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Paper Trade​

The 38th Biennial Congress of the International Association of Paper Historians (IPH) will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 24 to 29 August 2026. Organised in collaboration of the University of Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), the Municipal Archive Zaanstad, CODA (Apeldoorn), and the three Dutch Paper History Foundations (Papiergeschiedenis Nederland, Papiergeschiedenis Zaanstreek, Papiergeschiedenis Renkum-Heelsum), the Congress is entitled “Paper Trade”. Besides inspiring presentations, the program includes excursions to several Dutch sites of paper historical interest and celebrates the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, which was printed on paper from the Zaanstreek.

Call for papers

For centuries, paper reached destinations its makers never saw. On carts over rough land routes, on ships crossing oceans, and on barges across great rivers, bales and reams of paper were transported from the paper mills to the famous annual trade fairs or directly to paper wholesalers. The trade in paper has connected cultures and facilitated the spread of ideas that have shaped our world.

The 38th IPH Congress, entitled ‘Paper Trade’, invites all those who love paper and its fascinating history to explore paper as a commodity and its role in global trade networks. We welcome contributions that investigate the demands of production and storage, transport and other aspects of logistics, as well as the cultural and economic impact of the paper trade, tracing its transformations across the centuries.

Instructions for submission

Authors interested in presenting a paper should submit an English abstract in Word or PDF format by 8 January 2026.

Submissions should include:

  • a title (maximum 25 words)

  • an abstract in English (maximum 300 words)

  • author(s) full name, affiliation, postal address, telephone and e-mail address. If relevant, name of the main author with whom the organizers should communicate

  • The submission file should be named as such: “Abstract_IPH_2026_fullnameofmainauthor”.

Oral presentations of 20 minutes and 5 minutes (pitch) will be accepted. Upon submission, please indicate if the abstract is for a 20- or 5-minute talk. All abstracts will be reviewed by an international review committee.