Your Favorite Writing Paper

[dennis_f]

I bought their paper, cards and envelopes. Fantastic stock. Classy for letters and I used the folded card stock for greeting cards. The company that sold it here was a specialist paper shop that did a lot of art type stocks too. When they closed I found it hard to find anywhere else locally. A shop in Sydney had a small supply but it disappeared to after a while.

 

 

It's a similar situation here as well... It used to be common in stationery stores and art stores, but right now only one major online store in Canada has it on their website, and it hasn't been restocked in... I don't know how long.

 

We've lost a few larger stationery/paper stores over the past few years, so that also made it harder to find. And the newer shops tend to stock all the current fountain pen favourites, but not the older high-quality papers.

[inkypete]

 

 

It's a similar situation here as well... It used to be common in stationery stores and art stores, but right now only one major online store in Canada has it on their website, and it hasn't been restocked in... I don't know how long.

 

We've lost a few larger stationery/paper stores over the past few years, so that also made it harder to find. And the newer shops tend to stock all the current fountain pen favourites, but not the older high-quality papers.

So true. The bigger stores now seem to carry only the larger brands and ignore the small specialty grades. I suppose the boutique manufacturers don't have the marketing and sales team to sell into the big boys not the margins to buy their space in store.

[Boston Brian]

I always enjoyed using Basildon Bond from the UK. Available in several sizes and colors, with matching envelopes!

[adamselene]

Is there a good online source for all these delights?

[Karmachanic]

Is there a good online source for all these delights?

Yes there are! All in one place - probably not. Your search engine will help you find the paper of your interest.

[alkman]

It's been a while since I've been back...I can remember when Fabriano Minerva and Florentia were still accessible and somewhat affordable. If you want a good challenge and some unique stationery, you can cut down a lot of full size art sheets. I scored some fun sheets from Vintage Paper Co in the UK that date back to the 1960s or older (be careful if you order from them not to get waterleaf paper which is not sized or coated and will feather badly).

 

Anyhow, nowadays I tend to favor Gohrsmuehle, a German brand which has a fantastic surface and a lovely watermark--comes in 80GSM and 100GSM variants.

 

A lot of my writing choices boil down to letter length. A5 for short bits and A4 for longer jawns.

 

Cheers

[inkypete]

This thread set me off in search of Fabriano Mediovalis. For anyone downunder found that a few art stores still carry the stock. Here is one.

 

https://www.arthousedirect.com.au/Search?q=fabriano&x=0&y=0

[FLZapped]

I like a good paper vellum, but it's just too expensive to use all the time. -Bruce

[fpupulin]

Amalfi paper. Not easily found in larger batches and certainly not cheap but it is such beautiful paper it's hard to resist.

+1

[CSSD]

Clairefontaine for me, it's been my favorite for over 15 years.

.

[Retro-user]

Of course, Rhodia is a favorite, and Fabriano Medioevalis is great for letters, but I'm having good luck with something I bought for an old electric typewriter. Surprisingly, it has proven to play well with my fountain pens.

It's the Hammermill Copy Plus 20-pound copy paper (not inkjet or laser, just copy paper).

Currently, it is on sale on Amazon for $5 a ream.

 

I'm using a fine point Pelikan M200 and a medium Parker Jotter on it. Inks are Quink Blue and 4001 Brilliant Brown.

Of these, the Parker is the wetter nib, but on this paper, neither pen exhibits ANY bleed through and only slight ghosting if held up to a light. Neither ink smeared less than 5 sec. after writing.

Of course, it is much thinner paper and less substantial feeling than HP 32-lb. laser, but for personal writing, it might be sufficient.

 

Here's the link:

 

Hammermill Copy Plus 20lb Paper, 8.5 x 11, 1 Ream, 500 Total Sheets, Made in USA, Sustainably Sourced From American Family Tree Farms, 92 Bright, Acid Free, Economical Printer Paper, 105007R

by Amazon.com

Learn more: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B005NL739M/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MfitFb67G61MZ

Edited August 31, 2020 by Retro-user

[pensmarht]

The Japanese papers (TR, Maruman) are always lovely to use. The European ones seem more functional and practical. While I haven't tried the higher weights, I have to admit that I don't see the point. If a paper by TR weighs less and yet conveys the properties of a nib and ink quite well, then why go to something heavier? Esp. for mail. I've been meaning to try G. Lalo and a few heavyweights just for the fun of it, but they simply aren't reasonably priced.

