pasteboard-msg - 6/10/99 Period pasteboard. cardboard. It's uses and construction. NOTE: See also the files: papermaking-msg, parchment-msg, gold-leaf-msg, early-books-msg, paper-msg, sealing-wax-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 18:53:33 -0700 From: Edwin Hewitt To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: Pasteboard SNSpies at aol.com wrote: > There is a pack of Tarot cards in The Cloisters collection in New York City > that is made of pasteboard. Does anyone have any information on the history > of pasteboard or know where I might start looking? Thank you. > > Nancy (Ingvild) Apparently pasteboard is period. I have been reading Cervantes, "Don Quijote," (circa 1600) and the good knight fashions a visor for his morion using paste board. This hints that it is of some age. I was happy to read this because it means that some "paper mache'" work is within a hair's breadth of being documented. I still can't prove it though. I am guessing that paste board was made up of shreaded fabric and/or fibers with a paste binder. Again, I have yet to find proof. -- Edwin Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 13:19:20 -0400 From: "Gray, Heather" To: "'sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu'" Subject: RE: Pasteboard For a short history/description, plus biblio (click on the footnote numbers), check out one of my favorite online resources (Etherington & Roberts): http://sul-server-2.stanford.edu/don/dt/dt2500.html This is a page from a dictionary on bookbinding and book conservation, so the description addresses the general availability of pasteboard and the specifics as concerns its use in books. A very short history of paper: http://www.copacel.fr/anglais.htm Another short history: http://www.mead.com/paper/history/index.html The biblio at the first site will probably be of the most use to you, but a search in the library for books on the history of papermaking should also bring up more information on this subject. Unfortunately I found it difficult to find much on the web because 'pasteboard' is in current use for something to do with Adobe and QuarkExpress. Elwynne Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 00:51:45 -0500 (CDT) From: "Jack C. Thompson" To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: pasteboard Pasteboard is a form of early cardboard, without the flutes seen in modern cardboard. In a way, it has much in common with paper mache, or cartonnage, layers of Egyptian papryri pasted together over the linen wrapped mummy. By the time of Gutenberg (15th c.) enough old paper was laying around that sheets of paper were pasted together (generally with cooked flour paste) until the desired thickness was attained. Printed books (on paper) did not require wooden boards, as books written on parchment required, because fore edge clasps were not required to hold the book closed. It is not uncommon to find binders board after the 15th/16th centuries which is made of sheets of printed paper pasted together. Jack C. Thompson Thompson Conservation Laboratory 7549 N. Fenwick Portland, OR 97217 Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 04:00:24 -0500 (CDT) From: "Jack C. Thompson" To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Re: pasteboard ><< By the time of Gutenberg (15th c.) enough old paper was laying around > that sheets of paper were pasted together (generally with cooked flour > paste) until the desired thickness was attained. >> > >Ah! Thanks, Jack. Do you have a reference for this information? That would >be great. > >Nancy (Ingvild) It took me a moment to think about a source; I've known this for so long that I don't have to think about it anymore. Check Bernard Middleton's _The Restoration of Leather Bindings_ pub. 1972, by the Library Technology Program/American Library Assoc., Chicago. On p. 31 "Definition of terms:" 'Pasteboard. In popular use, a term often applied to any stiff board of medium thickness. It originally meant boards formed by laminating or pasting together a number of sheets of waste paper.' I have a set of such boards in my collection. One of these days I may toss one of them into the bath to see which book is represented. Jack C. Thompson Thompson Conservation Laboratory 7549 N. Fenwick Portland, OR 97217 Edited by Mark S. Harris pasteboard-msg Page 3 of 3