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[edit] Mummy Paper

Mummy paper is a term used to describe the idea and possible practice of making paper from the linen used in ancient Egypt to wrap bodies for burial.


[edit] Introduction

Paper makers in the United States were looking for substitutes for cotton and linen rags as early as the American Revolution. Various experiments had been tried with straw, corn-husks, even spider webs. [1] Paper mills offered various items in trade for used rags and one Massachusetts mill's paper had the watermark "SAVE RAGS" on each sheet of paper.[2] In the ninetenth century circumstances combined to put greater pressure on the demand for paper. This period saw a growth in population, growing literacy rates and the Industrial Revolution. The later brough in machines to make the paper, and paper mills were even more anxious to find a cheaper, more reliable substitute for the dwindling supplies of rags.[2]


[edit] Early consideration of mummy wrappings as paper substitute

In 1855, Dr. Isaiah Deck, a New York scientist, wrote a paper proposing a new source of rags. He believed that the wrappings of Egyptian mummies could provide an almost inexhaustible source of high quality linen at a reasonable rate.[3] Dr. Deck's idea, however, was not as new as some thought. Using the linen wrappings of Egyptian mummies for paper making was first mentioned in the late twelfth century in writings of Abd al-Latif, a Baghdad physician.[4] al-Latif's account describes the theft of mummy wrappings by Bedouins of the time. He goes on to say that these Bedouins would sell the mummy wrappings to paper manufacturers who, in turn, would make paper for grocers to use.[4]


[edit] Paper Mills claim to use mummy paper

There is evidence that at least two paper mills took up this idea in the mid-1800s.[4] Dard Hunter gives an account of a paper mill owner, I. Augustus Stanwood, who brought several shiploads of mummies to his mill in Gardiner, Maine, during the time of the Civil War. Hunter was given the story by Augustus' son, Daniel Stanwood, who said the linen wrappings were used to produce a brown wrapping paper which was used by local grocers, butchers and other merchants.[3]

On page 383 of his book, Hunter also details two other accounts of mummy paper use during the same time period. One of these is a quote from Joel Munsell in his work Chronology of the Origin and Progress of Paper and Paper-making.[5] Munsell says that the Syracuse Standard claimed it had printed one of its issues on paper "made of rags imported directly from the land of the Pharaohs, on the banks of the Nile. These were said to have been stripped from the mummies (149)."[5]

In a 1995 article, Joseph Dane says he believes Munsell was mistaken and that the Standard had never been printed on paper made from mummy wrappings.[4] A recent article presents a different view on whether or not paper mills used mummy wrappings during the 1800s. S. J. Wolfe, in an article published in The Book[6], the online paper of the American Antiquarian Society, tells of being sent information about a broadside printed in 1859 by the Chelsea Manufacturing Company in Greeneville, Connecticut. The company's advertisement at the bottom of the page makes the claim that the material used to make the broadside was "brought from Egypt. It was taken from the ancient tombs where it had been used in embalming mummies (4)."[6] Wolfe searched for bills of lading, customs records or paper mill records which would support the statement on the broadside. She was unable to find any such record. But copies of the broadside exist in the Connecticut Historical Society and the John Hay Library at Brown University.


[edit] Conclusion

As both Wolfe and Dane point out,[4][6] it would be very difficult to ascertain whether or not any paper was made from the linen wrappings of mummies. Tests could prove the paper was made from cloth rags, but carbon-14 testing would require the destruction of the paper, and might prove inconclusive. Two nineteenth century paper mills claim to have used linen wrappings from Egyptian mummies to make paper products. Perhaps new scientific tests will help make a final determination possible in the future.

work still in progress


[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Smith, David (1970). History of Papermaking in the United States (1691-1969).. New York: Lockwood Publishing Co.. ISBN 0854630120. 
  2. ^ a b (1968) Papermaking: Art and Craft.. Washington, D.C.: library of Congress. 
  3. ^ a b Hunter, Dard (1947). Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. OCLC 383666. 
  4. ^ a b c d e Dane, Joseph (1995). "The Curse of the Mummy Paper". 'Printing History' 17: 18-25. 
  5. ^ a b Munsell, Joel (1980). Chronology of the Origin and Progress of Paper and Paper-making. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0824038789. 
  6. ^ a b c S.J. Wolfe (November 2003). Long Under Wraps, Catalguing Puzzle Solved. 4-5. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.


[edit] Additional Bibliography

    • Baker, Nicholson (2001). Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375726217. 
    • Aufderheide, Arthur (2003). The Scientific Study of Mummies. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521818265.