Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc. in the XVII and XVIII centuries and their interconnection / by W.A. Churchill.

  • William Algernon Churchill
Date:
1935
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc. in the XVII and XVIII centuries and their interconnection / by W.A. Churchill. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    47/537 (page 43)
    arms watermark on official paper to be replaced by the figure of a fool in cap and bells. Careful search has been made in British archives in order to verify the allegation, but the specimens containing such a mark that have been found are extremely rare and of French origin. The mark was in existence one hundred years before the Commonwealth. On the other hand, several watermarks of hats have been found in various archives, and the shapes bore a strong resemblance to Puritans’ hats. A specimen is given in Samuel Denne’s observations on paper marks published in Archaeologia Vol. XII1796. Referring to it he says:“A sheet for the year 1649 has for a device a large hat, and if an allusion to the fashion of the time was intended, it would denote the broad-brimmed beaver worn by the Puritans and republicans of that age.” The mark lasted about thirty years. The watermark was sought for as a guarantee of quality, and parti¬ cular sizes of paper became known from their watermarks, such as Crown, Hand, Pot, Post, etc. Writing paper of the size given above became known in England as foolscap, and continues to bear that name. The foolscap watermark is no longer seen but has been replaced by Britannia or the Dutch lion. The only explanation why a Dutch watermark should appear on English paper is that the Dutch excelled in the manufacture of paper during the 18th Century and used their national emblem as a watermark. Much of this paper came to England, and English manufacturers had to imitate it in every detail when they determined to compete with Dutch manufacturers; they are so conservative that they are still making use of the Dutch lion on foolscap paper. Although foolscap has meant a certain size of paper in England, it has not the same meaning on the Continent, where the mark is often found on writing paper, but has been found also on printing paper used by cartographers for engraving maps. W. Blaeu’s maps of the 17th century were occasionally engraved on paper measuring 20 by 23 bearing a foolscap watermark. BRITANNIA One of the marks used to distinguish English foolscap size of paper is the Britannia watermark. It seems incredible that we had to go to Holland for our Britannia watermark, but it seems that this was the case. The British [43]