We now come to the great period of writing-papers made from cotton and linen rags, as used at the present day, and which from the first were so perfect that they have since undergone no material improvement.  Cotton-paper was an Eastern invention, probably introduced in the ninth century, although not generally used in Europe till about the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  Greek manuscripts are found upon it of the earlier period, and Italian manuscripts of the later.  It seems to have prevailed at particular periods, in particular countries, according to the facilities for procuring it, as it now does almost exclusively in America.  Linen paper, the most valuable and important of all the bases available for writing or printing, is likewise supposed to have been introduced into Europe from the East, early in the thirteenth century, although not in general use till the fourteenth.

Before the end of the fourteenth century, paper-mills had been established in many parts of Europe, first in Spain, and then successively in Italy, Germany, Holland, and France.  They seem to have come late into England, for Caxton printed all his books on paper imported from the Low Countries; and it was not till Winkin de Worde succeeded him, in 1495, that paper was manufactured in England.  The Chinese are supposed to have used it for centuries before, and appear to have the best title to be considered the inventors of both cotton and linen paper.

Paper may be made of many other materials, such as hay, straw, nettles, flax, grasses, parsnips, turnips, colewort leaves, wood-shavings, indeed of anything fibrous; but as the invention of printing is not concerned in them, I see no occasion to consider their merits.

Before I pass from paper, it may not be irrelevant to say a word or two on the names by which we distinguish the sorts and sizes.  The term “post-paper” is derived from the ancient water-mark, which was a post-horn, and not from its suitableness to transport by post, as many suppose.  The original watermark of a fool’s cap gave the name to that paper, which it still retains, although the fool’s cap was afterward changed to a cap of liberty, and has since undergone other changes.  The smaller size, called “pot-paper,” took its name from having at first been marked with a flagon or pot.  Demy-paper, on which octavo books are usually printed, is so called from being originally a “demi” or half-sized paper; the term is now, however, equally applied to hard or writing papers.  Hand-cap, which is a coarse paper used for packing, bore the water-mark of an open hand.