- By the eighth century, there were paper mills operating in Japan producing paper with no yellowing acid content — a sheet looks the same today as 1,200 years ago.
- The paper used by Gutenberg in the first printed Bible (around 1450), with its brilliantly clear bunch-of-grapes watermark, is of a time-defying quality unsurpassed by modern industrial processes.
- In early modern Europe, the process of making paper by hand took about twenty seconds per sheet. An efficient two-man team could produce about four reams (2,000 sheets) of paper per day.
- The beginnings of machine-made paper lay with Nicholas-Louis Robert (1761-1828). “It has been my dream to simplify the operation of making paper informing it with infinitely less expense, and above all, in making sheets of extraordinary length without the help of any worker,” he wrote. In 1800, all paper was made by hand. One hundred years later, over 99% of paper was made on a machine, thanks to Robert. Paper production increased by a hundredfold, and prices dropped by a factor of ten, making books (among other things) more affordable for the masses. No word on what became of the human papermakers.
- Paper spread quickly because it had big advantages over rival media. It was cheaper than parchment: When Gutenberg printed his 35 parchment copies of the Bible, the 641 leaves required the hides of about 300 sheep for every book, making the use of paper something that benefitted more than just humans.
- Modern commercially available toilet paper was introduced in America by Joseph Gayetaty in 1857: “Gayetty’s medicated paper for the watercloset”sold as flat sheets, $1 for 1,000.
Source: “The Book-Makers: A Hstory of the Book in Eight Lives” by Adam Smyth.