The History of First Paper, Before paper as we know it existed, people communicated through pictures and symbols carved into tree bark, painted on cave walls, and marked on papyrus or clay tablets.┬аAbout 2,000 years ago, inventors in China took communication to the next level, crafting cloth sheets to record their drawings and writings. And paper, as we know it today, was born! Paper was┬аfirst made in Lei-Yang, China by Ts’ai Lun,┬аa Chinese court official. In all likelihood, Ts’ai mixed mulberry bark, hemp and rags with water, mashed it into pulp, pressed out the liquid and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun.┬аDuring the 8th century, about 300 years after TsтАЩaiтАЩs discovery, the secret traveled to the region that is now the Middle East. Yet, it took another 500 years for┬аpapermaking to enter Europe. One of the┬аfirst paper mills was built in Spain, and soon, paper was being made at mills all across Europe.
Then, with paper easier to make, paper was used for printing important books, bibles, and legal documents. England began making large supplies of paper in the late 15th century and┬аsupplied the colonies with paper for many years.
Finally, in 1690, the first U.S. paper mill was built in Pennsylvania.
At first American paper mills used the Chinese method of┬аshredding old rags and clothes into individual fibers to make paper. But, as the demand for paper grew, the mills changed to using fiber from┬аtrees because wood was less expensive and more abundant than cloth. Today,┬аpaper is made from trees grown in sustainably managed forests and from recycled paper. Recycling has always been a part of papermaking. When you┬аrecycle your used paper, paper mills will use it to make new notebook paper, paper grocery bags, cardboard boxes, envelopes, magazines, cartons, newspapers and┬аother paper products.
The┬аhistory of paper┬аis inextricably linked with that of┬аculture┬аand┬аscience.
The spark that set off the invention of paper was simple but extremely significant.
Humans had an urgent need: to communicate certain information to each other in written form. The information had to be set on a lightweight and durable medium that was easily transportable. The┬аinvention of paper┬аallowed┬аpapyrus┬аand┬аparchment┬аto be replaced with a material that was easier and, with the advent of new production techniques, cheaper to make.
The arrival of digital media has perhaps obscured the fundamental role that paper has played in┬аspreading knowledge: it should not be forgotten that, until a few decades ago, the dissemination of any idea required┬аa sheet of paper.
ItтАЩs interesting to note that the first┬аdefinition of paper┬аprovided by the Treccani childrenтАЩs encyclopaedia in Italy is:┬атАЬA material that is essential for spreading ideas in everyday life. Over the centuries, paper has made an enormous contribution to progress, from enabling citizen participation in democratic life to raising levels of knowledge and education.тАЭ
The┬аhistory of paper┬аhas mirrored the evolution of human society over the centuries: from┬аthe dissemination of scientific and philosophical knowledge┬аto the spread of education right up to the creation of the kind of political and historical consciousness which gave birth of the modern nation state.
The history of paper: Chinese origins
Historical sources credit┬аthe invention of paper┬аto Cai Lun, a dignitary serving the imperial Chinese court who, in AD 105, began producing sheets of paper from scraps of┬аold rags,┬аtree bark┬аand┬аfishing nets. The Chinese guarded the secret of paper making jealously for many centuries until, in the 6th century, their invention was brought to Japan by Buddhist monk Dam Jing. The Japanese immediately learned papermaking techniques and began using pulp derived from┬аmulberry bark┬аto produce this precious material themselves.
The history of paper: reaching the Arab world
The┬аArab world┬аdiscovered the secrets of papermaking in AD 751, when the governor-general of the Caliphate of Bagdad captured two Chinese papermakers in Samarkand and, with their help, founded a paper mill in the Uzbek city. From here, aided by an abundance of┬аhemp and linen, two high-quality raw materials perfect for making paper, production spread to other cities in Asia, particularly Baghdad and Damascus.
The process for┬аmaking paper┬аemployed by the Arabs involved garnetting and macerating rags in water to obtain a homogenous pulp, which was then sifted to separate the macerated fibres from the water. The sheets thus obtained were subsequently pressed, dried and finally covered with a layer of rice starch to make them more receptive to ink. In the same period, people in┬аEgypt and North Africa┬аalso started to make paper using the same techniques employed in the Arab world.
Paper reaches Europe
It wasnтАЩt until the┬а11th century┬аthat paper arrived in Europe, with the Arab conquest of┬аSicily┬аand┬аSpain. However, paper was quickly considered an┬аinferior-quality material┬аcompared to parchment, so much so that, in 1221, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II prohibited its use for public documents. Rice starch, in fact, was an attractive food source for insects, which meant sheets of paper did not last long.
