The Telltale Handprint: Paper as a Palimpsest of History

摘要

Rarely have I encountered an entangled mat of cellulose fibers I did not appreciate in one way or another. Whether textured or smooth, precious or disposable, these hardy amalgams of hydrogen-bonded fibers have changed the world many times over. For centuries, human history has been both literally written on the surface of paper and embedded deep within its structure. Paper itself has a memory; the following tale serves to illustrate this point. It is a reminder that history is comprised of human lives, whose great achievements and regrettable missteps still linger beneath the surface of the treasured artifacts of the past, easily revealed by a modern-day detective armed with curiosity and a raking light.