=7>.

The website says the volume in question conains "63 Bl. - Papier",  
which I assume is short for "63 Blatten - Papier", which I think  
literally translates as '63 sheets - paper'.  That said, it looks  
like parchment to my (admittedly untrained) eye, and every armorial  
on the site seems to be described in terms of "Bl. - Papier", so I  
think they may be using the term loosely.  (Again, I'm no expert on  
the matter, but I think paper was fairly rare as a bookbinder's  
medium in the 16th century, so it seems likely to me that we'd be  
seeing "Pergament" a lot more frequently if they were going to  
distinguish between the two.)  In any event, parchment just isn't in  
my budget for this project, so I need to find a good rag paper, as  
close as possible to what might've been used in a 16th-century  
English manuscript.

The inspiration volume's pages are (now--I think they've been re- 
bound) roughly 29.78 by 40.39 cm.  That's approximately eleven and  
three-quarters by sixteen inches.  So far as I can tell, assuming I  
use bifolia and don't trim the pages, the standard sizes that would  
give me the closest page dimensions are ANSI C (at 17 by 22 inches)  
and ISO A2 (at 420 by 594 millimeters).

I'm still investigating the techniques I'll need to use, but I  
believe I'll want the paper I choose to be compatible with ink  
(delivered both by some sort of printing block or plate and by pens-- 
probably quills), paint (probably gouache), and maybe leadpoint.

Any advice about where to shop for paper, what to look for when I  
shop (especially including any faulty assumptions in what I've  
written above), and/or particular written sources that might be  
helpful with this project would be much appreciated.


Coblaith Muimnech
<mailto:Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>