Historical development of paper-mills and theirs machines in South Latium during the nineteenth century

The paper describes the activity for the paper making in the area of the Benedictine Abbey in Montecassino (Italy), by focusing mainly on the factories that were supplied by hydraulic energy herein available. The proposed historical analysis of the paper makers in that area starts with the factory that was established in the town Sant’Elia Fiumerapido by abbey monks in 1516 as a plant provided of a water mill in order to make the Abbey’s wide ‘scriptorium’ as independent of the provision of suitable paper. Drawings of past plants at different scales have permitted to analyze the historical and technical evolution of the paper making in the specific area under the influence and supervision of the Montecassino Abbey. In conjunction a specific analysis is carried out on the development of machines by looking their structure and operation, also with the aim to recall attention to recovering needs of remains of past machinery.