Paper Museum. The map between History and the Future

The Museum of Paper in Pescia, inaugurated in 1996, is managed by the Association Museum of Paper of Pescia ETS-Onlus, which has promoted the project, which currently includes 68 private members, associations and public bodies. The main purpose of the Association is to preserve and pass on the ancient art of the processing and manufacture of 'hand paper' and to let others know the importance and evolution of paper production, activities which has been present on the territory of Pescia since the end of the fifteenth century. The property has exhibition spaces, classrooms, a library and a conference room and offers the opportunity to participate in educational workshops which teach the history of paper and the techniques of manufacture, especially paper by hand. Through the use of copies of the original machinery participants can create a sheet of paper by hand, following the ancient techniques of the master paper makers. The Museum has become a valuable reference point for restorers, scholars and bibliophiles from all over the world, it protects and hand down a universal knowledge, shared in time and space: the production of paper. Its activity is aimed at a wide audience of scholars and students, passionate and curious people who can explore the paper universe and experience its thousand secrets: from the precious collection of watermarks, including the one with the effigies of Napoleon and Maria Louise of Austria (1812), to the instruments and vintage machines for the creation of paper by hand.