Foolscap folio: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:30, 27 September 2023

Revision as of 15:46, 27 October 2023

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===Europe===

Foolscap was named after the [[Court jester|fool]]'s [[cap and bells]] [[watermark]] commonly used from the 15th century onwards on paper of these dimensions.<ref>{{cite book |authorlast=Müller, |first=Lothar |title=White Magic: The Age of Paper. |place=Cambridge|publisher=Polity Press |date=2014|page=173}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/foolscap|title=Foolscap|last=Anon|work=The Free Dictionary|publisher=Farlex Inc.|accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref> The earliest example of such paper was made in Germany in 1479. UnsubstantiatedbUnsubstantiated anecdotes suggest that this watermark was introduced to England in 1580 by [[John Spilman]], a German who established a papermill at [[Dartford (borough)|Dartford]], Kent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/gallery/|title=Entry in the Dartford Holy Trinity parish register for Sir John Spielman (Spillman), 8 November 1626|last=Anon |work=Medway: City Ark Document Gallery|publisher=Medway Council|accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref>

The general pattern of the mark was used by Dutch and English papermakers in the late 17th and 18th centuries, and as early as 1674 the term "foolscap" was being used to designate a specific size of paper regardless of its watermark.<ref>{{citationcite book |last1=Ashbee |first1=Andrew |last2=Thompson |first2=Robert |last3=Wainwright |first3=Jonathan |chapter=Appendix I: 08-Watermarks and Paper Types |publisher=The Viola da Gamba Society |page=279 [29] |chapter-url=https://vdgs.org.uk/indexmss/08%20Watermarks.pdf |title=Index of Manuscripts containing Consort Music, Volume |volume=1 |url=https://vdgs.org.uk/indexmss/ |accessdate=13 July 2021}} - Shows several types of foolscap watermark.</ref>

Apocryphally, the [[Rump Parliament]] of 1648–1653 substituted a fool's cap for the royal arms as a watermark on the paper used for the journals of Parliament.<ref>{{cite book

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|page=52

|isbn=9781474241281

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zn5qCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA52}}</ref> It appears that the manufacture of white paper in England had come to a halt in around 1641, perhaps because of the lack of a [[linen]] industry for raw materials, and more likely because of the impact of the troubled times leading to the [[First English Civil War|Civil War]]. The French had become the most prominent supplier of white paper from around 1600–16751600 to 1675, when the Dutch took over.<ref name="Hills" /> If there is any truth in the matter, it is possible that imported paper bearing such a mark might be the cause.}}

===Mexico===