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. When the water in the pulp eventually dried up, a thin sheet of paper was left. It wasn't an easy process. It took great skill to get the thickness just right.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, this new process of making paper began to spread into northern Italy, southern Germany, and parts of France. Paper mills were soon popping up close to the  major urban centers that had previously produced parchment. Paper became an acceptable substitute for parchment, paving the way for the printing press.

As inventions come about, in my lifetime, I always wonder why someone didn't think of that before. History helps us to see the sequential order of things. Each time period brings about not only new inventions but new people who are sent here to create just what is needed next.

Amy S. Johnson