Units of paper quantity

Various measures of paper quantity have been and are in use. Although there are no S.I. units such as
quires and bales, there are ISO[1] and DIN[2] standards for the ream. Expressions used here include U.S.
Customary Units.

Units
Writing paper measurements
25 sheets = 1 quire[3][4]
500 sheets = 20 quires = 1 ream[4][5]
1,000 sheets = 40 quires = 2 reams = 1 bundle[4]
5,000 sheets = 200 quires = 10 reams = 5 bundles = 1 bale[4]
200,000 sheets = 8,000 quires = 400 reams = 200 bundles = 40 bales = 1 pallet[4]

'Short' paper measurements[6]

24 sheets = 1 'short' quire
480 sheets = 20 'short' quires = 1 'short' ream
960 sheets = 40 'short' quires = 2 'short' reams = 1 'short' bundle
4,800 sheets = 200 'short' quires = 10 'short' reams = 5 'short' bundles = 1 'short' bale

Posters and printing measurements

516 sheets (= 21½ 'short' quires) = 1 printer's ream[7]
1,032 sheets = 2 printer's reams = 1 printer's bundle
5,160 sheets = 5 printer's bundles = 1 printer's bale

Cover and index paper

250 sheets = 1 ream[8]

Quire
A quire of paper is a measure of paper quantity. The usual meaning is 25 sheets of the same size and
quality: 1 ⁄20 of a ream of 500 sheets. Quires of 25 sheets are often used for machine-made paper, while
quires of 24 sheets are often used for handmade or specialised paper of 480-sheet reams. (As an old UK
and US measure, in some sources, a quire was originally 24 sheets.[9]) Quires of 15, 18 or 20 sheets have
also been used, depending on the type of paper.

Etymology
The current word quire derives from Old English quair or guaer, from Old French quayer, cayer, (cf.
modern French cahier), from Latin quaternum, 'by fours', 'fourfold'. Later, when bookmaking switched to
using paper and it became possible to easily stitch 5 to 7 sheets at a time, the association of quaire with four
was quickly lost.

History

In the Middle Ages, a quire (also called a "gathering") was most often formed of four folded sheets of
vellum or parchment, i.e. eight leaves, 16 sides. The term quaternion (or sometimes quaternum) designates
such a quire. A quire made of a single folded sheet (i.e. two leaves, four sides) is a bifolium (plural bifolia);
a binion is a quire of two sheets (i.e. four leaves, eight sides); and a quinion is five sheets (ten leaves, 20
sides). This last meaning is preserved in the modern Italian term for quire, quinterno di carta.

Formerly, when paper was packed at the paper mill, the top and bottom quires were made up of slightly
damaged sheets ("outsides") to protect the good quires ("insides"). These outside quires were known as
cassie quires (from French cassée, 'broken'), or "cording quires" and had only 20 sheets to the quire.[10]
The printer Philip Luckombe in a book published in 1770 mentions both 24- and 25-sheet quires; he also
details printer's wastage, and the sorting and recycling of damaged cassie quires.[11] An 1826 French
manual on typography complained that cording quires (usually containing some salvageable paper) from
the Netherlands barely contained a single good sheet.[12][Note 1]

It also became the name for any booklet small enough to be made from a single quire of paper. Simon
Winchester, in The Surgeon of Crowthorne, cites a specific number, defining quire as "a booklet eight
pages thick." Several European words for quire keep the meaning of "book of paper": German
Papierbuch, Danish bog papir, Dutch bock papier.

In blankbook binding, quire is a term indicating 80 pages.

Ream
A ream of paper is a quantity of sheets of the same size and quality.
International standards organizations define the ream as 500
identical sheets.[1][2][Note 2] This ream of 500 sheets (20 quires of
25 sheets) is also known as a 'long' ream, and is gradually replacing
the old value of 480 sheets, now known as a 'short' ream. Reams of
472 and 516 sheets are still current,[13] but in retail outlets paper is
typically sold in reams of 500. As an old UK and US unit, a perfect
ream was equal to 516 sheets.[9]
15 reams of paper
Certain types of specialist papers such as tissue paper, greaseproof
paper, handmade paper, and blotting paper are still sold (especially
in the UK) in 'short' reams of 480 sheets (20 quires of 24 sheets). However, the commercial use of the word
'ream' for quantities of paper other than 500 is now deprecated by such standards as ISO 4046.[1] In
Europe, the DIN 6730 standard for Paper and Board includes a definition of 1 ream of A4 80gsm (80 g/m2 )
paper equals 500 sheets.[2]

Etymology
The word 'ream' derives from Old French reyme, from Spanish resma, from Arabic rizmah 'bundle' (of
paper), from rasama, 'collect into a bundle'. (The Moors brought manufacture of cotton paper to Spain.)
The early variant rym (late 15c.) suggests a Dutch influence.[14] (cf. Dutch riem), probably during the time
of Spanish Habsburg control of the Netherlands.

