I have a very old Bible printed in 1576. It is missing the first 32 pages. I would like to produce a facsimile of the missing pages by printing the images from a known copy of the 1576 Bible onto inkjet paper. I will then bind these pages in with the rest of the Bible (it needs rebinding in any case). The inkjet paper needs to be archival quality so it will last another 400 years. The paper also needs to be relatively thin but strong so it matches the rest of the Bible pages. Can you suggest an inkjet paper which suits my needs?
Hi Derek, Thanks for your post. It's quite exciting that you have a 400 year old bible. Our initial advice to you is to have the book professionally preserved and appraised in its current state. Alterations, as you're suggesting, could diminish the value and original craftsmanship.
Having said that, one would want to use a tree-free paper such as cotton or mulberry as this material is more stable and the fibers stronger than alpha-cellulose, for example. Assuming the original paper is quite thin, there are few inkjet coated options available on the market. Adding an inkjet receptive coating to a paper increases the caliper, or thickness, of the paper.
Thanks for your advice. I will definitely have the Bible professionally appraised before I do anything.
I have measured the thickness of the current sheets of the Bible and it turns out they are about 4.35 mils thick (90 pages per cm thickness), which happens to be the thickness of my office printer paper of 80gsm. The Entrada Rag 190 appears to be too thick at 15.5 mils. The Washi papers all seem to be single sided which would be a problem.
Having said that, one would want to use a tree-free paper such as cotton or mulberry as this material is more stable and the fibers stronger than alpha-cellulose, for example. Assuming the original paper is quite thin, there are few inkjet coated options available on the market. Adding an inkjet receptive coating to a paper increases the caliper, or thickness, of the paper.
The lightest weight coated cotton paper we have in our family of papers is the Entrada Rag 190 (http://moabpaper.com/entrada-rag/). Some of the coated Japanese Washi papers, such as Moab's Moenkopi (http://moabpaper.com/moenkopi-washi/) might also be a good option.
Legion Paper
Thanks for your advice. I will definitely have the Bible professionally appraised before I do anything.
I have measured the thickness of the current sheets of the Bible and it turns out they are about 4.35 mils thick (90 pages per cm thickness), which happens to be the thickness of my office printer paper of 80gsm. The Entrada Rag 190 appears to be too thick at 15.5 mils. The Washi papers all seem to be single sided which would be a problem.
Cheers
Thanks!