Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/1070

 PAP

PAP

DiploM. ap. Bihl. Ital. T. 2. p. 247, feq. b Vo(T de Art.

Grammat. 1. I. c. 37. Pitifc. L. Ant. T. I. p. 413- *W. Char- ts. Hardou. adVlin. 1. 13. c. 12. As the pellicles were taken off, they extended them on a table : then two or more of them were laid over each other tranfverfely, fo as that their fibres made right angles; in this ftate they were glued together by the muddy waters of the Nilus *. Thefe being next preffed to get out the water, then dried, and laftly flatted and fmoothed by beating them with a mallet; constituted paper: which they fometimes po- lifhed further by rubbing it with a hemifphere of glafs, or the like.— Vid. Plin. Guiland. & Maffei hcc. citt.


 * In other countries, where the waters of the Nile were not to

be had, the pellicles were fattened together with a parte

made of the fineft wheat-flower, mixed with hot water, and

a fprinkling of vinegar. There were paper manufactures in divers cities of Egypt : but the greateft and moft celebrated, was that at Alexan- dria, where, according to Varro's account, paper was firft made. It is certain at leaft it was from hence that Greece and Italy were furnifhed, on account of the convenient fitu- ation of that port : and it is more than probable it was this gave the Romans occafion to conclude the art had been invented there. It was not till late, when Egypt was redu- ced into a Roman province, that they had much intercourfe or even knowledge of the inland cities of Egypt, where pa- per was alfo made. — The trade and confumption of this commodity were in reality incredible. Vopifcus relates, that the tyrant Firmus who rebelled in Egypt, publickly de- clared he could maintain an army only with paper and glue, papyro & glutine. This, Cafaubon understands as fpoken of ^he produce, and revenue of paper; though Salmafius takes it to be meant of the papyrus itfelf, which could fupply moft of the necenaries of life.' — Vid. Montfauc. Paltsogr. Grarc. I. 1. c. 2. p. 14.

We find divers fpecies of Egyptian paper mentioned in anci- ent writers : fome denominated from the places where they were manufactured ; as, i°. the Amphitheatnca, fuppofed to have been made in fome building belonging to an amphithe- atre at Alexandria. Though Guilandinus, with more proba- bility, reads it Arthribitka, from Arthribis, a city in the middle of the Delta, which was the place of its manufac- ture. What countenances the correction, is, that we find mention of this paper before there was fo much as an am- phitheatre at Rome, much lefs at Alexandria. — z°. Saitica, made in the city Sai. — 3°, Taniotica, or according to others Taitica, whofe place authors are not agreed on. There were other forts denominated from the makers ; as, i°. the Fanniana, from the grammarian Rhem. Fannius Pakemon, who kept a paper work. It was final}, but finer than the amphitheatrical paper ; being firft wrought at Alex- andria, and afterwards finifhed at Rome. — 1°. Claudia, firft made by order of the emperor Claudius. This was reputed the beft of all, in that befides the two pellicles, in common with the reft, it had a third.

Others were denominated from the ufes they were intended for; as, i°. Hieratica, the firft or oldeft fort, which was appropriated to religious ufes ; this was afterwards denomi- nated Augujla and Liviana, in complement to the emperor of that name, and his wife ; who, according to fome, im- proved and made it whiter than before. — 2°. Emporetica, or Etnporka, a fmall and coarfe fort, ferving Ihop-keepers ufes to tie up goods, &c.

The qualities for which the ancient papers were prized, were their thinnefs, clofenefs, whitenefs and fmoothnefs : though their breadth alfo confiderably enhanced their value. — That fort called Charta Claudia was thirteen inches wide ; the Hieratica, eleven; the Fanniana, ten; Amphkheatrka, nine: for the Saitica, it exceeded not the diameter of the mallet it was beaten with a.

a See further concerning the ancient paper in Nigrifoli Dijf. de

Charta ejxfque ufu apud antiques Ext. hi Galkr. de Mixerv. T.

3. p. 249, feq. Other authors are enumerated in Fabric.

Bihl. Antiq. c. 21. §. 9. p. 609. Pitifc. L. Ant. hcc. citt. Bark Paper, if it may be fo called, was only the liber, or inner whitilh rind inclofed between the bark and the wood of divers trees, as the maple, plane, beech and elm, but e- fpecially the tilia, tyavpa, or linden tree, which was that moffly ufed for this purpofe. — On this, ftripped off, flatted and dried, the ancients wrote books ; feveral of which are faid to be ftill extant b.


 * Vid. Plin. Hi/?. Nat. 1. 13. c. 11. Hardou. Not. ad Bund.

Suid. Lex. in Vqc. (pfjiupa. Ifid. Orig. 1. 6. c. 13. Alexand.

ab Alexand. 1. 2. c. 30. Salmuth. ad Pancirol. 1. 2. tit. 13.

p. 252, feq. Mabillon and Montfaucon fpeak frequently of manufcripts and diploma's on bark, and are very exprefs in diftinguifh- ing between the papyrus ufed by the Egyptians, and the liber or bark in ufe in other countries. The two are alledged to differ in this, that the bark paper was thicker and brit- tler than the papyrus, as well as more apt to cleave or fhi- ver, by which the writing was fometimes loft; as is the cafe in a bark manufcript in the abbey of St. Germains where the bottom of the paper remains, but the outer fur- face, on which the letters had been drawn, is in many pla- . ces peeled off c.

c Pid. Montfauc. PaLcogr. Grtec 1. 1. c. 2. p. i$. Mabill. dt Re Diplom. I. 1. c. 8. Reimm. Idea Stfl. Antiq. Liter, p.

