In 1862, Albert Nees (1836-1874) and his brother Theodor founded the paper manufacturing company A. Nees & Co. in Aschaffenburg, Germany. Four years later, they developed an innovative method of coating colored paper with a layer of shellac, producing Cambricpapier, and distinguishing the firm among the many decorative paper companies in Aschaffenburg.
Graphic Arts recently acquired a collection of over one thousand paper samples from A. Nees & Co., along with a bound sample book of colored and decorated papers for the year 1936. A printed price list for the same year is laid in.
Richard J. Wolfe, in his study Marbled Paper; Its History, Techniques, and Patterns (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990) places the Nees firm in the context of the German decorated paper industry and its spread from Aschaffenburg throughout the world. At one time, the four leading Aschaffenburg firms employed over a thousand people and produced wall papers, paste papers, wrapping papers, and hundreds of other varieties of colored and decorative papers. [Graphic Arts Collection GA Oversize Z271 .W638 1990q]
A. Nees & Co., Buntpapierfabrik. Neuheiten, 1936 (Colored Paper Manufacturer. New Products 1936) (Aschaffenburg: Nees, 1936). Approximately 1000 additional paper samples. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2012- in process
