Thread by @dbellingradt

The Notary is a painting of mid-sixteenth century by Marinus van Reymerswaele. What we see is secretary work with paper: record keeping practices, writing, folding, storing.
A thread for #paperhistory and #bookhistory.

#AltePinakothek @Pinakotheken: t1p.de/emor

1/x

Notaries needed offices in early modern Europe, because they provided paper businesses: they used papers as a general service. In fact, producing evidence in a lawsauit is a paper practice. First things first: writing on paper on a regular basis is the main office work.

2/x

Let's focus on what writing was: a paper using literate practice that required - apart from paper - some more special materials, most importantly ink, an inkhorn, and a quill.

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A great part of the paper usages in Europe were secretary businesses, and this business was partly a material culture of both record-keeping and writing new outgoing letters and reading incoming letters. Welcome to the continous cycle of writing and reading, and folding.

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Where to store the the paper flows of the office? Among others, lawyers and notaries stored their used papers in boxes, bags, baskets, chests, cupboards, and so on. Highlighted here is a bag full of files. @EricKetelaar has worked on this, if you fancy more details.

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What we see here is fresh paper waiting to be used. Folded sheets waiting for writing action. Purchasing paper sheets was a regular business for any secretary in Europe. No paper, no work.

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Just letters or documents stiched together to maintain order in the paper business. A needle and a thread was handy in early modern secretaries.

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These layers of paper documents need some more attention. Organizing your papers was work. Paper work.

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Here is a letter rack, that could be used for storing documents that needed more future work (and more storing decisions). Next to the rack is a bag, waiting to be filled. Also fresh paper sheets, folded, can be seen. Layers of paper waiting for more usages.

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Well, 10/9:

As @EricKetelaar commented correctly, the painting shows a lawyer and his secretary work surrounding. The title of the painting - the Notary - is wrong, but the paper practices depicted are standard early modern secretary business.