History of paper

The origins of paper

When we think of the origins of
paper, our minds might wander
back over 5000 years ago to the
Nile river valley in Egypt.It was
there that a marsh grass called
Cyperous Papyrus flourished.
The Egyptians cut thin strips from
the plant's stem. These strips were
then layered in right angles to form
a kind of mat. The mat was then
pounded into a thin sheet and left
in the sun to dry. The resulting
sheets were ideal for writing on.
The birthplace of paper
The birth of paper, as we know it today, took place under
the Chinese Han Dynasty in AD 105. Ts'ai Lun, a court
official, invented a papermaking process which primarily
used rags (textile waste) as the raw material with which to
make paper.
Fiber sources
Before the industrialisation of the paper
production in Europe the most common
fibre source were recycled fibres from
used textiles, called rags. The fibres were
from hemp linen and cotton.
The process of papermaking
Whether using recycled
materials or fresh organic matter,
the process starts by shredding
the material into small strips and
soaking them overnight to loosen
the fibres. Next, the fibres are
boiled for 2-6 hours, being turned
every so often. When finished, the
fibres are washed with fresh water
to remove impurities and then
small particles or specks are
removed by hand. Cloth fibers, for
example are often used for the
creating of money and maps.
Papermaking in the 19
th
century
In the 1830s and 1840s, two men on two different
continents took up the challenge, but from a totally new
perspective. Both Charles Fenerty and Friedrich Gottlob
began experiments with wood but using the same
technique used in paper making. They invented a machine
which extracted the fibres from wood (exactly as with rags)
and made paper from it.
Different types of paper
White paper was the most desired of medieval papers.Most
English paper is a coarse and gray color until the late 17th
century. Other inclusions such as insects and leaves
become trapped in the freshly molded paper.Starches and
other chemicals are also used to make different types.
Methods for extracting fiber
In 1843, a solution was at hand, Saxon
Friedrich Gottlob invented a wood-grinding
machine which produced groundwood pulp
suitable for papermaking. This milestone
was soon followed by an alternative way to
turn wood into paper: chemical pulp was first
patented in 1854 by Hugh Burgers and
Charles Watt.
The Values of paper
Reference
http://www.hqpapermaker.com/paper-history/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_paper
http://www.paperonline.org/history-of-
paper/timeline
http://www.paperonline.org/downloads/videos
http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/
Created by :
Roberto Kostov
and
Ivailo Plamenov