French paper sizes
in the 19th century

Name of sheet Length Height Weight Length Height Weights
pouces, lignes pouces, lignes 500 sheets,
in livre
cm cm g per sq. m
Grande Monde 45 31, 3 215 121.8 84.6 204.3
Grand Aigle 36, 6 24, 9 131-140 98.8 67.0 193.7-207.0
Grande fleur de Lys 31 22 72 83.9 59.6 141.0
Colombier 31, 6 21, 3 90 85.3 57.5 179.6
Grand Chapelet 31, 9 22 66 85.9 59.6 126.2
Chapelet 29 20, 3 60 78.5 54.8 136.5
Grand Jésus 25 19, 6 51 67.7 52.8 139.8-145.2
Petite fleur de Lys 24 19 36-38 65.0 51.4 105.5-111.3
Grand Lombard 24, 6 20 34 66.3 54.1 92.7
Grand Royal 22, 8 17, 10 32-33 61.4 48.3 105.8-109.1
Royal 22 16   59.6 43.3  
Petit Royal 20 16 22 54.1 43.3 91.9
Grand Raisin double 22, 8 17 35-38 61.4 46.0 121.4-131.8
Grand Raisin simple 22, 8 17 26-28 61.4 46.0 90.1-97.1
Lombard 21, 4 18 24 57.7 48.7 83.5
Lombard ordinare or Grand Carré 20, 6 16, 6 21-22 55.5 44.7 82.9-86.9
Cavalier 22, 6 17, 4 23 60.9 46.9 78.8
Double Cloche 24, 6 14, 6 18 66.3 39.3 67.7
Serpente 20, 6 12, 15   55.5 35.9  
Grande Licorne à la Cloche 19 12 12 51.4 32.5 70.3
A la Cloche 14, 6 10, 9 9 39.3 29.1 77.1
Carré double 20 15, 6 26-27 54.1 42.0 112.1-116.4
Carré simple 20 15, 6 17-18 54.1 42.0 73.3-77.6
Carré très-mince 20 15, 6 13 54.1 42.0 56.0
Coquille 20 15, 6 13-15 54.1 42.0 56.0-64.6
Coquille mince 20 15, 6 10 54.1 42.0 43.1
Joseph 20, 6 15, 6   55.5 42.0  
Écu 19 14, 2 21 51.4 38.3 104.2
Écu simple 19 14, 2 16-17 51.4 38.3 79.4-84.4
Écu très-mince 19 14, 2 11 51.4 38.3 54.6
Grand Cornet double 17, 9 13, 6 14 48.0 36.5 78.1
Grand Cornet mince 17, 9 13, 6 12 48.0 36.5 66.9
A la Main 20, 3 13, 6 13 54.8 36.5 63.5
Couronne, or Griffon double 17, 1 13 14 46.2 35.2 84.2
Couronne, or Griffon mince 17, 1 13 12 46.2 35.2 72.2
Couronne, or Griffon très-mince 17, 1 13 7 46.2 35.2 42.1
Champy, or Bâtard 16, 11 13, 2 11-12 45.8 35.6 66.0-72.0
Tellière double 17, 4 13, 2 14 46.9 35.6 82.0
Tellière simple 17, 4 13, 2 12 46.9 35.6 70.2
Bâton Royal, or Petit Cornet 16 12 10 43.3 32.5 69.6
Cartier, grand format 16 12, 6 13 43.3 33.8 86.8
Cartier, petit format 15, 1 11, 6 11-12 40.8 31.1 84.7-92.4
Pot, or Ecolier 14, 6 11, 6 10 39.3 31.1 80.1
Pigeonne, or Romaine 15, 2 10, 4 10 41.1 28.4 83.9
Le Lis 14, 1 11, 6 8-9 38.1 31.1 66.0-74.2
Petit à la main 13, 8 10, 8 8 37.0 28.9 73.3

[no author]
Manuel de Merchard Papetier.
Paris: Audot, Editeur, 1818.
Pages 142-145.

The values in pouces, lignes and livre are from the source; the last three columns were calculated from them. The Manuel was published early in the period of the Système Usuel, 1812-1840, when by law 1 pouce = 1/36th of meter and 1 livre = 500 grams. However, on the supposition that papermakers would have stuck with the older, traditional values, we used the earlier equivalences 1 pouce = 2.707 cm and 1 livre = 489.506 grams. We will revise the table if we can get measurements of actual surviving sheets made at that time.

home | units index | search | contact drawing of envelope | contributors | 
help | privacy | terms of use