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This information is reprinted from the For Beginners column
of Hand Papermaking Newsletter #42 (April, 1998).
To learn how to order Hand Papermaking bi-annual magazine
and quarterly newsletter, click
here.
What Paper Is, and Is Not
It has been said that the earliest papermaker was the
common wasp, which rasps dry wood in its mouth to create
a pulpy substance for nest building. Humans have also used
paper pulp as a building material. Modern sculptors use
paper pulp as well. Most people, though, still think of
paper as a writing or drawing surface. But many such paper-like
materials commonly used centuries ago, are not technically
paper at all.
Probably the best known paper-like writing surface is papyrus,
a Greek word from which our word "paper" derives. It hails
from Egypt, of course, but was also used in Greece and Rome.
The plant has a tall, thick stalk made up of layers. These
layers are split apart, flattened, and placed side by side;
then additional layers are placed on top of the first layer,
crosswise. After pressing, drying, and dressing with flour
paste, the papyrus is beaten flat and smooth, ready for
inscription.
Another type of early writing surface used in the Mediterranean,
and later in Europe, was parchment or vellum: the former
made from sheepskin, the latter from calves, lambs, or goats.
Stretched on frames, these animal skins were de-haired,
de-fatted, and scraped smooth to make a luxurious surface
for scribes, illuminators, and early printers.
So-called "rice paper" is a misnomer for the translucent
papers made in Asia. It is made by spirally slicing, from
outside to inside, the pith of a tree native to Taiwan.
Beaten bark from plants like hemp, fig, and mulberry created
the substrate of choice for original inhabitants of Central
and South America, Polynesia, and Africa. Huun, amatl, tapa,
and amate are all regional variations.
Despite their attractive qualities, the paper-like items
outlined above are not paper. They are all created by working
(beating, slicing, scraping, combining) the materials readily
available in any particular region. But the bonding of elements
that creates true paper happens on a microscopic level.
Papermakers are a little like matchmakers. They create the
proper atmosphere, the proper setting, and the proper chemistry
to achieve this bonding.
Papermakers promote the bonding of cellulose: a carbohydrate
which is the chief constituent of plant cell walls. Tasteless
and odorless, cellulose is a type of polymer, a relatively
weighty compound of similar molecules often grouped end-to-end
to form a chain.
Plant fibers are thread-like accumulations of cellulose.
Through soaking, beating, and sometimes chemically treating
the plant materials, individual fibers can be separated
and suspended in water. The fibers must also be bruised
a bit to help the cellulose become hydrated. This hydration
is ultimately responsible for the chemical bonding that
happens once sheets are pulled, pressed, and dried.
The final word on this subject comes from Dard Hunter.
"To be classed as true paper, the thin sheets must be made
from fiber that has been macerated until each individual
filament is a separate unit; the fibers are then intermixed
with water, and, by the use of a sievelike screen, are lifted
from the water in the form of a thin stratum, the water
draining through the small openings of the screen leaving
a sheet of matted fiber upon the screen's surface. This
thin layer of intertwined fiber is paper."
Copyright 1998, Hand Papermaking, Inc.
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