paper query

[Richard Ring <Richard_Ring@Brown.edu>]

Ex-Librans,

A bookseller brought a curiosity into the library, and I wonder if I could
draw on the expertise of the list a bit.

This was a pamphlet (we actually have a copy, but not one which is
identical) with the following title-page:

His Majesty's | MOST GRACIOUS | SPEECH | TO BOTH HOUSES OF | PARLIAMENT, |
On Thursday, October 26, 1775. | [rule] | [ornament] | [rule] | LONDON: |
Printed by CHARLES EYRE and WILLIAM STRAHAN, | Printers to the King's most
Excellent Majesty.  1775.

Now, our copy is trimmed, fairly clean, and bound with a few other like
items.  The bookseller's copy is on loose sheets (quite large--lots of
"wasted" space), the ink is *very* shiny (high metal content?), and the
watermark on the paper, according to the bookseller, says "Banker's Linen".
The paper is very brown, and feels more like cloth, although chainlines are
visible.  Another curiosity is that the signatures and catch-words are a
bit different (I don't have both in front of me, so I can't remember the
exact differences).

I've done a bit of checking, but thought I'd post a query to see if I'm
missing something obvious before I dig into it.  Anyone out there have
experience with "banker's linen"?

Thanks in advance,

Rick

Richard J. Ring
Reference Librarian
John Carter Brown Library
Box 1894
Providence, RI  02912
401-863-1263
Richard_Ring@Brown.edu