At any rate, the most ancient writing on paper made of rags known at the present day is a letter from Joinville to Louis X., dated 1315; we may, moreover, mention with certainty, as written on linen paper, an inventory of goods belonging to a certain Prior Henry, who died in 1340, which is preserved at Canterbury, and many authentic writings, dating back as far as 1335, preserved in the British Museum, London. The first paper-manufactory established in England was, it is said, at Hertford, which dates only from 1588; but important paper-manufactories existed in France from the reign of Philippe de Valois, that is, from the middle of the fourteenth century; particularly at Essonne and at Troyes. The paper which came from these manufactories bore generally, in the paper itself, different marks (Fig. 333) called water-marks, such as a bull’s head, a cross, a serpent, a star, a crown, &c., according to the quality or destination of the paper. Many other countries in Europe had also flourishing paper-manufactories in the fourteenth century. From this period we find, indeed, a large number of documents written on paper made of rags, the use of which thus preceded by about a century the invention of printing. [Illustration: Fig. 334.--Banner of the Paper-Makers of Paris.] MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts in Olden Times.--Their Form.--Materials of which they were composed.--Their Destruction by the Goths.--Rare at the Beginning of the Middle Ages.--The Catholic Church preserved and multiplied them.--Copyists.--Transcription of Diplomas.--Corporation of Scribes and Booksellers.--Palæography.--Greek Writings.--Uncial and Cursive Manuscripts.--Sclavonic Writings.--Latin Writers.--Tironian Shorthand.--Lombardic Characters.--Diplomatic.--Capetian.--Ludovicinian.--Gothic.--Runic.-- Visigothic.--Anglo-Saxon.--Irish. Let the reader refer to the chapters on PARCHMENT and BINDING, and he will find a few remarks on the purely material part of manuscripts; we may, then, here treat this question very summarily; and for that purpose we shall avail ourselves of the remarkable work of J. J. Champollion-Figeac. When writing was once invented, and had passed into general use in civilised society, the choice of substances suited for its reception, and to fix it in a durable manner, was very diversified, although depending on the nature of the text to be written.