Parchment (redirected from parchment papers)

parchment, untanned skins of animals, especially of the sheep, calf, and goat, prepared for use as a writing material. The name is a corruption of Pergamum, the ancient city of Asia Minor where preparation of parchment suitable for use on both sides was achieved in the 2d cent. B.C. Parchment, which is more durable than papyrus and susceptible of being folded into book form, very gradually superseded papyrus. In Europe it gave way to paper for use in books only after the advent of printing. The skins were soaked in water, treated with lime to loosen the hair, scraped, washed, stretched, and dried, and then rubbed with chalk and pumice stone. A fine grade prepared from the skin of the calf or kid became known as vellum, a name applied during the Middle Ages to any parchment used in manuscripts. For important manuscripts vellum was often dyed purple. Parchment is still used for certain documents and diplomas, for bookbindings and lampshades, and for the heads of drums, tambourines, and banjos. Vegetable parchment is paper treated to make it tough, translucent, and impervious to water.

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parchment

Processed skins of certain animals (chiefly sheep, goats, and calves) that have been prepared for the purpose of writing on them. Parchment was probably invented in Greece in the 2nd century BC. Skins had been used for writing material even earlier (c. 2400 BC), but the new, more thorough method of cleaning, stretching, and scraping made possible the use of both sides of a manuscript leaf, leading to the replacement of the rolled manuscript by the bound book (codex). Especially fine parchment is known as vellum. In modern usage, the terms “parchment” and “vellum” are sometimes used for a type of high-quality paper.

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parchment [′parch·mənt]

(materials)

The skin of a goat or sheep that has been treated so that it can be used to write upon.

A drawing or written text on this material.

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Parchment 

(derived from Pergamum, a city in Asia Minor where parchment was widely used in the second century B.C.), a writing surface that is made from untanned, clean, dry hide; it is sometimes treated with lime.

Parchment fibers are connected in an unstructured, cornified mass that is often transparent and has a relatively high tensile strength of 100–120 meganewtons per m², or 10–12 kgf/mm². The taut parchment gives a clear sound when struck with a wooden object. At one time, parchment was the most commonly used writing surface for letters and the best material for making quivers and shields. Before the invention of printing, most medieval Russian and European texts were written on parchment. Different grades of parchment have been used for making drumheads, seams for drive belts, and pickers and noiseless, spark-free pinions in looms. Parchment for pickers and pinions has been replaced by polymers.

In the production of parchment it is crucial to retain the natural hide proteins in as native a condition as possible. Therefore, the hair is removed from the hide either mechanically or by immersion in concentrated Na₂S solution. Chemical depilation preserves the collagen structure and thus the strength of the parchment. Soaking and lime treatment are performed for short periods without raising the temperature. After drying, the parchment is moistened and the underside is further lubricated with glycerin and organic tanning agents.

L. P. GAIDAROV