Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...

They had all been dug and were fed by groundwater. In
fact it was an example of ingenious hydraulic engineering,
or water management as we would call it today.
Often there was a number of mills situated along the
same brook. As a matter of fact, sometimes this lead to
conflicts. Especially the paper-makers at the end of the
brooks complained that they did not received sufficient water.
Many negotiations and agreements were needed and
already at an early stage there were rules stipulating each
paper-maker’s rights and duties.
The material used in the paper mills were linen rags.
Printed cotton was only used on a large scale after the invention
of bleaching methods. In the 17 th and 18 th centuries
also waste paper was used. Many rags were imported from
France, but particularly from Germany. Rag merchants
played an important role in the paper industry. Sometimes
they even become owners of the paper mills if the papermakers
were unable to pay their debts to the rag merchant.
Most water mills were operating with stampers and not
with beaters. They were only used in some mills at the
Veluwe from around 1770. Usually the mills had only a single
vat, since the capacity of pulp preparation was limited.
That also implied that the enterprises were rather small;
3–5 workers for each paper mill. The total production was
125.000 to 150.000 reams in the mid-eighteenth century.
The Veluwe mills produced white writing and printing paper
as well as grey packing paper and the blue paper in
which traditionally the cone-shaped sugar loafs were
packed. When in the 17 th century the paper-makers of the
Zaan region began to specialize in fine white writing paper
and blue paper, the Veluwe paper-makers concentrated
more on white printing paper, less fine writing paper and
packing paper. Most of the paper was for inland usage. But
Veluwe paper was also exported to Russia, the Baltic States,
Scandinavia, Germany and England.
Watermarks
In general no early Guelders watermarks are known. The
first paper-makers used international watermarks like a lily,
foolscap (Ill. 7) or post-horn. That makes it difficult to determine
the origin of this paper. The paper trade with its international
connections didn’t like to use unfamiliar Guelders
watermarks. Only in later periods specific Guelders watermarks
were applied. More common was the use of the initials
of the paper-maker in the paper. E.g. H.B. for Hendrik
Brouwer and L.V.G. for Lubbert van Gerrevink. The latter
one also used his full name in the paper, but that was an
exception. Lubbert van Gerrevink was a paper-maker in
Vaassen, a small village at the Veluwe. There was also a paper-maker
in Egmond op de Hoef in North-Holland with exactly
the same name and who also used the initials L.V.G.
He had even a patent for using these initials. His heirs-atlaw
instituted legal proceedings against the namesake in
Vaassen. The final result was that Lubbert van Gerrevink in
Vaassen should add to L.V.G. the letters D.Z., i.e. Dirk’s son.
For the rest the quality of the paper of Van Gerrevink was
high. It is known that for that reason in England paper was
produced with the initials L.V.G. Thus paper with Dutch watermarks
does not guarantee that it is Dutch paper. Further-
Ill. 6: The oldest picture of a Dutch paper mill. The paper mill of
Schiedam on a map by Jacques de Gheyn, 1598
more, this also holds for paper with Dutch watermarks like
the coat of arms of Amsterdam or Pro Patria. Amsterdam
paper merchants who imported paper from France often required
that Dutch watermarks were used.
The Veluwe paper-makers
At the Veluwe papermaking was a family affair. It is interesting
to remark that where in the beginning of Dutch paper
making most mills were founded by foreign people,
once that the paper making was rising they were not welcome.
In order to protect the technical lead that the
Netherlands had with respect to paper making the government
prohibited the recruitment of foreign craftsman in
1751 and the export of mills and equipment in 1781. In
general the trade of paper making was going from father
to son and also marriages were solemnized with the papermaker
families. Giving an example Lambert Jans Mulder (ca.
1720–1776) was a paper-maker at the ’Zuidelijke Dorpermolen’
in Vaassen. At least two of his daughters married
with paper-makers on one of the other 15 paper mills in
Vaassen. One of his daughters married with Lubbert van
Gerrevink, who we already met above and who was also
coming from a famous family of papermakers. One of his
sons, Jannes Mulder (1761–1826), succeeded his father on
the ’Zuidelijke Dorpermolen”. And the son of Jannes Mulder
named Lambert Mulder (1802–1862) succeeded again
his father. The daughters married again other paper-makers.
Et cetera.
A large number of the Veluwe paper-makers were also
the owner of their mills, but they had to lease the water.
Water was valuable. In general you had to apply for the water
rights from local landowners. They leased the water and
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