Drawers
Cotton, by weight and by count.
We sell cotton paper. The mills are not in Iowa. What we can tell you in the shop is the fiber, the weight, the sizing, the grain, and how many sheets are in your hand.
A quire is 25 sheets. A ream is 500. The 90 gsm bond and the 104 gsm letter are sold by the sheet, the quire, and the ream. Deckled 118 gsm and the 216 gsm cover are sold by the sheet and the quire only. A 500-sheet stack of deckled cotton does not stay clean under its own weight in a humid July, so we do not keep one.
| Sheet | Weight | Size | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25% cotton bond, white, buffered | 90 gsm, 24 lb bond | US Letter, 8.5 × 11 in | Wove, internally sized, cut edges, long grain |
| 100% cotton, warm white, unbuffered, no optical brightener | 104 gsm | US Letter, and A5 (148 × 210 mm) | Wove, internally sized, cut edges, long grain |
| 100% cotton monarch, same sheet as the 104 gsm | 104 gsm | 7.25 × 10.5 in | Wove, cut, long grain. Sheet and quire. |
| 100% cotton, warm white, unbuffered | 118 gsm | US Letter | Laid, gelatin sized, deckle on the two long edges. Sheet and quire. |
| 100% cotton cover, warm white | 216 gsm | US Letter | Wove, cut. Sheet and quire. Not a folding letter. |
Sizing, and which sheet takes which ink
Internal sizing on the 90 gsm and the 104 gsm is enough for a dry rollerball and for a fountain pen used with a light hand. The 118 gsm sheet is tub-sized with gelatin. Fountain-pen ink sits better on that one. If you are testing, ask for the scrap that matches the drawer you are buying from. A scrap from a different weight is not a test.
The 100% cotton sheets are unbuffered, on purpose, so iron gall has a fair surface. The 25% cotton bond is buffered. We will say which is which before you pair a bottle with a stack. Buffered paper and iron gall is a poor match; the alkaline reserve can fade the line over time. We would rather refuse the pair than wrap it.
Grain on the letter sheets runs the 11-inch way. Cotton moves more across the grain when the air is wet, so the 8.5-inch side is the one that grows in July. If a folded letter has to meet an envelope, fold with the grain when the format allows. We write the grain on the kraft.
Humidity on Clinton Street
The front glass faces west, toward the Pentacrest. After midafternoon in July the sun is on that glass. A loose sheet cockles. Cockling is the fiber taking on water and swelling across the grain. It is not a stain, and it is not a reason to iron the paper. Heat glosses the size.
We put a waved quire under a board in the press room until it lies down. The screw, if we use it, is snug, not tight. A damp stack pressed hard takes a shine. The longer note on that week is West light and a cockled quire. The opposite problem, a furnace-dry room and a sharper ink line, is The furnace and a sharper line.
Carry a wrapped packet closed until it is in the room where you will write. Opening it on a hot car seat, then walking into a cold lobby, is how a flat quire waves. At home, a board and a dry book heavier than the quire will bring it back. Do not steam it.
We do not cut these sheets down. Envelopes that match the sizes we do sell are on the envelope page. A ream of 90 gsm letter is a two-hand parcel. The door is at sidewalk level.