Early pasteboard

The following is posted on behalf of Barbara Gordon.

    I'm researching the production of pasteboard in the 15th c. in
    Europe. I know there were paper mills in Spain and Italy in the
    14th c., I know that pasteboard started to be used for book
    boards in the late 14th to early 15th c., I know that it was
    used for most or all of the surviving decks of 15th c. cards,
    and I know that it involved layers of scrap paper and/or
    parchment glued together. What I don't know is, what kind of
    glue (size?) was used; were the layers pressed as well as glued;
    how close was it to paper production methods?

    I've seen photos of book boards where the pasteboard has been
    separated, and they were made of 10-11 layers of paper, with no
    attempt to bleach or remove existing writing. I'm guessing that
    at least the outer layers of playing cards would need to be of
    unmarked paper. I haven't seen any late medieval paper, so I
    don't know what its usual thickness would be. If there is anyone
    who can point me at a resource for answers to these questions,
    I'd appreciate it.

    Barbara Gordon

Helen McPherson
Preservation Packaging Team Leader
Collection Protection Program
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street
Melbourne 3000 Victoria  Australia
+61 3 9669 9635
Fax: +61 3 9669 9616


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:51
                 Distributed: Saturday, April 15, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-51-033
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