Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/450



ON THE ORIGIN AND MANUFACTURE OF LINEN AND COTTON PAPER.

THE INVENTION OF LINEN PAPER PROVEN TO BE OF EGYPTIAN ORIGIN,—COTTON PAPER MANUFACTURED BY THE BUCHARIANS AND ARABIANS, A. D. 704.

Wehrs gives the invention of Linen paper to Germany—Schönemann to Italy—Opinion of various writers, ancient and modern—Linen paper produced in Egypt from mummy-cloth, A.D. 1200—Testimony of Abdollatiph—Europe indebted to Egypt for linen paper until the eleventh century—Cotton paper—The knowledge of manufacturing, how procured, and by whom—Advantages of Egyptian paper manufacturers—Clugny's testimony—Egyptian manuscript of linen paper bearing date A. D. 1100—Ancient water-marks on linen paper—Linen paper first introduced into Europe by the Saracens of Spain—The Wasp a paper-maker—Manufacture of paper from shavings of wood, and from the stalks or leaves of Indian-corn.

No part of the Res Diplomatica has been more frequently discussed than the question respecting the origin of paper made from linen rags. The inquiry is interesting on account of the unspeakable importance of this material in connection with the progress of knowledge and all the means of civilization, and it also claims attention from the philologist as an aid in determining the age of manuscripts.

Wehrs refers to a document written A. D. 1308 as the oldest known specimen of linen paper; and, as the invention must have been at least a little previous to the preparation of this document, he fixes upon 1300 as its probable date. Various writers on the subject, as Von Murr, Breitkopf, Schönemann, &c., concur in this opinion.

Gotthelf Fischer, in his Essay on Paper-marks, cites an