The three-year project Paper Trails was funded by the Icelandic Research Council, Rann­ís. The aim of the projec­­t was to examine the provenance of paper used in 16th and 17th century Icelandic charters, manuscripts and books by means of watermark analysis, but also to identify the agents of Icelandic paper trade. Amongst the questions we tried to answer were where and when the paper, used in Icelandic books and manuscripts, was produced and whether there are differences in the use of paper for specifi­c purposes. Was there, for example, a difference betwee­­n the pape­­r used for manuscripts and printed books?

In the project, a corpus of over 140 charters, 350 manuscripts and 36 printed books was researched and watermarks in them analysed. In additio­­n, 480 watermarks in 98 charters, 61 manuscripts and one book were captured.

The project was carried out by scholars at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, in collaboration with The National and University Library of Iceland. This exhibition is a part of the project.

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