...Then it is stampt, and washt as white as snowe, Then flong on frame, and hang'd to dry I tro: Thus paper straight, it is to write upon, as it were rubde, and smothde with slicking stone. from an anonymous poem in Thomas Churchyard's A Sparke of Friendship and Warme Goodwill. The New York Public Library acquired the Leonard B. Schlosser Collection on the History of Papermaking in 1986, a gift of over 3000 articles, with rare volumes from the 8th century to the present. This collection provided the basis for a comprehensive survey, which included important works from the library's Spencer Collection (the source of many of the best specimens in the exhibition) and items lent from museums, universities, and private collections. The curators' intention was to "explore paper's role in transmitting ideas in both written and artistic forms."^1 This focus consequently offered an overview of the history of printing into the 18th century, and printmaking and bookworks in the 19th and 20th. Many "firsts" and "earliest knowns" highlighted the more than 200 objects exhibited, including woodblock prints and engravings in books, paper samples, tools, illuminated manuscripts, prints, drawings, and historical treatises about papermaking. The general text of the exhibition, mounted on the wall in each of the thirteen sections, was fully supplemented by the title cards for each item. The curators elaborated, where possible, on fiber content, beating, sheet formation, binding, and surface treatment while commenting on historical details. Videotapes presenting both Eastern and Western processes were on view just outside the exhibition hall. Western papermaking was demonstrated by Katherine and Howard Clark at Twinrocker mill while a videotape adapted from a film of Eishiro Abe at work, provided by the Japanese National Tourist Office, presented Japanese papermaking. These films were indispensable as an instructional preface for visitors unfamiliar with handmade paper. Another aid, a glossary written by Schlosser, was offered with the brochure which accompanied the exhibition. The first eight sections of the exhibit progressed historically from Precursors of Paper, through the invention of paper in China, and on to its spread throughout Asia to the Middle East and the West. A Babylonian clay cone with cuneiform inscription (2450 BC), an oracle bone, rare early papyrus, and a book containing Captain James Cook's collection of tapa bark specimens from the South Sea Islands were among articles in the precursor section. Four folio leaves from a palm leaf manuscript, Prajanaparamita, the Mahayana Buddhist scripture on the Perfection of Wisdom (11-12th century) inspired wonder. How did the ancients doodle before the advent of paper? With a stick in the dust? The earliest description of Chinese papermaking displayed was from a Japanese translation of an encyclopedia on traditional technology by Sung Ying-hsing, from 1637. The translation, by Tenko Kaibutsu in 1771, records the five basic steps of the Chinese papermaking process with woodblock illustrations recut from the original Chinese version. Chinese moulds from the Dard Hunter Paper Museum hung on the wall, one laid and one wove. A sheet Hunter himself had formed on the wove mould was still in place on the mould where it had dried. Hunter's important books on the history of papermaking,^2 complemented the Asian sections of the exhibit in particular by contributing a unifying element between countries. Korean papermaking was cited by the curators as a "cultural bridge" between China and Japan. Three books were displayed in this section. A folding book, the Avatamsaka Sutra (14th century), with gold ink on indigo dyed paper, was one of the highlights of the exhibition. Tools for preparing fiber and hand beating, and a mould were displayed in the Japanese section. Also displayed were two examples of Empress Shotoku's printed charms with pagoda receptacles, known as dharani, (Nara, 764-770), one each from the Schlosser and Spencer collections. The accompanying text describes these items: "until recently considered the first block printing on paper in the world." The library reprinted illustrations from Jihei Kunisaki's Kamisuki Chohoki (A Handy Guide for Papermaking), the first Japanese handbook for farmers. This reprint, in poster format, clarified the text for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Japanese papermaking process. The selection of examples from Southeast Asia, Tibet, Nepal, and India were exquisite. Two versions of An Ascetic Riding a Nag, thought to have originated in Bijapur in the Deccan, India (c. 1625-1650), were eye openers. In one, the silhouette of ascetic and nag were cut out and glued to a sheet of paper which was then marbleized. After removing the silhouette the artist then drew in the figures with pen and ink. The artist's rendering somewhat mimicked the surrounding marbled curvatures, conveying a vibrant sense. In the other version, the marbling was reversed: ascetic and nag were marbled against an undecorated background. The exhibit followed the migration of papermaking westward into Samarkand where Middle Eastern papermakers are credited with the first use of virgin flax fibers and the invention of a human-operated trip-hammer for beating. Decorated papers were displayed in small autograph albums. A major feature was a 14th century Quran of linen and hemp paper, the fiber thought to have been beaten by hand. The papers were then burnished and sized with vegetable starch or gum to smooth the surface for the calligrapher's application of ink, gold, and silver. To introduce the viewer to Western papermaking seven illustrations were chosen from the article "Papetrie" in Diderot's Encyclopedia (1751-1780). These plates showed the basic equipment and steps in the process at the Langlee mill in France and were an important feature of the exhibition. Jost Amman's woodcut, The Papermaker (1568), the earliest known printed illustration of papermaking in the west, was among volumes by Keller, Bockler, Zonka, Lelande, Desmareto, Luiken, Zeising, and Zimmerman, creating a virtual who's who of early papermaking documentation. The pristine quality of the papers in these books was a strong testimony to the stamper mills in which the paper they were printed on was made. Examples of watermarks were hung above these books. Early British and American papermaking were presented in a separate glass case. Examples of the work of William Caxton, the first British printer, and of early British papermakers were found here. Dard Hunter's Papermaking By Hand in America, open to a description of the Rittenhouse mill, accompanied early examples of paper from Rittenhouse. Western technological developments in paper and printing were described throughout the exhibit text for this section. The next section, Innovations and the Search for New Fibers, summarized several important developments: the Hollander beater, Western