History
Made in England in 1794 but by whom, we're not sure - there were a lot of papermakers in England at this time.
The GR watermark refers to King George III, George Rex (1738 - 1820). It was a watermark found in papers produced in this era to show that they were of a high enough quality for printing and publishing work.
The familiar design of Britannia, a seated female figure with helmet, shield and trident in one of the commonest watermarks for papers used in 18th and 19th century Britain and occurs with the countermarks of many different makers. It had evidently originated in Holland in papers made for the English market and also of course found in English made paper.
Papers were usually watermark dated for tax purposes and are a pretty reliable indication of the exact year of manufacture.
CONDITION
These papers were at one time in a binding and have been removed. This means that there are sewing holes and creasing down the folded centre of full sheets and evidence of the same along one edge of the half sheets.
There is some foxing and indication of age on all sheets but they are, in our opinion, very acceptable.
The Papers
Sheet #1 (half-sheet)
Watermarks - GR and 1794
Size - 330 x 205 mm, 13 x 8 1/16th inch
Sheet #2 (half-sheet)
Watermarks - GR (no year)
Size - 315 x 200, 12 3/8 x 7 3/4 inches
Sheet #3 (half-sheet)
Watermarks - Britannia and 1794
Size - 330 x 205 mm, 13 x 8 1/16th inch
Sheet #4 (full sheet)
Watermarks - GR and Britannia (no year)
402 x 315 mm, 15 3/4 x 12 3/8 inch
Sheet #5 (full sheet)
Watermarks - GR, Britannia, 1794
Size - 402 x 330 mm, 15 3/4 x 13 inches
Weight - Approximately 109 gsm
Surface - Laid (the laid lines are 1 1/16 inches apart)
