Take a Good Look
Yesterday I was in a book shop on Clark street and Wells (here in Chicago) and was looking at the high stacks and thinking about the books all around me. I thought, even in a hundred years I couldn't read all of these books. (Not that it was a big book shop, it just had too many books.) So I set aside the daunting purpose of their place here and now and drifted into deep thought about the packaging. Most of these books will end up in a landfill or will wisely be recycled. That is a comfort to someone who loves them just a little less than the planet which provided the materials to make them. That is, the ink, the wood pulp, and the carbon based bipeds who first wrote, edited, and published them.
I asked the owner of the shop, a worn man in his early sixties (his face looks as if it were a painting by Guiseppe Arcimboldo) if he knew what the oldest book was in his shop is and he rolled his eyes and said "How the hell should I know that?" He then returned to his work. This guy is old school all the way. He doesn't even use a register. He has a cigar box. He figures the tax out in his head. So I went back to poking around. My reason for asking was that I wanted to see a book printed in the old way from linen or some rag stock paper, with fine leather cover for example.
Two weeks before I had been reading about the development of paper and how in the mid 19Th century paper manufactures went from using finer more sturdy pulp of cloth like fibers to wood pulp. Everyone knows that newsprint (the paper that gets its name from it being most commonly used by news papers) is full of acids that over time yellow and break down the fibers of the paper. But early on in the beginning of its processing history the demand came when more and more people were learning to read and write. The invention of a reliable fountain pen (or reservoir pen as it was called then) also spurred a demand for cheap paper. This, along with the steam engine, and the Fourdrinier press, made such paper in the beginning possible.
Much of the early paper made from wood pulp contained significant amounts of alum, a variety of aluminum sulfate salts that are significantly acidic. Alum was added to paper to assist in sizing the paper,[6] making it somewhat water resistant so that inks did not "run" or spread uncontrollably. The early paper makers did not realize that the alum they added liberally to cure almost every problem encountered in making their product would eventually be detrimental.[4] The cellulose fibers which make up paper are hydrolyzed by acid, and the presence of alum would eventually degrade the fibers until the paper disintegrated in a process which has come to be known as "slow fire". Documents written on rag paper were significantly more stable. The use of non-acidic additives to make paper is becoming more prevalent and the stability of these papers is less of an issue.
Paper made from mechanical pulp contains significant amounts of lignin, a major component in wood. In the presence of light and oxygen lignin reacts to give yellow materials, which is why newsprint and other mechanical paper yellows with age. Paper made from bleached kraft or sulfite pulps does not contain significant amounts of lignin and is therefore better suited for books, documents and other applications where whiteness of the paper is essential.
This is all very basic description borrowed from a link below. The science behind it (chemistry) is something I am not good at appreciating. I do have a fondness for anything that lasts a long time. It fascinates me to consider that some paper in the right conditions can survive a very long time. In fact newspaper newsprint from the early part of the 20TH century have been discovered in landfills and other situations where it was buried, and the paper was in remarkable condition. The secret is to keep it out of sunlight. Sunlight is a powerful corrosive. (For people, too).
So I wanted to see something other than the wood pulp that I have known (and only known) my whole life. Trouble is, that is all there is. In the west before wood paper there were two chief candidates (other than clay tablets) for recording thought. One was the Egyptian Papyrus (a fiber derived from a plant called the papyrus plant (duh!) and the Greek solution of parchment or vellum, which was commonly made from sheep or calf's skin. (Uck!). The stuff has a long shelf life though. Think about the Dead Sea Scrolls for example. Granted they were stored in a desert in a cave (and out of the sun!) and held in clay pots.
Paper making is said to go back to China in the 2ND century where inspired by wasps, the Han Dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun is widely regarded to have invented the modern method of paper making. He must have gotten tired of using silk, bone, and bamboo.
But try and get parchment, or papyrus on Clark Street and they look at you like you are nuts. So I ponder the depth of fortune of sunlight, landfills, dumb luck and careful stinginess of ancient looking booksellers.
