India paper

Thomas Young, (d. 1860). Lithograph on stone by J. H. Bufford, printed on India paper by N. Currier, New York.
The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica boasted of its India paper printing

India paper is a type of paper, made from 1875, based on bleached hemp and rag fibres that produced a very thin, tough opaque white paper. It became popular in particular for the printing of Bibles, and was used for printing the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica and die proofs of postage stamps.

Description

India paper is a type of paper, made from 1875, based on bleached hemp and rag fibres. It is a very thin, tough opaque white paper with a basis weight of 20 pounds (30 g/m2; typical office paper is 80 g/m2), yet bulks 1,000 pages to the inch (390 per centimetre).[1]

The name arose because the paper imitated fine papers imported from the Indian subcontinent.[2][3]

History

It became popular in particular for the printing of Bibles, which could be made relatively small and light while remaining legible. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica boasted, "Printed on thin, but strong opaque India paper, each volume but one inch in thickness." The process was used particularly by the Oxford University Press and its paper suppliers.

India paper has also often been used for the printing of die proofs of postage stamps.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dictionary of Printing & Publishing. (1997). Middlesex, UK: Peter Collin Publishing. ISBN 0-948549-99-8
  2. ^ Berry, W. & Poole, H. (1966). Annals of Printing: A Chronological Encyclopaedia from the Earliest Times to 1950. London, UK: Blandford Press.
  3. ^ Jennett, Seán (1973). The making of books (5th ed.). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-04786-6. OCLC 1296599.