History

The number of sheets in a ream has varied locally over the centuries, often according to the size and type of
paper being sold. Reams of 500 sheets (20 quires of 25 sheets) were known in England in c. 1594;[15] in
1706 a ream was defined as 20 quires, either 24 or 25 sheets to the quire.[16] In 18th- and 19th-century
Europe, the size of the ream varied widely. In Lombardy a ream of music paper was 450 or 480 sheets; in
Britain, Holland and Germany a ream of 480 sheets was common; in the Veneto it was more frequently
500. Some paper manufacturers counted 546 sheets (21 quires of 26 sheets).[17] J. S. Bach's manuscript
paper at Weimar was ordered by the ream of 480 sheets.[18] In 1840, a ream in Lisbon was 17 quires and
three sheets = 428 sheets, and a double ream was 18 quires and two sheets = 434 sheets; and in Bremen,
blotting or packing paper was sold in reams of 300 (20 quires of 15 sheets).[19] A mid-19th century
Milanese-Italian dictionary has an example for a risma (ream) as being either 450 or 480 sheets.[20]

In the UK in 1914, paper was sold using the following reams:[21]

472 sheets: mill ream (18 short quires of 24 sheets of 'insides', two cording quires of 20
sheets of 'outsides')
480 sheets: (20 short quires of 24 sheets) – now called 'short' ream (as an old UK and US
measure, in some sources, a ream was previously equal to 480 sheets)[9]
500 sheets: (20 quires of 25 sheets) – now also called 'long' ream
504 sheets: stationer's ream (21 short quires)
516 sheets: printer's ream (21½ short quires) – also called 'perfect ream'

Reams of 500 sheets were mostly used only for newsprint.[21] Since the late 20th century, the 500-sheet
ream has become the de facto international standard.

Bundle
A paper bundle is a quantity of sheets of paper, currently standardized as 1,000 sheets. A bundle consists of
two reams or 40 quires. As an old UK and US measure, it was previously equal to 960 sheets.[9]

When referring to chipboard, there are two standards in the US. In general, a package of approximately 50
pounds of chipboard is called a bundle. Thus, a bundle of 22 point chipboard (0.022" thick) 24" × 38",
with each sheet weighing 0.556 pounds, contains 90 sheets. However, chipboard sold in size 11" × 17" and
smaller is packaged and sold as bundles of 25 pounds.

Bale
A paper bale is a quantity of sheets of paper, currently standardized as 5,000 sheets. A bale consists of five
bundles, ten reams or 200 quires.[22] As an old UK and US measure, it was previously equal to 4800
sheets.[9]

See also
Book size
History of paper
History of printing
Octavo
Paper density
Paper size

Explanatory notes
1. A note on the flyleaf of this copy states that this edition was pirated from Didot's 1st ed. of
1825; see pp. 235–236, especially in respect of the examples of proof-reader's corrections
on pp. 162–163
2. ISO 4046 (see References) defines the ream as "a pack of 500 identical sheets of paper"
and appends a note: "In many countries it is common practice to use the term "ream" for
other quantities, for example 480 sheets, thus affecting the quire. For quantities other than
500 sheets, a different term, such as "pack", should be used."

