Amalfi

Amalfi's old hand-made paper

Whenever a tourist approaches Amalfi, a city, here legend and history intertwine, the certainly has in mind its greatness in past centuries as a sea-power and as the second Italian sea-Republic.
Hardly would he imagine that also the manufacture of handmade paper, also called «ragpaper», is one among the many achievements, historical, architectural, artistic, which together, with its scenic coast, made it, it the opinion of many a «divine» stretch of land.

The first stretch about the origin of paper come from China, where it was said to have been invented, in the 2nd century B.C., by an ingenious Mandarin named Tsai Lun. In the 7th and 8th centuries also the Japanese and other neighboring Nations began to manufacture this new product, which then quickly spread over the Middle East including Arabia.

In Europe paper began to be used certainly before the 12th century, when papyrus rolls became more and more expensive and, consequently, shorter and shorter in supply. The assumption is all but unjustified that it was the people from Amalfi that, having at that time conspicuous commercial relations with Arabia, first introduced paper into Italy.

Be that as it may, what is sure is that Amalfi was among the very first cities in Europe to manufacture hand-made paper; more and more paper mills were set up both in Amalfi itself and in other villages and towns along the coast, thus giving rise to a veritable new industry which has managed to survive to this day. In an 1811 statistical survey about the province of the so called «Citra» Principality roughly corresponding to today's Province of Salerno), we read that Amalfi had 14, Tramonti and Maiori 15, Minori 8, and Ravello 3 paper mills.

The hand-made paper manufactured in Amalfi and its surroundings was used throughout the periods of the Angevin and Bourbon dynasties in all royal offices for issuing official documents (the only exception being the reign of King Frederick II, who, in order to check the rapidly spreading habit of using it in place of parliament, in 1820 prohibited its use in the royal offices of Naples, Sorrento and Amalfi altogether; the type of paper then commonly produced was called «bambacina» paper, from the name of the Cid Arabian city of Bambyche, where it was originally made from flax and hemp rags.

It had been widespread on the markets of Amalfi and the neighborhood since the end of the 13th century, and had been circulated with the coat of arms of Amalfi impressed on it as quality guarantee and to protect it from unfair competition.

(tratto da" Amalfi la città famosa, la città da scoprire" Eidos guide1995)