Fourdrinier continuous paper machine

What it is

A machine that formed a continuous web of paper on a moving wire mesh, instead of separate hand-made sheets. It multiplied output and cut the cost of paper for the press, books and packaging.

Robert patented it in France in 1799 (the Essonnes mill); the Fourdrinier brothers financed it and Donkin built the practical machine at Frogmore in 1803-1807, and they were ruined by it.

What it led to

• Cheap paper for the daily press and bureaucracy
• The mechanised paper industry and demand for rags, later wood
• Web-fed rotary presses
• Cardboard and industrial packaging

Built on

• Rag paper mill
• Rotative steam engine
• Woven wire mesh

Made possible

• Rotary printing press1843-1846
• Wood-pulp paper1844
• Corrugated cardboard box1871–1874
• Web-fed rotary press
• Envelope and postage stamp

Links

Sources✓ verified 2026-09-25

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourdrinier_machine