What paper for which book?
What's a "Grand Papier"?

"Paper has this unique and admirable quality: although it is made from substances of almost no value, often from waste materials, the result of grinding rags and cloth, once shaped and printed, (...) it acquires unparalleled power, a kind of universal sovereignty.
It changes our ideas and beliefs, transforms our customs and laws, overthrows or restores states, decides on peace and war: it governs the world, so to speak. "(Albert Cim)

While enthusiasts are not mistaken, readers sometimes tend to consider luxury editions ("grand papier" editions in French) of first editions solely for their symbolic value - only taking into account the numerical classification of the different papers sorted in numbered copies. 

However, before being a symbol, a book is an object, and the reception of the intangible work depends in part on the tangible qualities of its printed copies.
Although the instrument does not make the symphony, it plays an essential part in creating the finished piece and lends it its voice.
Similarly, paper (and the same could be said of typography or binding) does not make the literary work, but it is, in the noblest sense, its “spokesperson.”

Thus, readers, whether bibliophiles, collectors, or enthusiasts, assemble their ideal library by thinking about the physical properties of the books that will one day adorn their shelves. And for each title, each author, they will choose the paper best suited to the author's voice and long-time preservation, according to their own tastes.



Read our articles on:

- "papier Japon" 

- "papier Chine"

- laid paper

- "vélin pur fil" wove paper

- alfa paper