It is a truism that the early modern book world run on paper. However, the European paper trade is one of the most unknown economic activities of the early modern period. In fact, the workings of the paper trade between the fifteenth and early nineteenth centuries remain one of the least studied areas of book history, communication history, and many more fields of expertise in which paper is interwoven and present. This research network, founded by Sandra Zawrel and Daniel Bellingradt in September 2015, aims to reposition the paper trade in (book) history. So far, members of the network organized and participated in a conference and an edited volume about the paper trade in early modern Europe: „The Paper Trade in Early Modern Europe“. We do have a network’s email list open for news and updates on anything paper in the past. However, you need to be a member of the group to use this email: rn-paper-trade-owner@lists.fau.de

What is the network aiming for?

By establishing this network, we aimed to bring together international experts from different disciplinary backgrounds and encourage a lively discussion on one of the most unknown economic activities of the early modern period in Europe – the paper trade. Core issues are, among others, the organisations of the paper trade viewed from a transnational/international perspective, and the various management processes linking paper production with distribution. Further, we would like to engage with recent research on paper addressed for example in media theory.

Who are the members of the network?

So far, this network brought together about 100 members from 17 different countries. We kindly invite interested colleagues to join us, just drop us a mail (sandra.zawrel@uni-erfurt.de or daniel.bellingradt@fau.de), and please bring our network to the attention of your interested colleagues.

Renaud Adam (Liége, Belgium) / Myriam de Arteni (New York, USA) / Sara Barker (Leeds, Great Britain) / Daniel Bellingradt (Erlangen, Germany) / Michaelle Biddle (Ann Arbor, USA) / John Bidwell (New York, USA) / Frank Birkenholz (Groningen, The Netherlands) / Mark Bland (Leicester, Great Britain) / Iris Brahms (Berlin / Germany) / Andrew Brown (Pays des Gex, France) / Thea Burns (Kingston, USA) / Ramón Bárcena Colina (Santander, Spain) / Orietta Da Rold (Cambridge, Great Britain) / Kathryn Desplanque (Durham, USA) / Georg Dietz (Leipzig, Germany) / Maria Dolors Diaz-Miranda Macias (Spain) / Paul M. Dover (Kennesaw, USA) / Dean Ferguson (Kingsville, USA) / Monika Frohnapfel-Leis (Erfurt, Germany) / Chaimy J. Folsom (Kansas City, USA) / Anna Gialdini (London, Great Britain) / Marina Garone Gravier (Mexico City, Mexico) / Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch (Barcelona, Spain) / Gwendoline Guy (du Havre, France) / Lucas Haasis (Oldenburg, Germany) / Tobias Hodel (Zurich, Switzerland) / Silvia Hufnagel (Reykjavik, Iceland) / Leon Jackson (Columbia, USA) / Eliza Jacobi (Leiden / The Netherlands) / Christof Jeggle (Bamberg / Germany) / Geke van de Kamp (Zaanstad, The Netherlands) / Adriaan Kardinaal (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) / Catherine Kikuchi (Rome, Italy) / Thomas Klinke (Cologne / Germany) / Juraj Kittler (Canton / USA) / Karin Kröger (Erfurt, Germany) / Nina Lamal (Antwerp, Belgium) / Stephen Lubell (London, Great Britain) / Rebecca Mathew (Birmingham, Great Britain) / Erin A. McCarthy (Newcastle / Great Britain) / Carla Meyer-Schlenkrich (Cologne, Germany) / Anna Motz (Frankfurt / Germany) / Pieter van Nieuwburg (Zaanstad, The Netherlands) / Sean Nortz (Providence, USA) / Ekaterina Nosova (St. Petersburg, Russia) / Pádraig Ó Macháin (Cork, Ireland) / Aaron Pratt (Austin, USA) / Ilaria Pastrolin (Paris, France) / Jose Maria Perez Fernandez (Grenada, Spain) / Marlene Peterlechner (Vienna, Austria) / Mark Peterson (Virginia, USA) / Maryse Pierrard (Paris, France) / Goran Proot (Antwerp, Belgium) / Henk Yorck (Leiden, The Netherlands) / Krisztina Rábai (Szeged, Hungary) / Jacqueline Reid-Walsh (Old Main, USA) / Birgit Reissland (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) / Benito Rial Costas (Madrid / Spain) / Paolo Sachet (London, Great Britain) / Timo Särkkä (Jyväskylä, Finland) / Leila Sauvage (Amsterdam / The Netherlands) / Frieder Schmidt (Stuttgart, Germany) / Paul Schweitzer-Martin (Munich / Germany) / Kristof Selleslach (Antwerp, Belgium) / Talitha Schepers (London, UK) / Asheesh Siddique (New York, USA) / Helen Smith (York, Great Britain) / Theresa J. Smith (Buffalo / USA) / Carlos Spoerhase (Bielefeld, Germany) / Maria Stieglecker (Vienna / Austria) / Joshua Teplitsky (New York, USA) / Tom Toelle (Hamburg / Germany) / Marina Toumpouri (Cyprus) / Jan Willem Veluwenkamp (Groningen, The Netherlands) / Bas van Velzen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) / Andreas Weber (Twente, The Netherlands) / Nikolaus Weichselbaumer (Mainz, Germany) / Megan Williams (Groningen, The Netherlands) / Paola von Wyss-Giacosa (Zurich, Switzerland) / Sandra Zawrel (Jena, Germany).