Wondrous. That is what I come to in the end. The act of reading on crumbly old cheep novels and on dirty daily rags is no less noble than on the finest silk or parchment. A shepherd boy may fling a rock into a cave and discover lost texts of the Bible or I can walk into a dusty old shop and find a treasure waiting for me.
Regardless of any form they all disappear sooner or later. It all gets washed away by weather and time. So the next time you look at a book, well...
SMILE
Its a treasure, paper or not.
Here are some web links I borrowed from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-pulp_paper
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpapermaking.htm
http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/paperHistory.htm
http://www.wipapercouncil.org/invention.htm
Here are some some books:
http://www.amazon.com/Papermaking-Dover-Lettering-Graphic-Printing/dp/0486236196
From: http://www.papermaking.net/amazon.htm
The Art and Craft of Papermaking by Sophie Dawson is my favorite papermaking book. It takes you from great step by step instructions on the very basics to explanations of works by all kinds of creative paper artists. ISBN 1561381586
Papermaking with Plants by Helen Heibert is great if you want to work with natural fibers. Again it has great photography as well as easy to read instructions. Rumor has it that she is also working on a pigment book but it is not out quite yet. ISBN 1580170870 - She also has a new book out called the Papermakers Companion. It has a lot of information but pictures are small and hard to follow.
Papermaking - The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft by Dard Hunter is THE book if you are looking for information about the history of papermaking. ISBN 0486236196
The Cloudmakers by James Rumford is a darling children's book. It is a cute story about how a boy and his grandfather take their shoes off and make paper out of their sandals to save their lives. ISBN 0395765056
Paper Art - The Complete Guide to Papercraft Techniques by Diane Maurer-Mathison ISBN 0823038408
Cover to Cover - Creative Techniques for Making Beautiful Books, Journals and Albums by Shereen LaPlantz ISBN 0937274879
Yesterday I was in a book shop on Clark street and Wells (here in Chicago) and was looking at the high stacks and thinking about the books all around me. I thought, even in a hundred years I couldn't read all of these books. (Not that it was a big book shop, it just had too many books.) So I set aside the daunting purpose of their place here and now and drifted into deep thought about the packaging. Most of these books will end up in a landfill or will wisely be recycled. That is a comfort to someone who loves them just a little less than the planet which provided the materials to make them. That is, the ink, the wood pulp, and the carbon based bipeds who first wrote, edited, and published them.
I asked the owner of the shop, a worn man in his early sixties (his face looks as if it were a painting by Guiseppe Arcimboldo) if he knew what the oldest book was in his shop is and he rolled his eyes and said "How the hell should I know that?" He then returned to his work. This guy is old school all the way. He doesn't even use a register. He has a cigar box. He figures the tax out in his head. So I went back to poking around. My reason for asking was that I wanted to see a book printed in the old way from linen or some rag stock paper, with fine leather cover for example.
Two weeks before I had been reading about the development of paper and how in the mid 19Th century paper manufactures went from using finer more sturdy pulp of cloth like fibers to wood pulp. Everyone knows that newsprint (the paper that gets its name from it being most commonly used by news papers) is full of acids that over time yellow and break down the fibers of the paper. But early on in the beginning of its processing history the demand came when more and more people were learning to read and write. The invention of a reliable fountain pen (or reservoir pen as it was called then) also spurred a demand for cheap paper. This, along with the steam engine, and the Fourdrinier press, made such paper in the beginning possible.
Much of the early paper made from wood pulp contained significant amounts of alum, a variety of aluminum sulfate salts that are significantly acidic. Alum was added to paper to assist in sizing the paper,[6] making it somewhat water resistant so that inks did not "run" or spread uncontrollably. The early paper makers did not realize that the alum they added liberally to cure almost every problem encountered in making their product would eventually be detrimental.[4] The cellulose fibers which make up paper are hydrolyzed by acid, and the presence of alum would eventually degrade the fibers until the paper disintegrated in a process which has come to be known as "slow fire". Documents written on rag paper were significantly more stable. The use of non-acidic additives to make paper is becoming more prevalent and the stability of these papers is less of an issue.
