No 32, December 1999

The Quarterly, No 32 - December 1999

British Watermarks: BAPH Paper - Phil Crockett

The story behind the trials and tribulations of producing the specially watermarked paper to celebrate the first ten years of the BAPH. With details of the mould, electrotype, furnish and finish of the paper made at Wookey Hole paper mill.
Order form for purchases.

6 pages, illustrated, tipped in paper sample

Thomas Routledge and the Board of the Inland Revenue

The fight to lift the Duties payable on paper was long and hard and particularly towards the end sometimes verged on farce. Peter Ward has sent in some extracts from The Morning Star of Friday 18^th 1859 that illustrate the difficulties some manufacturers were under and the general sense of frustration that both makers and users felt at the situation. This correspondence between Thomas Routledge, famous for his development of esparto grass as a raw material for papermaking, and the Inland Revenue is introduced by some editorial comment from The Morning Star and beautifully illustrates the difficulties of dealing with entrenched bureaucratic practices.

3 pages, illustrated

Flong - Harry Dagnall

The stereotyping paper or board, known as Flong, is a composite paper used for making the moulds for casting stereotypes of blocks or type in newspaper production. One of the main producers of Flong in Britain was, until 1987, Ford Mill at Little Chart in Kent. It appears, however, from this article that some newspapers used to make up their own Flong rather than buy it in.

1 page

Letters

Letters in response to the articles The Rise and Fall of Esparto Grass in The Quarterly No. 30 and Irish Papermaking in The Quarterly No. 31.

2 pages, illustrated

In Memoriam: Judith Chantry (1943-1999)

Obituary of Judith Chantry, BAPH member, conservator at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Librarian to the Institute of Paper Conservation.

1 page

An Improvised Kettle for Out-of-doors - Morley Adams

A short article reprinted in it's entirety from The Boy's Book of the Open Air, c1930s, giving yet another illustration of the versatility of paper. With illustrated instructions.

2 pages, illustrated

Hints for Users of Compressed Fibre Calender Bowls

The text from a small book produced by David Bentley Ltd. who specialised in the production of compressed fibre calender bowls and, as the illustrations show, supplied all the main calender makers with their bowls. The booklet is undated but, judging from its design, probably dates from the mid 1950s.

3 pages,illustrated

British Paper Mills: Oak Leaves and Acorns: Success and Failures at Five North Lancashire Paper Mills, part 2 - Mike Malley

A dissertation written to examine the factors that could be seen to influence the developments taking place at Catterall, Matshead, Oakenclough, Higher and Lower Primrose Paper Mills between 1860 and 1920 and specifically to understand why Oakenclough alone survived the period, and to identify the causes of the others failure. Part 2 reviews a number of books which cover business and paper making history, with the aim of discovering more appropriate factors to account for the developments taking place at these five mills.

5 pages, illustrated

Carbon Duplicating Paper

Melt the lard and wax and grind in the black and blue pigments. While still hot, coat paper with the mixture by means of a sash-tool. After standing, wipe off the superflous colour.

Alternative recipes:-

Book Reviews

The Whatmans and Wove (Velin) Paper, its Invention and Development in the West. by John Balston. Website
Fine Papers at the Oxford University Press. by John Bidwell.
Boggs: A Comedy of Values. by Lawrence Weschler.

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Last modified: July 24, 2008