Wheat straw, raw cotton, cotton rag, Russian hemp, line flax, and linen rag.

Wheat straw, raw cotton, cotton rag, Russian hemp, line flax, and linen rag.

Produced by Twinrocker Handmade Paper.

Until the commercial development of wood pulp paper in the 19th century, paper in the Middle East, Europe, and North America was made with the fibers of various plants including flax, hemp, and cotton. These were not processed in their raw state, however. Rather, pre-used linen, hempen, and cotton rags and cuttings were gathered and repurposed for the manufacture of paper. These fiber samples were assembled for use in RBS courses by Kathryn and Howard Clark of Twinrocker Handmade Papers in the 1980s at the request of Terry Belanger.

From the collection of Rare Book School