Resources: The Paper Marbler from Diderot's Encyclopédie (1765)

Paper marbling workshop. The artisan on the left is marbling the edges of books.

The Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, or Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts in English, was published in France between 1751 and 1772 with multiple authors, and edited by Denis Diderot and, between 1751 and 1759, Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert. It is often referred to as Diderot's Encyclopédie.

Encyclopédie began as a project to translate and expand previous encyclopedias of the 'arts and sciences', but of particular interest here is the addition of 'métiers', so trades or crafts. It covered approximately 250 crafts,* and particularly unique to the publication was the inclusion of detailed illustrations of the different trades. These images were usually the first time certain crafts had been depicted in print.

The paper marbler was issued as part of volume five in 1765 and included two printed sheets with an explanation (below). It stated that the 'Marbreur de Papier' was 'a worker who knows how to paint paper, or rather stain it with different colours, sometimes symmetrically, sometimes irregularly arranged, sometimes imitating marble, & producing an effect pleasing to the eye, when the worker is skillful, has a little taste, and uses beautiful paper and beautiful colours'. 

In Europe, marbled paper was most frequently used for end papers and page edges in the book trade, and used bold, vibrant colours. Outside Europe, marbling was practiced in different ways. There were a variety of patterns developed, and the processes were often closely guarded. Some of the designs noted in Encyclopédie the were 'with flowers, paste, large, small, large comb, small comb, or Germany, agate, placard, montfaucon, fleurons, tourniquets, & c. All these names are relative either to the design or to the manufacture'. European marbling probably began in Germany, but its use in the book trade was developed in France and spread through other countries.

French Shell (also Caillouté Agate, Ringader and Vogelaugen) from a French 1788 publication.

French Curl (also called Coquille, Escargot or Snail) from a French 1777 publication.

Examples of marbled papers from the 1830s can be found here.

Plates from Encyclopédie

PLATE I

Fig. 1. a. Worker who passes the gum water. b. brush. c. sieve. d. tub which receives the water. e. butter jar that contains soggy gum.

2. a. Worker who crushes colors. b. the workbench. c. stone. d. the dial. e. the leather bag. 

3. a. Worker throwing colors. b. his brush loaded with colors. c. the tub. d the tripod which supports the bucket. 

4. a. Worker busy making fries. b. his comb. c. the tub. d. the trepié. 

5. a. Worker who applies a sheet of paper to the surface of the water to marble it. b. the sheet of paper. c. the tub.

6. a. Chassis placed one on top of the other, which drip on a vat. b. rope that holds them. c. wooden bar which supports the frames, & to which the rope goes. d vat which receives the drippings. It can be drained by placing the frames as will be seen in fig. 7. 

7. a. b. Several frames placed one on top of the other to drain, & placed in two frames assembled at an angle, the development of which will be seen at the bottom of Plate II. in X. c. d. channel which receives the drippings from the drip tray. e. drip pot. f. marbled leaf which drains on the frame. We see on the ground in g one of these frames. h trestle on which we see several sheets of paper intended to be marbled. Bottom of the Board.

PLATE II. 

Thumbnail. 

Fig. 9. Worker waxing a sheet of marbled paper. 

10. no. 1. Smoother & its maneuver. a. barrel of the machine. b. piece which takes the pebble. c. handle of the smoother. d. the sheet of paper. e. plank that brings out. f. stone or marble to be smoothed. g. frame which supports the marble. h. worker who smooths. 

10. no. 2. a. Worker at the workbench folding the paper. b. the sheets that he folds. c. the folder. d. pile of leaves lying on the workbench. e. pile of folded sheets. 

11. no. 1. a. Worker with his tip busy preparing comb paper. b. the point. c. the tub. 

11. no. 2. Book marker. a. worker who holds two or three volumes whose covers he has picked up; it applies the slice to the surface of the water. b. books. c. the tub. Bottom of the Board. 

i i i i, j. frame to drain the leaves. i i i i another frame made of slats instead of strings. k. grinding stone. l. wheel. m leather bag for the colors on the stone. m. knife to also pick up the colors on the stone. n. traps for the colors that remain on the surface of the water after removing the sheet of paper. O tub full of water with colors thrown over it. o. workbench on which we also see color pots. p. smoothing stone. q. glass smoother. r. smoother that we see any rise in the thumbnail. s. handles of the smoother. t. pebble. u. part of the shaft which fits into part Q. r boxwood or ivory folder. x. development of fig. 7. PI. I. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, two frames assembled at an angle by couplets at the points marked 3 & 4. 6 & 6 several frames one on top of the other on each side, to drain the sheets of paper that are between all of them. 77 behind the frames of which we can see the strings. 8 an extended sheet of paper. 9, 9 two ropes which allow to give more or less opening to the angle 2, 4, 5, in which we will place the frames, shown in iiii, one on top of the other to make them drain, by putting between each one a sheet of marbled paper. The whole is placed on a drainer, as seen in fig. 7. First plate.

NOTES

* Nancy Cox, Retailing and the Language of Goods, 1550-1820 (Ashgate, 2015), p, 67.