But MafFei, it muft not be forgot, combats the whole fyf- tem of bark manufcripts* and charters, as a popular error ; and maintains that the ancients never wrote diploma's on bark ; that the distinction between the papers made of the papyrus and of cortex is without foundation ; that the only ufe of the tilia or linden, was for making thin boards or tablets for diptycha or pocket-books, wherein they wrote on both fides, as is done among us: an advantage which they could not have in the Egyptian paper by reafon of its thinnefs.

A late French writer on the rules of criticifm wanders fur- ther out of the way ; when he fpeaks of a fort of paper in Egypt made of the pith of the cyperus : he defcribes the manner of preparation, which was by reducing this pith to a pulp, and then fpreading it out in leaves. — fid. Hon. St. Marie Reflex, fur les Regl. de la crit. T. 2. Diff. 4. p. 77. not. — But this we fufpect for a chimera hatched only in the critick's brain.

Not but there occur divers anomalous forts of paper, which antiquaries are not a little puzzled with, what fpecies to re- fer them to : fuch is that of two bulls in the archives of the church of Gironne issued by the antipopes Romanus and Formofus, between the years 891 and 895. They are two ells long, and one broad, confift of two leaves or pellicles glued together tranfverfly, and are ftill legible in moft pla- ces. The conjectures of the French Scavans are numerous: the abbot Hieraut de Bellmont has a difcourfe exprefs on the occafion. Some will have them made of the leaves of the alga, or feawreck — others of the leaves of a rufh called la hoga, growing in the marines of Rouffillon — others of papyrus — others of cotton — and others of bark. So little certainty there is in thefe things, on which the critics neverthelefs often lay a great ftrefs. — Vid. Mem. de Trev. Sept. 17 11. p. 1559, feq.

Cotton Paper, Charta Bombycina, Bo^pum^, (thus called from Bofj.(3u5, a word which anciently fignified filk, though in af- ter times, Bo/*^ and Bafjuflal came to denote cotton) is a fort which has been in ufe upwards of 600 years, as is fhewn by Montfaucon from feveral authorities : what is more, cotton paper appears to have been very common at that time, and confequently muft have been invented long before. In the French king's library, are MSS. on this paper, which by the character, and other circumftances, appear to be of the Xth century. Be this as it will, from the Xllth century, cotton MSS. are more frequent than parchment ones d.

d Vid. Montfauc. Palatagr. Gra-c. 1. 1. c. 2. p. 1 7 j feq. item 1. 4. c. 6. p. 209. Maffei, lib. cit. Bibl. Ital. T. 2. p. 252.

Incombujlible Paper is made of the lapis asbejlos, or linum vi- vum, which will bear burning without being injured. See Asbestos.

Dr. Bruckmann, profenbr at Brunfwick, has publifhed a na- tural hiftory of the asbejlos or incombujlible paper ; and what is moft remarkable, has printed four copies of his book on this paper: they are depofited in the library of Wolfembut- tel.— Vid. Bibl. Germ. T. 14. p. 190.

The manner of making this extraordinary paper is defcribed by Mr. Lloyd from an eflay made by himfelf. — He pounded a quantity of the afbeftos in a ftone mortar, till it became a downy fubftance ; then fifted it through a fine fearce, and by this means purged it indifferent well from its terrene parts ; for that what earth or ftones he could not pick out of it before, or at the pounding, being reduced to a pow- der, came through the fearce, the linum remaining. This done, he brought it to the paper-mill ; and putting it in water in a veflel juft big enough to make a fheet with fuch a quantity, he ftirred it pretty much, and defired the work- men to proceed with it in the ufual method, with their wri- ting-paper mould ; only to ftir it about always before they put their mould in ; considering it as a far more pon- derous fubftance than what they ufed, and that frequently, if not immediately taken up after it was agitated, it would fubfide.

The paper made of it proved but coarfe, and too apt to tear : but this being the firft trial, there is reafon to believe it might be much improved ; nor did the workmen doubt, but in cafe it were pounded in one of their mortars for twenty hours fpace, it would make good writing-paper — Vid. Phil. Tranf. N° 166. p. 824. ^ * '

Linen or European Pa P E R, is chiefly made of linen rags beaten to a pulp with huge hammers, and the foil carried off by a continual fupply of frefti water conveyed among the pulp in little troughs, till it be rendered perfectly white. Befides the chief ufe of this paper, which is for writing and printing on, there is a great confumption of it in packing up goods, and on other occafions.

The Turks, Bufbequius tells us, have a veneration for paper w r hich approaches to fuperftition : they will not profane or proftitute the leaft bit to vile ufes ; but fold it very neatly, and lay it up fafe, becaufe the name of God, or fome text forfooth, of the Alcoran may be written on it,— Vid. Bufbeq. Epiji. 1. Legat, Turc. p. 50.

F Book,