Vellum

Vellum (pronounced vel-uh m)

(1) A fine parchment, prepared from calfskin, lambskin, kidskin etc, treated for use as a writing surface.

(2) A manuscript or the like on vellum.

(3) A texture of paper or cloth resembling vellum.

(4) A creamy colored heavy paper resembling vellum.

(5) Made of or resembling vellum (vellum sometime used by commercial stationery suppliers to refer to paper of the highest quality).

(6) Of a book, a work bound in vellum.

1400–1450: From the late Middle English velum, from velim, from the thirteenth century Old French velin (parchment made from calfskin (which endures in modern French as vélin), from the Middle French veelin & velin (of a calf), from vel (calf) & veel (veal), from the Latin vitulinus (of a calf).  The related word in English was bookfell (a skin prepared for writing upon; a sheet of vellum or parchment; paper), from the Middle English bocfel (parchment), from the Old English bōcfell (parchment, vellum).  It was cognate with the Old High German buohfel & puohfell (parchment), the Middle High German buohvël (parchment) and the Old Norse bókfell (parchment).  The noun plural is vellums.

Vellum sheets being prepared.

It’s now probably only specialists who use the word vellum to refer to the material in its historic sense.  The most frequent use of the word is to describe either (1) a prepared (non-calf) animal skin or membrane (usually in pre-cut form for printing and often referred to also as parchment in its generic sense) or (2) any of the various high-quality editions of paper stock offered by many manufacturers.  In the narrow technical sense “true” vellum is (3) made from calfskin and available usually in single sheets which may be used individually (typically as scrolls) or assembled as bound folios, volumes or codices.  However, such is the quality of the modern, non-calf, parchments that only experts can tell the difference and in academic use, the term "membrane" (which means something very different to engineers and others) is now often preferred because even if it’s not exactly correct, nor can it ever be said to be wrong.  Finally, there is (4) "paper vellum" which is created using either plasticized rag cotton or cellulose fibres harvested from plant or trees.  Vellum paper has become popular for formal or ceremonial documents such as invitations because the lighter versions are translucent with a finish like frosted glass.  Despite its smooth feel, vellum paper does not contain plastic and is quite durable (though with nothing like the longevity of “true” vellum) and versatile in that it can in some cases be printed on with laser and inkjet printers.

Vellum scrolls stored in the UK parliament.

There was a perception that the Acts of the UK parliament had for hundreds of years been printed on vellum scrolls but the practice is of comparatively recent origin, begun only in 1849; prior to that they were handwritten on parchment rolls which were made usually from goatskin.  The innovation of printing record copies of public Acts on vellum was adopted following recommendations made by the Select Committee on Printing in 1848, and a 1849 report by the then Clerk Assistant of the House of Lords.  The resolutions abolished the practice of ingrossing (handwriting) record copies of Acts and inrolling them in parchment rolls containing all public Acts passed in a Parliamentary session.  Record copies of public Acts were henceforth printed in book form, on vellum while private Acts were printed on vellum between 1849-1956, since when they have been printed on archival paper.

Rendering of Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap by lemgras330, colored pencil on Bristol Vellum paper, June 2016.

In 1999 proposals to print record copies of public Acts on archival paper were considered.  The House of Lords approved a proposal to change to printing on archival paper, but the House of Commons voted against, noting claims that archival paper was of suitable quality and much cheaper but arguing against the change because of tradition, the superior durability of vellum and the threat to the viability of the UK’s last remaining printer of vellum.  It was one of the less dramatic and acrimonious disputes between the Commons and Lords but it nevertheless dragged on for almost two decades, their lordships never retreating from their view that “…printing on archival paper is a more appropriate use of public funds, and that the case for continuing to print on vellum is not made”.  Not wishing to appear obstructive, it was added that if “…the Commons wished to arrange a contract for printing record copies of Acts on vellum, then the Lords would share experience of managing the legacy contract to assist with this”.  Their last word however was that the House of Lords “…does not wish to contribute financially to any future printing on vellum”.  In a typically English way, the Commons found a compromise, agreeing to provide front and back vellum covers for record copies of Acts which the House of Lords would continue to print on archive paper.  Honor seemed to be satisfied on both sides and another constitutional crisis was averted.

The Brudenell Magna Carta, document on vellum, dated 12 October 1297.

Outside of the parliament however, there were some not convinced the Lords had gone far enough and them storage of the country’s laws on the skins of dead animals should give way to digital storage.  Obvious though it may seem to the Instagram generation for whom archival documents in physical form are rare, it may not be as simple as it seems.  Parchment does last a long time, the UK’s oldest extant law can still be found on a document dating from 1497 and while ordinary paper can deteriorate rapidly, vellum if carefully stored will endure for millennia and original copies for the Magna Carta, signed more than 800 years ago on vellum, still exist.

Victoria Tower, Palace of Westminster, London.

Many actually still exist, the parliamentary archives a collection of some five miles (8 km) of physical parchment, paper and photographs in the Victoria Tower which rises 325 feet (99 m) at the western edge of the Palace of Westminster.  In the tower, scrolls of vellum are piled up in a vast repository, spooled in a range of different sizes, looking much as they would have done hundreds of years ago.  Digital archiving obviously has no such history but the issues of long-term storage are, even after only a few decades of accumulation, well understood.  The advantages of digitization are ease of creation, economy of storage (especially in something as text-orientated as acts of parliament) and simplicity of replication.  However, although often referred to as “weightless”, digital storage inherently needs physical objects: disks (or discs), tapes or other media and an infrastructure of devices is also required for the archives to be read.  This has been a troublesome aspect to many with old archival material on electronic media which may still be usable but, if held on some rare and long obsolete specification of diskette or tape cartridge, may be effectively inaccessible.  The issue is not insurmountable and needs only a protocol under which material is moved from one media to another as technology changes but it’s still a more labour-intensive process (and one with much scope for error) than leaving a vellum scroll sitting of a shelf for centuries.