The full title of A Paper Journey, Travels Among the Village Papermakers of India and Nepal prepares us for the flavor of Nigel Macfarlane's beautiful little book. Macfarlane describes a physical journey to papermaking centers in India and Nepal, and a metaphorical journey through the history of papermaking in the Indian subcontinent. Like papermakers around the world, he looks to the pattern of fibers, the surface texture, and the quirky imperfections in a sheet of paper to reveal the story of its origin. These same qualities suggest the larger story of how papermaking moved across the political landscape, changing subtly or drastically in response to different times and geographies. The book's first section outlines the traditional Muslim paper of northern India, made for centuries as a vehicle for finely detailed Mughal painting and calligraphy. In Sanganer, Macfarlane visits a man whose family has made hemp paper for generations, since before their migration from Bokhara, in Central Asia. Macfarlane describes the tools, materials, and methods clearly and concisely, pointing out how changes in available raw materials have affected the paper being produced today. He also mentions the motorized cylinder mould machines being used to make cheap recycled board, a technology which may allow these villagers to survive as papermakers but may ultimately put an end to fine Islamic paper. From there Macfarlane travels south to see cotton papers made using the foot-operated deckle box. This technology was an innovation of followers of Gandhi in 1940s and 1950s as part of an effort to revive village papermaking after the craft had been almost decimated by cheap machine-made papers, both domestic and imported. Gandhi's hope was to provide jobs for displaced villagers, using local materials and local equipment. Macfarlane visits the Kalam Kush paper mill at Gandhi's ashram in Ahmedabad, the Handmade Paper Institute at Pune, and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram paper mill at Pondicherry. He explains the basic deckle-box method, now used by cooperatives in various parts of India, and mentions various refinements in technology and raw materials. From India Macfarlane moves on to Nepal. He first visits Baglung, a village several days' walk along the ancient trade route to Tibet. Here farmers have traditionally made daphne paper using techniques similar to those which originated in China two thousand years ago. Such papers have been in continuous demand in the Himalayan region for block printed prayer books and talismans. Next he shows us a small factory on the outskirts of Kathmandu where two brothers are employing Japanese nagashizuki techniques with various local fibers to make papers for artists and printmakers. A Paper Journey was designed and letterpress printed by Henry Morris at Bird & Bull Press. The book's straightforward, unpretentious design creates the intimate feeling of a traveller's diary. Twenty tipped in paper samples supplement the text. The caption information for the samples includes country of origin, fiber, and very brief technical data. Given Macfarlane's emphasis on the particularity of each paper and each landscape, I would have appreciated further information on which specific mill made each sample and more complete data on techniques employed. In most cases I was able to sort this out from information in the text; in other cases I was uncertain. In Macfarlane's two earlier, limited edition books on these subjects--Handmade Papers of India and Handmade Papers of the Himalayas--his texts are succinct yet full of information on the history, techniques, and cultural uses of these papers. They are, in fact, somewhat more thorough than the present text. What sets this new book apart is Macfarlane's greater involvement with the places themselves. He brings us with him on a nighttime ride through empty Indian countryside lit only by the orange glow of a tea stall's fire. We are there celebrating a spring festival with the sky full of vibrant paper fighter kites dancing at the apex of their razor sharp ground-glass strings. Having been to many of the same mills and travelled through the same landscapes, I was transported back by the evocative clarity of his words. Macfarlane alludes to contemporary adaptations these villages are making to changing materials and market situations. He mentions his own role in helping to design new papers. Since this is crucial to the future of these papermakers and the papermaking tradition, I would have liked more discussion on the directions and implications of these changes. His Nepal section, for example, glosses over the complexities of the switch to Japanese techniques and the power politics of access to scarce daphne bark. Nigel Macfarlane does an admirable job of outlining the historical background and the techniques employed in handmade paper in India and Nepal. The text is always clear. Sometimes its sensitivity puts it closer to the realm of poetry. This is not and does not intend to be the definitive work on the subject. Its great strength lies in the respect and affection Macfarlane communicates for the people he visits, the craft he observes, and his guides along the way. Travel in India and Nepal is challenging. It is easy to get worn down by the grinding difficulties of life on the road. Macfarlane's open-hearted enthusiasm is contagious. His spirit encourages us all to take to the road to find our own paper trail.

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