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3) Printing Entries "with Paper"
Category three consists of eighty-eight entries distinguished by use of the term "with paper" at the end of the standard debit entry for printing. They establish that Strahan did have a method for indicating contracts which included paper he supplied. The existence of the method throughout the ledgers indicates that these are the only times when he supplied paper as part of the contract.
In almost all cases, the entries "with paper" are for "job work" rather than for the "book work" which really sustained Strahan's business; that is, the contracts usually involved fewer than 2½ sheets,
| Thomas Gilbert Esqr. | ||
| 1782 | ||
| June | Observations on the Poor Bill, one Sheet, No. 350 with Paper | [£] 3.3.0 |
| [Ledger F 29v] |
It is a fairly simple matter to reconstruct the circumstances which led to these entries. A customer with a small job (usually not a book-seller) asked that paper be included in his contract, since it would be a great deal of expense and trouble for a "layman" to buy one ream or only a few reams; whereas Strahan could provide the paper from stock on hand which had been bought at wholesale prices and was therefore cheaper to the customer, even at Strahan's profit markup, than the customer's purchase of it would have been.[5]
As his business grew, Strahan accepted more of such work. By 1766, it was relatively common for customers to use Strahan's paper in the smaller contracts for job work. However, even though the incidence of entries "with paper" increased through the years, it was still the exception rather than the rule. On one occasion, Strahan actually made a special note in the printing entry when a customer for a very small job did provide his own paper. Although the wording is unique in the ledgers, the entry serves to confirm the date when "with paper" entries became common.
| Mr. Bingley | ||
| 1766 | ||
| June | 1000 Bills (his own Paper) | [£] 0.7.6 |
| [Ledger B 74r; from category one: "Special Entries"] |
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