Period writing paper

[Morgan's raider]

I am considering the impression of a attorney, who because of the war, has become a battle field journalist.


My qeustion is this, I have viewed quite a few original letters and they all or the majority seem to have wiritng lines, very similiar to notebook paper of today.

I know that i can buy paper on legal pads and after removing it from the carboard and triming the edge, i will have something that is very close in appearance.

However, if there is paper that is offered that is correct in both construction and layout, please let me know where it can be found.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period writing paper

I am considering the impression of a attorney, who because of the war, has become a battle field journalist.


My qeustion is this, I have viewed quite a few original letters and they all or the majority seem to have wiritng lines, very similiar to notebook paper of today.

I know that i can buy paper on legal pads and after removing it from the carboard and triming the edge, i will have something that is very close in appearance.

However, if there is paper that is offered that is correct in both construction and layout, please let me know where it can be found.

Below is some information on the different types of paper and sizes.

Keep in mind that all paper in the time period was made from cotton and linen rags so if you are after paper that has the correct content you need to look for 100% cotton rag paper (there is 25% cotton paper but I prefer the 100% cotton paper). It is usually available in letter size. I haven't found any lined paper that is cotton paper so you might be stuck with using the pad paper and trimming the top if you want to use lined paper. I have seen original notes on both white and blue lined paper.

The sizes of paper and terms that I have found in period sources were:

Commercial cuts of paper

Pot - 12 ½ x 15 inches
Cap or small cap, writing - 13 x 16 inches
Double cap, writing - 17 x 28 inches
Flat cap, writing - 14 x 17 inches
Fools cap, writing - 12 ½ x 16 inches
Double foolscap - 27 x 17 inches
Post - 18 3/4 x 15 1/4 inches
Folio post, writing - 17 x 22 inches (came in blue and white)
Ledger paper (not ledger books) - 7 x 14 inches
Imperial - 27 x 21 1/4 inches
Super Royal - 27 x 19 inches
Royal - 24 x 19 inches
Demy - 19 x 15 ½ inches
* I found reference to many more terms and sizes of commercial paper, but
these seemed to be the most common.

As for letter and note paper, they were prepared from the above commercial
sizes by the stationers in various sizes and packaged.

The terms foolscap, cap hand, post, pot, and Imperial papers originally
denoted particular types of watermarks, but eventually came to note the
size of the paper.

It seems as if modern terminology for paper sizes differs from the period
terms. Modern sizes and terminology are below.
Foolscap - 13 ½ x 17 inches
Double foolscap - 17 x 27 inches
Folio - 13 ½ x 8 ½ inches (foolscap paper folded in half)
Quarto 6 3/4 x 8 ½ inches (foolscap paper folded to make four leaves)
Octavo 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches (foolscap paper fooled to make eight leaves)
Large post - 16 1/5 x 21 inches
Demy - 17 ½ x 22 ½ inches
Royal - 20 x 25 inches


There were 3 classes of paper; writing/drawing, printing and wrapping.
There were 5 subclasses of writing/drawing paper; cream wove, yellow wove,
blue wove, cream laid, and blue laid. Included in writing paper was
drawing paper and drawing paper was cream wove and writing paper was laid.
There were 2 subclasses of printing paper; laid and wove. There were 4
subclasses of wrapping paper; blue, purple, brown and whited brown.


Laid paper were named for the dim narrow lines water-marked on the paper.
Plain wove paper had no water mark on the paper.

A quire of paper was 24 sheets and a ream of paper consisted of twenty
quires.

The information above came from:

****'s Encyclopedi_a of Practical Receipts and Processes by William ****
(185
A Supplement to Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines_by
Robert Hunt (1864)
Cole's Dictionary of Dry Goods by George S. Cole (1892)

I hope this helps some.

[Swag]

Re: Period writing paper

Sir, you may try to contact Mr. Sullivan of Sullivan press. http://www.sullivanpress.com/ I am sure He would be able to possibly help you out.

[Lone Guard]

Re: Period writing paper

Also try contacting Troy Groves (AZReenactor), he has recently being performing a lot of ephemera research.

Good luck.

[Stephen Shepherd]

Re: Period writing paper

Virginia,

You wrote:

'Laid paper were named for the dim narrow lines water-marked on the paper.
Plain wove paper had no water mark on the paper.'

