Fabriano, Amatruda And Crane's: Paper For Life

[brunico]

I was in the ever-delightful Green and Stone yesterday and picked up a few sheets of paper: Fabriano Florentia, a machine-made, moulded off-white wove paper with a deckle edge and a Florentine lily watermark. Nice weight and a pleasant, slightly rough texture, too.

 

Green and Stone - along with Shepherds & Falkiners (who've moved to Victoria) and the the London Graphic Centre - sell some papers by the sheet. No review from me, as I don't want to waste one of my few sheets, though surfing last night to find out anything about it, I could only find that the sellers are decent enough not to mark it up much beyond the cost of splitting a box. That said, I've seen fairly ordinary paper sheets, only in bright colours, sell for a similar price in other shops.

 

Anyway, I was surfing again tonight and found this, a suburban soliloquy by the writer Bruce Bentzman, and I thought my fellow papyrophiles would enjoy his reflections on the invention of paper, on writing, on Crane's Distaff Linen, Amatruda Amalfi, Fabriano Minerva and Florentia, and on what you do when they discontinue your favourite paper...

 

❧

Oh, and if you can't afford Amatruda paper but you have an iPad, well, I'd question your priorities in life, but at least you can play with this app.

Edited March 4, 2013 by brunico

[Belles-lettres]

I thoroughly agree with your final sentence! And enjoyed the blog's thoughts. Oh the fine papers that have vanished in recent years.

[Ecriveur]

I clicked on the Green & Stone link and found a reference to the shop having "iron inkwells from the 1800s." Clearly this means I need to book a flight to London.

[maryannemoll]

Ah, a thread after my own heart. I looooove good paper, and we used to have a store here in Manila called The Paperie, and it was the only one in the entire country that carried Crane's. I purchased my resume papers there, and some thank you cards, and my gold-bordered stationery set. Before the store closed down, I was able to stock up, but that was more than five years ago, and now I just buy Crane's online, although the shipping charges are really high. Now I just prioritize.

 

I do have some alternatives here, usually no-brand paper stock that are surprisingly good with fountain pens, and they don't cost much. The key is to keep looking, and testing, and hoarding. :roflmho:

 

Thank you for sharing with us what you found.

[Wolverine1]

Bruce is an occasional lurker on the FPN forums. He usually is on Pentrace every day. A dear friend.

[tytyvyllus]

Bruce's essays are a treat to read. Have a letter on Amatruda ready for the post to him now.

[inkstainedruth]

I'm fascinated with the concept of a paper called "Distaff Linen" -- but at the same time think that the spinning wheel watermark had better have an actual distaff on the wheel....

Anyway, it's an interesting read. Thanks for posting the link.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

I'm sure I have seen the Fabriano Minerva before. My big sister certainly used it. I don't remember if I ever had the courage to snatch a sheet, as I understood it was a costly paper, but I remember it being the highest quality paper I had touched at the time.

 

 

Sometimes I'm so glad I live in Italy. Even if fountain pens are all but gone from elementary schools, we are made to use Fabriano paper for a number of classes during our middle school and high school years. Personally, I think having to use Fabriano paper in contrast with the notebooks by less-experienced brands instilled in me a profound love for Fabriano. And that watermark was very nice to fiddle with during classes.