The advantages of this mill-based papermaking technique, which spread throughout
Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries far outweighed the disadvantage of considerable
outlays of time and capital for building and fitting out with new machinery and
equipment. However, the change in the production process, thanks to the division
of labour, boosted output and improved quality. And it could certainly generate
a profit, as some examples prove. On the other hand, there was a growing risk
of an imbalance between costs and earnings, a state of affairs noted in the numerous
reports of business failures among papermakers.
Later, many paper merchants took over the mills as owners, while the master papermakers
practised their trade as lessees. This trend was stepped up by the special conditions
prevailing in the book sector, where a book printer or publisher had to fund
the production costs (paper, composition, printing) of a work before the sale
of the print run generated revenue. The result was that he was often indebted
to the paper suppliers.
Work at the vat normally involved four people: the vatman, who made the sheet
using a mould; the couch squirt, who worked in time with the vatman and placed
the sheet on felt; the layman, who drew off the still moist sheets from the felt
after pressing; and the apprentice, who had to feed material to the vat and provide
for vat heating. The press was operated jointly by the team. Depending on format
and basis weight, up to nine reams (4,500 sheets) of paper could be made in the
course of a working day of around 13 hours.
