Parchment to Paper: A Crucial Change In the mid-fifteenth century, the book market was doing very well. As more and more Aristocrats began to collect books, their need for more scribes and booksellers began increasing. Scholars, students, theologians, government employees, and the literate public all required books. Soon the supply of the raw material, parchment, could not keep up with the need. Parchment was not only expensive but it was in short supply because there were only so many suitable animals to be skinned. Paper had already been used for centuries in the Eastern cultures. But in the twelfth century, the process of manufacturing paper had come to Europe through Spain. Before paper was manufactured from wood pulp in the nineteenth century, it was made from linen rags. Old rags were fairly accessible, unlike the skins of animals. The rags were collected and then mashed together into a pulp that was mixed with water. The pulp was then put through a rectangular griddle. W
Rhetoric and Civilization by Amy S. Johnson