European woven paper; European laid paper

Ingredients

cellulose fibres, non-cellulosic impurities, lignin

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The interleaves are constructed in two primary forms: full pages sewn into the text block to protect full-page illustrations, or strips of paper terminated with a circular extension or pointed end to cover illuminated headings and marginal rosettes (p. 2). Heading interleaves often show a horizontal fold, indicating the paper was folded in half to perform a symmetrical cut of the scalloped edges (p. 3). A pinhole in the middle of circular extensions suggests the use of a compass for precision cutting (p. 3-4). The paper types include European laid paper, often with watermarks (e.g., sun-shape), and European woven paper which eventually replaced laid paper in the second half of the nineteenth century (p. 4).

Evidence

"During the sixteenth until to the end of the nineteenth centuries in Morocco, some copies were supplied with interleaves made of coloured papers to prevent the transfer of pigment and ink from the illustrations and illuminations onto the opposite page."

Remarks

Interleaves were historically disregarded as modern alterations but are confirmed as original parts of book production from Moroccan craftsmen (p. 2). They served functional roles in protecting illuminations and symbolic roles as emotional/ritual barriers for powerful figurative representations (p. 12). Analysis shows they coexisted in both laid and woven varieties during the transition to industrial paper production (p. 4).