Paper made from mechanical pulp contains significant amounts of lignin, a major component in wood. In the presence of light and oxygen lignin reacts to give yellow materials, which is why newsprint and other mechanical paper yellows with age. Paper made from bleached kraft or sulfite pulps does not contain significant amounts of lignin and is therefore better suited for books, documents and other applications where whiteness of the paper is essential.
This is all very basic description borrowed from a link below. The science behind it (chemistry) is something I am not good at appreciating. I do have a fondness for anything that lasts a long time. It fascinates me to consider that some paper in the right conditions can survive a very long time. In fact newspaper newsprint from the early part of the 20TH century have been discovered in landfills and other situations where it was buried, and the paper was in remarkable condition. The secret is to keep it out of sunlight. Sunlight is a powerful corrosive. (For people, too).
So I wanted to see something other than the wood pulp that I have known (and only known) my whole life. Trouble is, that is all there is. In the west before wood paper there were two chief candidates (other than clay tablets) for recording thought. One was the Egyptian Papyrus (a fiber derived from a plant called the papyrus plant (duh!) and the Greek solution of parchment or vellum, which was commonly made from sheep or calf's skin. (Uck!). The stuff has a long shelf life though. Think about the Dead Sea Scrolls for example. Granted they were stored in a desert in a cave (and out of the sun!) and held in clay pots.
Paper making is said to go back to China in the 2ND century where inspired by wasps, the Han Dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun is widely regarded to have invented the modern method of paper making. He must have gotten tired of using silk, bone, and bamboo.
But try and get parchment, or papyrus on Clark Street and they look at you like you are nuts. So I ponder the depth of fortune of sunlight, landfills, dumb luck and careful stinginess of ancient looking booksellers.
Wondrous. That is what I come to in the end. The act of reading on crumbly old cheep novels and on dirty daily rags is no less noble than on the finest silk or parchment. A shepherd boy may fling a rock into a cave and discover lost texts of the Bible or I can walk into a dusty old shop and find a treasure waiting for me.
Regardless of any form they all disappear sooner or later. It all gets washed away by weather and time. So the next time you look at a book, well...
SMILE
Its a treasure, paper or not.
Here are some web links I borrowed from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-pulp_paper
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpapermaking.htm
http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/paperHistory.htm
http://www.wipapercouncil.org/invention.htm
Here are some some books:
http://www.amazon.com/Papermaking-Dover-Lettering-Graphic-Printing/dp/0486236196
From: http://www.papermaking.net/amazon.htm
The Art and Craft of Papermaking by Sophie Dawson is my favorite papermaking book. It takes you from great step by step instructions on the very basics to explanations of works by all kinds of creative paper artists. ISBN 1561381586
Papermaking with Plants by Helen Heibert is great if you want to work with natural fibers. Again it has great photography as well as easy to read instructions. Rumor has it that she is also working on a pigment book but it is not out quite yet. ISBN 1580170870 - She also has a new book out called the Papermakers Companion. It has a lot of information but pictures are small and hard to follow.
Papermaking - The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft by Dard Hunter is THE book if you are looking for information about the history of papermaking. ISBN 0486236196
The Cloudmakers by James Rumford is a darling children's book. It is a cute story about how a boy and his grandfather take their shoes off and make paper out of their sandals to save their lives. ISBN 0395765056
Paper Art - The Complete Guide to Papercraft Techniques by Diane Maurer-Mathison ISBN 0823038408
Cover to Cover - Creative Techniques for Making Beautiful Books, Journals and Albums by Shereen LaPlantz ISBN 0937274879
1 comment:
Thanks a lot for sharing. You have done a brilliant job. Your article is truly relevant to my study at this moment, and I am really happy I discovered your website. However, I would like to see more details about this topic. I'm going to keep coming back here.
Resume Writing Services
Post a Comment