Paper has a long history, beginning with the ancient Egyptians and continuing to the present day. For thousands of years, hand-made methods dominated and then, during the 19th century, paper production became industrialised. Originally intended purely for writing and printing purposes, a wide variety of paper grades and uses are now available to the consumer.

The "paper history" section of paperonline was kindly provided by the Swiss Paper Museum and Museum for Writing and Printing - www.papiermuseum.ch