412 PAPER IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



PERSIA. 



PAPER MANUFACTURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 



The manufacture of paper has, in common with many other 

 necessary and useful industries in Persia, almost ceased to exist. 

 The causes for this are manifold, and lie rather in the national 

 character than in the unequal contest which primitive methods and 

 slow processes have to wage with the superior contrivances of more 

 .enlightened and progressive centers of enterprise. 



It would be impossible to fix any approximate date when paper 

 was invented or first introduced into Persia. There can be no doubt, 

 however, that it was in general use far back in the middle ages of 

 European history. It aided the intellectual activity, which reached 

 its highest development in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries of 

 the Christian era, and produced the great classical works of the 

 Persian tongue. The encouragement and support given by kings 

 and governors, both in Persia and Turkestan, to writers of distin- 

 guished merit with genius for extravagant and picturesque flattery 

 created at that epoch a proportionately wide and intelligent reading 

 public. This provided a stimulus for the manufacture of paper of 

 a high and enduring quality. This was a necessity of the case and 

 times ; for in default of printing, the works were issued in manuscript, 

 and transcribers, v with certain qualifications, commanded considerable 

 remuneration. 



The paper of the older manuscripts is glossy, close in texture, 

 and as enduring as vellum or parchment. It was made from the 

 raw material cotton, flax, or some other of the fibrous plants which 

 are found in certain parts of Persia. It does not appear from the 

 writings of native authors by what processes the finest and best 

 qualities were produced, or what was the extent and value of the 

 commerce. In view of the fact that the Persian language and liter- 

 ature were diffused throughout Tartary and India, through large 

 territories now under the rule of Russia and Turkey, the manufac- 

 ture and trade must have been, during long periods of history, of 

 great extent and importance. Persian historians, from various mo- 

 tives, rarely condescend to trace the rise or fall of any of the national 

 industries; consequently, no notice is taken of the decline and 

 ultimate disappearance of a very important branch of trade. At 

 the present time, nothing is made but a species of the roughest and 

 poorest description, used only for wrapping. 