References
1. ISO 4046-3:2002 Paper, board, pulps and related terms – Vocabulary – Part 3: Paper-
making terminology (2002), quoted in ISO 22414:2004(E) Paper – Cut-size office paper –
Measurement of edge quality (2004) Geneva:ISO.
2. Papier und Pappe: DIN 6730:2011-02: Begriffe (Paper and board: vocabulary) (2011) (in
German). Berlin: Beuth Verlag.
3. "Definition of QUIRE" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quire). www.merriam-
webster.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
4. "How Many Reams of Paper in a Case?" (https://www.quill.com/content/index/resource-cent
er/office-supplies/faq/how-many-reams-of-paper-in-a-case/). Quill.com. Retrieved
29 September 2022.
5. "Definition of REAM" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ream). www.merriam-
webster.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
6. 1998 Mead Composition Notebook 'Useful Information'.
7. "Definition of PRINTER'S REAM" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/printer%27s
+ream). www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
8. "How Many Reams of Paper in a Case?" (https://www.quill.com/content/index/resource-cent
er/office-supplies/faq/how-many-reams-of-paper-in-a-case/). Quill.com. n.d. Retrieved
14 December 2021. "reams of cover and index paper are more likely to consist of 250 sheets
than 500"
9. Cardarelli, F. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI
Equivalences and Origins. London: Springer. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-4471-1122-1.
10. Zupko, Ronald Edward (1985). A dictionary of weights and measures for the British Isles: the
Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Volume 168 of Memoirs of the American Philosophical
Society (https://books.google.com/books?id=0l_k-XMIiQIC&pg=PA346). American
Philosophical Society. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-87169-168-2. Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20170817224033/https://books.google.com/books?id=0l_k-XMIiQIC&pg=PA346) from
the original on 2017-08-17.
11. Luckombe, Philip (1770). A concise history of the origin and progress of printing: with
practical instructions to the trade in general, compiled from those who have wrote on this
curious art (https://books.google.com/books?id=MlhAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA492). London: W.
Adlard and J. Browne. p. 492. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20171212234955/http
s://books.google.com/books?id=MlhAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA492) from the original on 2017-12-
12.
12. Brun, Marcelin Aimé (1826). Manuel pratique et abrégé de la typographie française (https://b
ooks.google.com/books?id=rYsIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA27) (in French) (2nd ed.). Paris: P-M. de
Vroom, Rue de Louvain. p. 27. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20171212234955/http
s://books.google.com/books?id=rYsIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA27) from the original on 2017-12-
12.
13. Prytherch, Raymond John (2005). Harrod's librarians' glossary and reference book: a
directory of over 10,200 terms, organizations, projects and acronyms in the areas of
information management, library science, publishing and archive management (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=zoCfMEscyzwC&pg=PA583) (10th, revised ed.). Ashgate
Publishing, Ltd. p. 583. ISBN 978-0-7546-4038-7. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
71212234955/https://books.google.com/books?id=zoCfMEscyzwC&pg=PA583) from the
original on 2017-12-12.
14. Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ream) Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121005143046/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=re
am) 2012-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
15. Hall, Hubert; Nicholas, Frieda J. (1929). Selected tracts and table books relating to English
weights and measures (1100–1742). Camden Third Series Vol. 41, Royal Historical Society:
Volume XV of Camden miscellany. Royal Historical Society, for the Camden Society (Great
Britain).
16. Chamberlayne, John, John (1710). Magnae Britanniae Notitia: or, the present state of Great-
Britain: with divers remarks upon the antient state thereof, Volume 1 (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=otw9AAAAcAAJ&pg=168). London: T. Goodwin, M. Wotton, B. Jooke. p. 168.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20171212234955/https://books.google.com/books?id
=otw9AAAAcAAJ&pg=168) from the original on 2017-12-12.
17. Rasch, Rudolf (2005). Music publishing in Europe 1600-1900: concepts and issues
bibliography (https://books.google.com/books?id=zHnZXGJM7ugC&pg=PA109). BWV
Verlag. p. 109. ISBN 978-3-8305-0390-3. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2017121223
4955/https://books.google.com/books?id=zHnZXGJM7ugC&pg=PA109) from the original on
2017-12-12.
18. Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company. p. 167.
19. Doursther, Horace (1840). Dictionnaire universel des poids et mesures anciens et
modernes: contenant des tables des monnaies de tous les pays (https://archive.org/details/di
ctionnaireuniv00douruoft) (in French). Paris: M. Hayez, imprimeur de l'Académie royale.
pp. 242 (https://archive.org/details/dictionnaireuniv00douruoft/page/242), 462.
20. Cherubini, Francesco (1841). Vocabulario milanese-italiano, Volumes 3-4 (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=oLPUAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA56) (in Italian). Milan: Imp. regia
stamperia. p. 56. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20171212234955/https://books.goog
le.com/books?id=oLPUAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA56) from the original on 2017-12-12.
21. Dawe, Edward A (1914). Paper and its uses: a treatise for printers, stationers and others (htt
p://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/edward-a-dawe/paper-and-its-uses--a-treatise-for-prin
ters-stationers-and-others-hci/page-3-paper-and-its-uses--a-treatise-for-printers-stationers-a
nd-others-hci.shtml). London: Crosby Lockwood & Son. pp. 33–34, 134. Archived (https://we
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e/paper-and-its-uses--a-treatise-for-printers-stationers-and-others-hci/page-3-paper-and-its-u
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22. Cardarelli, François (2003). Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures (http
s://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofs0000card). London: Springer. pp. 51 (https://archive.
org/details/encyclopaediaofs0000card/page/51). ISBN 978-1-4471-1122-1.

External links
ream (rm) (http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictR.html#ream) at A Dictionary of Units of
Measurement (http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html) Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20181006132056/http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html) 2018-10-06 at the
Wayback Machine
ream (http://www.sizes.com/units/ream.htm) at The Online Quantinary (http://www.sizes.com)
(yet see also quire (http://www.sizes.com/units/quire.htm) at the same site for historical
evidence of 500-sheet reams as early as 1590.)
Ream (http://www.paperonweb.com/dict.htm#r) on Paper Dictionary

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