Reams in the Desert: Papermaking in Utah, 1849-1893

Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2021. First Edition. 182pp. Octavo [23 cm] Illustrated wrappers. Fine. Signed by the author on the title page. Reams in the Desert is the first book to explore the complete story behind the West's pioneer attempt at paper production. The unlikely site was a desert valley in northern Utah. Paper had been made commercially in the United States for well over a century by the time that the first paper made west of the Mississippi River emerged from the vat. Complicated by isolation, the story of Utah's small and short-lived paper industry stands as one of the few success stories of Latter-day Saint-sponsored "home manufacture.".