The┬аhistory of paper┬аowes much to the┬аpaper makers of Fabriano, a small town in the Marche region of Italy, who started producing paper using linen and hemp in the 12th century. By using new equipment and production techniques, these papermakers introduced┬аimportant innovations:
- They mechanised rag grinding by using┬аhydraulic hammer mills, significantly reducing the time it took to produce pulp.
- They started gluing sheets with┬аgelatine,┬аan additive that insects didnтАЩt like.
- They created different┬аpaper types and formats.
- They invented┬аwatermarking.
Watermarking involved using metal wires to┬аadd decorations to paper┬аwhich became visible when the sheet was held up to the light, allowing hallmarks, signatures, ecclesiastical emblems and other symbols to be inserted.
From the 14th century, papermaking began to spread to other European countries and, at the end of the 15th century, with the┬аinvention of movable-type printing, production really took off. The discovery of America and the subsequent European colonisation brought papermaking to the New World. Interestingly, in his book тАЬPaper: Paging Through HistoryтАЭ, Mark Kurlansky tells a curious anecdote: when the North American colonies rebelled, they boycotted all British goods, except the fine paper produced by LondonтАЩs paper mills.
Paper as a means of mass communication
The┬аindustrial manufacture of paper┬аbegan in the 19th century with the expansion of mass-circulation newspapers and the first best-selling novels, which required enormous quantities of cheap cellulose. In 1797,┬аLouis Nicolas Robert┬аcreated the first Fourdrinier machine, which was able to produce a 60-cm-long sheet. As demand for papermaking rags outstripped supply, alternative materials were sought, like┬аwood pulp. With the development of new techniques for extracting fibres from trees, the price of paper fell dramatically, and paper soon became a┬аproduct of mass consumption. In Britain alone,┬аpaper output┬аsoared from 96,000 tonnes a year in 1861 to 648,000 tonnes in 1900.
Once again, the┬аhistory of paper┬аand the history of humankind were closely intertwined: with the spread of cheap paper, books and newspapers became accessible to all, leading to an explosion of┬аliteracy among the middle classes. But it wasnтАЩt until the turn of the century that paper would be employed for other uses, like toilet and wrapping paper, toys and interior decoration.
The environmental impact of paper and environmental choices
Paper manufacturing uses┬аsignificant amounts of natural resources: between 2 and 2.5 tonnes of timber and 30-40 cubic metres of water are required to make one tonne of paper. WhatтАЩs more,┬аelectricity and methane gas┬аare needed to power the industrial machines used in the various production phases and, depending on the type of paper,┬аa host of polluting chemical additives. ThatтАЩs why, whenever possible, itтАЩs important to choose┬аsustainable┬аor┬аrecycled paper┬аto reduce the environmental impact of paper production.
Sustainable paper┬аis made out of wood cellulose originating from┬а┬аForest Stewardship Council-certified forests, where strict environmental, social and economic standards apply.┬аRecycled paper, on the other hand, is made out of recovered paper. However, the chlorine used to bleach it, as well as other chemical additives used, mean that recycled paper is often not as environmentally friendly as commonly thought. To be sure that you are choosing a genuinely eco-friendly product, opt for paper with the┬аEcolabel certification, the European ecological quality label awarded to environmentally sustainable products.
Alternatives to paper
An excellent┬аalternative to traditional paper┬аis┬аCrush paper,┬аproduced by venerable Italian papermakers Favini, made out of┬аfruit and vegetable by-products. Production of this paper releases 20% fewer CO2 emissions and uses up to 15% less cellulose than traditional paper, and is suitable for many applications, from food and wine labels to premium-quality invitation cards, catalogues and brochures.
The latest innovation from Favini is┬аRemake, paper made from 25%┬аleather off-cuts, 40% recycled cellulose and 35% FSC-certified virgin cellulose fibres. ItтАЩs a fine-quality recyclable and compostable material, perfect for printing sophisticated publications and luxury packaging. Another great substitute is┬аhemp, a highly durable material that has been used to make paper since ancient times, first by the Chinese and later by the Arabs. Cultivation of this plant does not require pesticides and provides a quantity of fibre per hectare that is 3-4 times greater than traditional forests. Its main drawback is the cost of processing hemp pulp, which is much higher than conventional cellulose extraction.
Our article on the┬аhistory of paper┬аfinishes here, but weтАЩre sure that, thanks to continued technical innovation, many more surprises lie ahead! The history of paper is far from over, and this fascinating and useful material will remain with us for years to come.
