Evening star., 1902-09-02
THE LIFE OF PAPER
BOOKS OF MODERN MAKE MAY
SOON DISAPPEAR.
Vatican Manuscripts Written in This
Century Have Already Become
Undecipherable.
From the London Standard.

From the London Standard.
The pope at one time invited chemists
and Librarians from every part of Europe
| to meet at Einsiedien Abbey in Switzer-
land. and talk about paper and ink To the
unihitiated 1t may have seemed tremendous
| machinery for such an object but, In fact
the matter is very grave. The records OF
this generation will disappear in a time
| which can be estimated unless the mate
rails for writing be improved-and the
| time is not distant. either. 1t is stated that
| the pope submitted a number OF documents
| from the archives of the Vatican which are
| scarcely decipherable. though dated In the
present century. Perhaps things are worse
/ in Italy than elsewhere, for II was an in
cident at Rome which first called public at
| tentlon to the evil; those concerned had
| long been aware Of 1t, of course Certain
! returns were dema nded in parliament re-
| ferrlng to the condition of the army in
/ 1873; when the war office produced them
! they were illegible. In twenty-five years or
| SO the ink had faded and the paper decom-
posed. This an extreme case as II
turned out after inquiry but all the rec
| ords had deteriorated in an alarming man
! ner.
In some countries. perhaps. greater care
has been used in selecting the quality of
| paper and ink. but it is admitted that the
best VIII not endure like the writings of old
Making Pulp.
To the unlearned it seems very curious
| Paper manufacturers try every substance
they can hear OF which makes pulp In
| earlier times they were content with one
| the papyrus; when the supply failed, with
| rags. Herewith by the simplest process
| they produced a material with which our
| best cannot compare. though we search the
| universe for aid. But the case OF ink IS still
| more remarkable. There are no secrets of
| composition in the ancient article so far as
We have heard. Oak trees still bear CALLS
In abundance, and acids have not changed
| their nature.
| 1t may be concluded that the men OF old
| were more careful in the preparation when
| each made his own ink, or they had simple
secrets which our manufacturers lack na
| tience to discover-if they trouble about IT,
| The brightness and the durability of paint
ers coaors are lost in the same wav Sir
Joshua Reynolds pictures. little more than
| a hundred years old, cannot be made 10
| last much longer. unless repainted. those
| masterpieces at st. Petersburg which have
| not been touched are covered with great.
| brown lines a quarter of an inch wide as
| by network. But the visitor to Bruges
| sees Memltngs works of the fifteenth CEN
tury as clear and as bright absolutely as
! when they left the easel
| What viii be the state of our archives A
! thousand years hence IL they are not con-
| tinually recopied-our poets, historians or
| literature In general? The printed paper
TOls even quickly than written. On
| that problem indeed the famous manuscript
| viii give no hint, for doubtless IL Is in
| scribed on parchment, but we do not spea X
| with knowledge on the point. There are In
stances OF the use Of paper in Europe much
| earlier than the ninth century; the very
/ first known Is a charter OF Ravenna This
however, was made from papyrus as were
| all the others.
Used Parchment
After the conquest, when the Arab. are
said to have put a stop to the expectation
of papyrus. Europe betook itself to parch-
ment. That was very old invention
Herodotus tells that the Ionians called a
book parchment ''pergamen," because for
merly, when papyrus was scarce they usei
the skins of sheep and goats. Even at the
present day" he adds. many OF the bar
barians write on such skins" The word
came from Pergamos, a city famous In all
times for its library until Julius Caesar
carried 1t to Egypt as a present for Cleo
patra-to replace the books destroyed at
Alexandria during the riots. Presently
however. the demands of monks and law
yers became SO urgent that the supply Of
sheep could not meet them. DR. Thomas
Rogers ingeniously pointed out how these
animals multiply when law and order pre-
vail and vanish as rapidly In troublous
times The dark ages were not favorable
to sheep breeding. Even In this island
Henry I was not able to obtain parchment
enough for an Illuminated edition of the
Bible which he proposed
II 1t became necessary to do something.
First, the monks ransacked their libraries.
and when they found an ANTIQUE manu-
script on parchment they cleaned II with
punnice stone. erasing the contents. prob
ably valuable, to inscribe their silly
legends. But this vile trick would not
serve for any length Of time It appears to
| be certain that paper in our modern sense
| of the word was an oriental invention
Arabic writers say that It was used in
Samarcand before the ninth centnry-made
from linen or a mixture Of linen and cot
ton. Their accounts may be believed. see-
ing that Arabs themselves adopted the
. | manufacture There are many manuscripts
: in the Excurial of linen paper. some as
! early as the eleventh century.