wove paper, and the transition from the predominant use of linen and hemp rags to cotton rags in the 18th century. The case contained works by Schaeffer, Koops, and Reaumur, as well as competitive, often humorous attempts at promoting the use of alternate fibers, including a corn husk controversy. The development of Western wove paper is attributed to the mid-18th century British collaboration between papermaker James Whatman and printer John Baskerville, and examples of both of their work was exhibited here. Although this case had two important volumes showing beater placement in a mill setting, Sturms (1718) and Van Zyles (1761), there was, regrettably, no depiction of the mechanics of a Hollander beater in the exhibition. The following section was brief but valuable due to five mounted mechanical pen and ink drawings with watercolor of the first papermaking machine, invented by Nicholas-Louis Robert. Unsigned, these were "probably of the inventors' original six drawings." A half-size model of Robert's first machine was also displayed, built by Severn-Lamb of Stratford on Avon, in 1984. The issue of industrialization and commercialization was further explored as a topic, leading to the investigation of permanence and deterioration. This section was limited in examples, but it pointed out some of the factors leading to the weakening of paper quality: shorter fiber length from Hollander beating, excessive use of bleach, overbeating, and the use of the Fourdrinier machine, which only shook in one direction. A volume of Euclid using pure linen rag paper (Venetian, 1482) was contrasted with a German edition (1883-89). Morris Friedrich Illig's treatise on his invention of alum rosin "beater sizing" was contrasted with John Murray's published condemnation of wood pulp and alum rosin sizing. Where this section could have made an impact to the general public's awareness, there were unfortunately too few examples and it was too subtle in its distinctions for the average viewer to understand. Of particular interest in a section on decorated papers were 18th century papers printed or embossed with metal leaf and metallic varnishes in combination with stencil coloring, known as brocade paper. Also included were decorated books, block printed, marbled, and paste papers. A corollary exhibit, elsewhere in the library, included elegant block printed papers made by the firm of Remondini in Italy (18th & 19th century), and also by the Austrian Wiener Werkstatte. The final section in the exhibit, Paper in Books and Prints, was distinctive because, as the text pointed out, "little is generally known about the choices concerning paper these early printmakers may have consciously made." A select group of 19th century artists' prints were chosen to examine the use of a particular paper for its aesthetic potential; artists such as Rembrandt and Whistler utilized papers for qualities of printability, texture, color, and luminosity. In one example, the curators compared two variants of Esaias Vandevelt's print Acadian Landscape. One of the woodcuts was printed on blue paper. The other was a chiaroscuro woodcut printed in black with two-tone blocks in shades of green, on off-white paper. This portion of the exhibit, clear and well thought out, was one of the most interesting. An imitation of wood or ivory bas-relief, German seal print, The Coronation of the Virgin (anonymous, c. 1460), amazed many visitors. Dampened paper was rubbed into a carved relief matrix and colored paste was applied. The surface almost looked like vellum, paper's immediate precursor in Europe, with incredible detail sustained in such a small relief. In order to characterize the 20th century revival of hand papermaking, the selections began with books and paper by Dard Hunter, John Mason, Douglass Howell, and Henry Morris. A delightful case included three different editions of Virgil's Eclogues with woodcuts by Aristide Maillol. One edition, by Cranach Press, used paper made by the artist's nephew, Gaspard Maillol, at a mill in Montval, France. In this example it was easy to ascertain the direct interest of the artist in the manufacture of the paper he was working with. Most of the contemporary art and bookworks displayed from the Schlosser collection were from Universal Limited Editions, Gemini, and Tyler Graphics. Books and prints from other presses were added to give a balance and to show diversity of technique. The emphasis was towards printmaking because works from the 1960's and 1970's predominated. The library wisely supplemented the contemporary selections with a lecture by Paul Wong, artistic director of Dieu Donne Papermill. The curators also commissioned a site-specific installation by Michelle Stuart. This temple-like structure was located in the center of the exhibition hall. "A kind of book in formation," the walls were collaged with hundreds of papers of her research and writings. "Constructed with paper as a transformation of memories preserved on paper, Derelict Tracts: An Observatory presents a metaphorical expression of the themes of the exhibition." Libraries are temples of refinement. As a presentation of the formidable addition of the Schlosser Collection to the New York Public Library's holdings, this exhibition was successful. Because of the abundance of materials it was possible to suffer from aesthetic overload, although one gladly returned for more. It would have been difficult to digest the information with any detailed comprehension, however, without a previous background in the field of paper and printing. Also, for both the practicing papermaker and the uninitiated, a few well-placed photographs of the "dirty work" of papermaking would have been beneficial. There was not much sense in this exhibit of the work, the wetness, or the monotony that was and sometimes remains a part of the craft of papermaking. Although the exhibit will have long since closed by the time this review appears, those interested in viewing these important articles of papermaking history from both the Schlosser and the Spencer collections have the opportunity to see them by appointment. The wealth of materials from the Schlosser collection exhibited here and their significance to the history of papermaking make it understandable that it will be another three years before a full catalogue of the collection is available. This is one publication which those interested in the history of papermaking can look forward to with great anticipation.   Notes: 1. All quotes are taken from the exhibition press release or from the text in the brochure prepared for the exhibition. 2. Books by Dard Hunter exhibited: Old Papermaking in China and Japan, 1932. Papermaking in Southern Siam, 1936. A Papermaking Pilgrimage to Japan, Korea, and China, 1936. Chinese Ceremonial Paper, 1937. Papermaking by Hand in India, 1939. Papermaking by Hand in America, 1950.   Eugenie Barron

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