rag paper

— Four hundred years ago, paper was made from rags (or, technically, the cloth fibers that make up rags). Rag paper sounds like something cheap, but in fact, it’s quite the opposite. In comparison to what we use today, rag paper was downright luscious, often thick and soft to the touch. This is one of the main reasons so many early printed books are missing blank leaves: owners would cut them out to use them for other purposes. A perfectly good piece of expensive paper, just sitting there not being used? What a waste!