Laid paper is made with fine wires held in a frame (the woof) with small 'cables' (warp) holding them in place resulting in the grid pattern apparent when held up to the light. A water mark is added to the wire to put the manufacturers name into the paper.

Wove paper is made using a frame with woven screen, so the grid pattern isn't there and when held up to the light no real visible grid pattern lines are in the paper. Wove paper can have a watermark.

Before the introduction of paper making equipment from Gavin in Philadelphia in 1860, especially a hollander, the paper out here in the State of Deseret was made using a beet grinder (similar to a hollander) and the paper was said to be as 'crude, still retaining button holes.'


Stephen Shepherd

[nastt]

Re: Period writing paper

Sir,
Heres a good link and reference on period sketchbooks:

http://www.frenchdrawings.org/sketchbooks.php

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period writing paper

Virginia,

You wrote:

'Laid paper were named for the dim narrow lines water-marked on the paper.
Plain wove paper had no water mark on the paper.'

Laid paper is made with fine wires held in a frame (the woof) with small 'cables' (warp) holding them in place resulting in the grid pattern apparent when held up to the light. A water mark is added to the wire to put the manufacturers name into the paper.

Wove paper is made using a frame with woven screen, so the grid pattern isn't there and when held up to the light no real visible grid pattern lines are in the paper. Wove paper can have a watermark.

Before the introduction of paper making equipment from Gavin in Philadelphia in 1860, especially a hollander, the paper out here in the State of Deseret was made using a beet grinder (similar to a hollander) and the paper was said to be as 'crude, still retaining button holes.'

Stephen Shepherd

I was only quoting only period sources in the information I presented and did not add my interpretation to the primary sources.

For my own information and on a different subject, you mentioned using a beet grinder as a hollander. Do you know when they started making beet sugar in UT? (I assume you were referring to making beet sugar when you mentioned a beet grinder.) I've been studying sugar history in the US and am always interested in adding new information to my files.

[vamick]

Re: Period writing paper

Im trying to upload pics of my ggfather's letters now, but dont know if I can since theire on ROXIO anyhow they are on a wide variety of paper some exactly like the small size blue "legal pads" except these period indigo pages do not have the red margin line, some are on what seems to be pages from a journel since they have embossed edges, some are on pages from a ledger ( he was a company sargent) and a few are even in red ink! I may have tried to upload too many at once , I'll see if I cant display some

[vamick]

Re: Period writing paper

Ok lets see if these showup!



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[vamick]

Re: Period writing paper

notice the embossed edges



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[vamick]

Re: Period writing paper

OR NOT! lets see if this on[/IMG]e posts

[Army30th]

Re: Period writing paper

I have used a product called "Big Chief" or "Son of Big Chief", a retail market writing tablet. (No longer being manufactured as of January 2001, but I still have one) It has a coarser surface than newsprint, and comes with blue lines . If you leave it exposed to the air, humidity, and sunlight, it ages quite well. (At least in my experience).

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Period writing paper

I have used a product called "Big Chief" or "Son of Big Chief", a retail market writing tablet. (No longer being manufactured as of January 2001, but I still have one) It has a coarser surface than newsprint, and comes with blue lines . If you leave it exposed to the air, humidity, and sunlight, it ages quite well. (At least in my experience).

If you are using the paper in an impression, do you really wanted it aged? They probably wouldn't have used aged paper since white paper was readily available. Their paper was rag paper and didn't yellow like our wood pulp paper does. I have a few original letters and notes written on white paper and it is not exactly bright white now but it is not as yellow as some paper from my school days.

I would only used "aged" paper if I was going to replicate an original document and wanted it to look 145 years old.

[Stephen Shepherd]

Re: Period writing paper

I have also seen references to this as 'logwood paper'.

Stephen Shepherd

[Stephen Shepherd]

Re: Period writing paper

BEET SEEDS!
THE UNDERSIGNED has on hand and for sale, One Thousand pounds of the best French Sugar Beet Seeds, arrived this fall from France by order of Elder John Taylor, at his residence in the 14th Ward, and at the Public Store.
A.HOAGLAND, Bishop

12/27/1851 Deseret News newspaper

Stephen Shepherd