Onionskin paper

Description

A thin, strong, translucent writing paper. Onionskin paper is made from bleached, and hydrated chemical pulp and/or cotton fibers. It is sized with rosin, starch, or glue then supercalendered to produce a glazed or cockle finish. It takes ink well and erases easily. Onionskin paper is used for low bulk operations, such as airmail correspondence. It used to be commonly used for making multiple typewritten duplicates with carbon copy paper.

Synonyms and Related Terms

onion-skin paper (Br.); pelure surglacée (Fr.)

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 576

• Boise Cascade Paper Group, The Paper Handbook, Boise Cascade, Portland OR, 1989

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Book and Paper Group, Paper Conservation Catalog, AIC, 1984, 1989

• The Dictionary of Paper, American Paper Institute, New York, Fourth Edition, 1980

• E.J.LaBarre, Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Paper and Paper-making, Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam, 1969

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000