[LanceSaintPaul]

... I'm having good luck with something I bought for an old electric typewriter. Surprisingly, it has proven to play well with my fountain pens.

It's the Hammermill Copy Plus 20-pound copy paper (not inkjet or laser, just copy paper).

Currently, it is on sale on Amazon for $5 a ream.

 

I'm using a fine point Pelikan M200 and a medium Parker Jotter on it. Inks are Quink Blue and 4001 Brilliant Brown.

Of these, the Parker is the wetter nib, but on this paper, neither pen exhibits ANY bleed through and only slight ghosting if held up to a light. Neither ink smeared less than 5 sec. after writing.

Of course, it is much thinner paper and less substantial feeling than HP 32-lb. laser, but for personal writing, it might be sufficient.

 

Here's the link:

 

Hammermill Copy Plus 20lb Paper, 8.5 x 11, 1 Ream, 500 Total Sheets, Made in USA, Sustainably Sourced From American Family Tree Farms, 92 Bright, Acid Free, Economical Printer Paper, 105007R

by Amazon.com

Learn more: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B005NL739M/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MfitFb67G61MZ

 

I decided to try this paper out & ordered a ream that arrived today. Very nice!

 

After writing just a few lines I am impressed. At the price, better yet. A great all around default for everyday use. A slight bit of tooth, most notable with a finer nib.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I will be ordering more.

[ibrahim]

Based on your recommendations here, I bought 2 Fabriano Ecoqua and as they arrive I noticed that there was nothing exceptional and that it is a 5.8 by 8.25 inch notebook. This is small, considering the price being paid as I believe I can buy Muji notebooks for much cheaper and we all know what Japanese paper is charmingly like. I bought Muji notebooks before and was quite pleased. The only con I find is how the cover or the binding can be unattractive. I like Midori MD notebook ruled line free,A5 And Muji notebooks.

[dennis_f]

As one of the people who commented above on the excellent quality of Fabriano paper, I'm sorry to hear that.

On another very recent thread here on FPN, someone mentioned that they had recently bought new Fabriano noteboooks -- having used them in the past -- and had found a noticeable decrease in quality. This sounds like a disturbing trend.

[LizB]

The Fabriano Ecoqua is a very different paper to the premium letter-writing paper being discussed above. Fabriano produces a huge range of speciality paper for art and writing, across students and professional budgets. I have an Ecoqua notebook I bought a couple of years ago, and it is a well-made A4 lined pad, similar to Oxford Optik probably.

 

But it is not a letter writing paper, it's a notebook. Fabriano Medioevalis is a beautiful heavyweight paper, probably more of a card, designed to handle watercolour as well as ink. It is beautiful to write on. I would love to try some of their other premium writing papers but they are proving very difficult to get hold of; I think Minerva and Florentia may be discontinued.

[alkman]

The Fabriano Ecoqua is a very different paper to the premium letter-writing paper being discussed above. Fabriano produces a huge range of speciality paper for art and writing, across students and professional budgets. I have an Ecoqua notebook I bought a couple of years ago, and it is a well-made A4 lined pad, similar to Oxford Optik probably.

 

But it is not a letter writing paper, it's a notebook. Fabriano Medioevalis is a beautiful heavyweight paper, probably more of a card, designed to handle watercolour as well as ink. It is beautiful to write on. I would love to try some of their other premium writing papers but they are proving very difficult to get hold of; I think Minerva and Florentia may be discontinued.

 

Florentia seems inconclusive as to whether it is still offered, but Minerva and Secolo XIII are listed as prestige correspondence papers in the 2020 catalog. Florentia appears on the main website. The papers are a joy to write on but difficult to find if you don't have access to a Fabriano store (they might need to be specially ordered even at that).

[LizB]

Thanks alkman, that catalogue is fabulous!

[alkman]

If you haven't tried it, Three Candlesticks is a beautiful paper which comes in a variety of sizes. I am waiting for a set of 4PTO sheets with matching envelopes.

[wikeh2004]

 

I decided to try this paper out & ordered a ream that arrived today. Very nice!

 

After writing just a few lines I am impressed. At the price, better yet. A great all around default for everyday use. A slight bit of tooth, most notable with a finer nib.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I will be ordering more.

 

I used some Hammermill 24 lb multipurpose paper and found it very pleasing. I used it to print dotted pages for my Circa junior size notebook and was very satisfied.