Paste Paper

These are paste papers.  Well, some aren’t exactly paste papers but, for the purposes of this site, I’m calling a paper which was, or could have been, decorated by hand in a bindery a paste paper.  Of course, some shown here might have been printed, so some of these are guesses.

Traditionally, paste paper was made by adding color to a carrier. Which might be flour, corn starch, methyl cellulose, or something else. Then the color was manipulated by a comb or stick or fingers. At its base level it’s finger painting for adults. At the highest level it’s art.

Each slide has a catalog number which can tell you who made the binding. Go to the explanations at the bottom of the page here for help identifying binders.

I’ll continue to add more photos.