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

manufacturing. Of these regulations only one example remains
known to us today, and that dates back to the medieval
period. It was issued in Bologna in the year 1389.
Bologna was a large paper manufacturing centre and produced
a high quality sheets; it also had (and still has) a
renowned university and a large commercial district. Moreover,
Bologna was considered the “world capital” of civil
law, a fact which certainly explains the existence of very demanding
and precise regulations.
The Bologna norm, beyond specifying the minimum dimensions
of the paper formats in use (frequently by means
of a template, a copy of which can be seen in the Istituto
centrale per il restauro e la conservazione del patrimonio
archivistico e librario’s Museum), listed three types of paper:
fine quality paper, so-called “fioretto” grade, and rag paper
(i.e. wrapping quality), the prices of which were controlled.
In order to differentiate among them, a single criterion was
cited: the watermark. In fact, the norm stipulated that,
within any single paper mill a distinct watermark had to be
used to distinguish fine quality paper, whilst another one
could be used for both the “fioretto” grade paper and rag
wrapping grade paper. A requirement of this kind implies,
then, that the watermark was not only a “trademark” and
symbol that indicated its origin, but also a guarantee of
quality. Bologna certainly didn’t constitute an isolated case,
inasmuch as Troyes in France was also a major production
centre – and almost at exactly the same time (1399), an ordinance
in that town reminded citizens that it was an offence
to mark paper of mediocre quality with a watermark
intended for papers of superior quality. The problem for paper
historians consists in the fact that it is not known if, and
in what way, the characteristics of the two watermarks suggested
in themselves a quality hierarchy that enabled consumers
to recognize the difference immediately.
In reality, the sole universal criterion available for making
an objective assessment of the basic mercantile properties
of paper, and to counteract a certain kind of fraud, was the
weight of a ream (composed of 500 sheets, as it still is today),
which, because formats were standardised throughout
Europe, was equivalent to the paper’s grammage.
Needless to say, the weight of papers is mentioned in the
Bologna norm; they were always quoted in legal contracts
that have come down to us through the centuries. However,
a paper’s grammage far from expressed all its mercantile
properties, among which were to be found its whiteness
level, the presence of lumps or impurities, its transparency,
and uniformness of sizing.
Despite the lack of quantifiable and objective criteria for
the assessment of quality, the production and marketing of
paper flourished without many disagreements arising. But
on what basis? According to the practice that was in force
at that time (one which has not altogether disappeared today),
in many areas of artisan and industrial activity – and in
particular in contracts regarding the copying of manuscripts
– the procedure foresaw the preliminary presentation of a
sample that all subsequent product/merchandise had to
conform to in every way. When disputes arose, the two parties
– customer and supplier – placed their faith in an impartial
judgement made by an “arbitration commission”.
Thus, a purchase/sales contract drawn up at Ancona in
1581 specified: ... e che se saranno de qualità inferiore
qualche balla di dette carte s di peso come di pasta, si deb-
ba fare il difalco che sarrà giudicato da uomeni periti ellecti
dalle parte. (“... if arguments arise concerning the quality of
a paper with respect to its grammage, a discount must be
made to serve as compensation; the judgement has to be
made by a person with expert knowledge ...”).
Today, needless to say, highly sophisticated instrumentation
is available which is able to analyse with great precision
all the qualitative characteristics of any sheet of paper. It
seldom happens, however, that instrumental analysis is carried
out for reasons of historical research; this is because
ancient paper, in contrast to modern paper, does not present
particular problems as regards conservation issues, and
because ancient sheets are generally found bound together
to form the text blocks of books that are kept in libraries
where they are carefully safeguarded.
Nevertheless, about ten years ago an important research
initiative was launched by the ICPAL: “Progetto Carta”. The
object of this project was examine the watermarks and
measure the thicknesses and levels of whiteness of a corpus
composed of approximately fifty incunabula printed in
Venice, many of them the product of the famous printer
Boneto Locatello, who is very much associated with the important
contemporary bookseller Ottaviano Scoto.
The results of the tests carried out to establish whiteness
levels brought to light, notwithstanding the effect of degradation
that has taken place over the centuries, the papers’
excellent quality, which represented a not insignificant selling
point, and contributed to the exportation of Venetian
books all over Europe. But the research carried out has also
revealed, within this high quality criterion, small, but significant
variations, which are correlated to particular circumstances:
thus, the whitest paper is found in the those editions
that one might judge as being the “most ambitious”,
meaning to say those in which the space reserved at the
outset for decorative elements was larger and, judging by
present day distribution of surviving examples, were exported
in greater numbers.
E.O. (M.L.)
The Time Span of Paper Use
Watermarks continue, above all, to be used to place undated
documents into a timeframe. This can only be successful
if an identical watermark to that in the document being examined
is found in other paper that is dated, and when the
time span is known when this paper was used. Among other
things, this depends on the type of paper and its size; according
to Piccard, it is “highly certain” that in the period
from about 1360 to 1630/50, writing paper of normal quality,
as used for the vast majority of manuscripts and chancellery
documents, was used within three to four years (Piccard,
Die Wasserzeichenforschung als historische Hilfswissenschaft,
111f.).
On the basis of the cards in Piccard’s watermark collection
and his “Findbücher”, it is possible to verify this assertion
only to a very limited degree. This is because Piccard only
rarely noted identical marks on the individual cards of his
collection, and also the majority of the “Findbücher” only
mention the place of finding and a year. A scientifically verifiable
statement about the period of time identical paper
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