CHAPTER XXII. 



ON THE PRICE OF PAPER ETC., PARCHMENT ETC., 

 AND ROPE. 



PAPER, either by the ream or by the quire, and very com- 

 monly by both, is found in eighty-five of the years contained 

 within the present period. The record is unbroken from 1583 

 till 1640, and the information is most frequently supplied by 

 Eton. The explanation appears to be, that the accounts of 

 this College, rough entries and final account alike, are written 

 on paper. Besides, when Savile was Provost (1596-1622), a 

 good deal of printing, especially of the Greek fathers, was 

 carried on at Eton. It is possible then that Eton made pur- 

 chases of paper for printing as well as for domestic accounts 

 and occasional correspondence. My record is broken and 

 imperfect in the later years, and this for the reason so often 

 alleged, that the accountant gives the price without quantity. 



The paper priced in the averages is of ordinary quality, and 

 although the information which I have discovered is not 

 copious, it will be found that the price is fairly uniform, though 

 the localities which register it are distant. Thus in 1602, 

 Gawthorp in Lancashire, Oxford, Worksop, and Wormleighton 

 give the same price by the quire. In an earlier year, 1593, 1 

 find the same price at London, Gawthorp, Oxford, and Worksop. 

 Cambridge supplies me with very little information. 



I conclude, partly from the price, occasionally from actual 

 statements made, that the paper purchased was generally a 

 small quarto size, whether it was purchased by quire or ream. 

 It would appear also, from some entries, that the ream contained 

 something more than twelve quires, for the difference between 



VOL. V. Q q 



