[Ansteorra] Paper

[Robert G. Ferrell]

On 2/8/2011 12:06 PM, Mike C. Baker wrote:

I don't want to interfere with you doing your own research, but I'll
give you a few hints.

> Oh, foo.  ANOTHER area where I need to do some research.  Questions
> immediately coming to mind:
> * How many advancements in paper-making were serendipitous results of
> things being inadvertently added to / present in the mortar / pestle /
> raw materials combination?

Not to be flippant, but I suspect the answer to this is "all of them."
That's pretty much the way most of the techniques we're familiar with
were developed, at least prior to the introduction of a rigorous
scientific method.

> * How early were water- or wind-driven triphammer mills applied to the
> process? Treadmill driven?

Mostly direct water pressure, like a grist mill.  Perhaps very late in
period some form of belt-drive may have been employed.

> * How much of the process was done with dry materials? How much wet?

The whole process is wet. You let the wet linen/hemp/jute ferment in the
presence of lye from the ashes for a couple weeks, then pound it (still
wet), then rinse, slurry, and dip the mould.  Dry doesn't really enter
into it until the end (wet pressing, air-drying, then dry pressing).

> Dust suppression measures? Dust explosion potential?

Nil.  Maybe microscopic linen fibers or something.  I suppose in very
large commercial mills (probably post period) this might have been a
concern.

> * How strict were the guild controls on the process?  How tied to
> original area of production were certain types & grades of paper?

Heather Swanson's work (U. of Birmingham, last I heard) will be your
best bet here.

I've written a couple of papers on Medieval guilds, and I haven't seen a
lot on paper-making. It really didn't gain much of a foothold in Western
Europe until the middle-to-late 15th century.  The earliest woodcut
illustration we have is from 1568.  We do have an anecdotal account of a
paper mill established by Ulman Stromer in Nurnberg in 1390, but not
many details beyond that.

For a general starting point, I suggest David Hunter's "Papermaking: The
History and Technique of an Ancient Craft." Dover, 1978 (reprint of the
Alfred Knopf edition of 1947).

Best of luck in your (newly-conceived) research.

Cynric