Look at this beautiful document. It looks pretty good to be 208 years old, right? That’s because the paper is high quality, probably hand-made paper. It is most likely made out of rags rather than wood pulp. The papermaker would have pounded the rags rather than chopping them to bits as a machine would do. This creates long fibers of high quality cellulose (what we call “alpha cellulose”). These long, high quality paper fibers are less susceptible to deterioration over time. That is why a document from the 18th century might look better than one from the Civil War. congressarchives: On December 20, 1803, William C.C. Claiborne, Governor of the Mississippi Territory and one of the commissioners appointed to take possession of Louisiana from France, participated in the ceremonial exchange of the territory from Spain to France to the United States. Claiborne issued this proclamation in three languages (English, French, and Spanish) to inform the residents of the territory that they would soon become citizens of the United States, and that in the mean time they could enjoy the freedoms and liberty under the protection of the U.S. Constitution. Proclamation of William C.C. Claiborne, 12/20/1803, HR 8A-D1, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 593571)
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Look at this beautiful document. It looks pretty good to be 208 years old, right? That’s because the paper is high quality, probably hand-made paper. It is most likely made out of rags rather than wood pulp. The papermaker would have pounded the rags rather than chopping them to bits as a machine would do. This creates long fibers of high quality cellulose (what we call “alpha cellulose”). These long, high quality paper fibers are less susceptible to deterioration over time. That is why a document from the 18th century might look better than one from the Civil War.

congressarchives:

On December 20, 1803, William C.C. Claiborne, Governor of the Mississippi Territory and one of the commissioners appointed to take possession of Louisiana from France, participated in the ceremonial exchange of the territory from Spain to France to the United States. Claiborne issued this proclamation in three languages (English, French, and Spanish) to inform the residents of the territory that they would soon become citizens of the United States, and that in the mean time they could enjoy the freedoms and liberty under the protection of the U.S. Constitution.

Proclamation of William C.C. Claiborne, 12/20/1803, HR 8A-D1, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 593571)

Source: congressarchives

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    I believe following...National Archive’s tumblr will brand me a geek forever. BUT THIS IS...
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    I find the stuff about the paper fascinating…
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    Yesterday’s “Proclamation: To...New Orleans” doesn’t...so...
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    beautiful document. It looks pretty good...be 208 years old, right? That’s because
  21. This was featured in #History
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