Winter 2010
:
Volume
25
, Number
2
Timothy Barrett is the author of two books, six videotapes, and 25 articles on the history, technique, and aesthetics of hand papermaking. His research on early European handmade papers has been funded by the NEA, the Kress Foundation, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and, as of 2009, a MacArthur Fellowship. He joined the University of Iowa Center for the Book as Paper Specialist in 1986 and served as director of the Center between 1996 and 2002. This paper was one of my early attempts at making a Western-style book paper using an approach similar to traditional Japanese papermaking. I started with high-quality raw fiber that had not been bleached or chemically treated and processed it by hand in-house. Both fibers were allowed to ferment a bit (5 to 6 days in water) and then cooked in a 0.5% calcium hydroxide solution for 5 hours; 6% fiber ‘on solution' (60 grams of dry fiber in each liter of cooking solution).
