Printed matter is a general term for any material produced by printing on paper or card, including books, pamphlets, posters, broadsides, trade cards, catalogues, labels, menus, tickets, maps, prints and other ephemera. In the antiques and collecting world it is often used to describe documents and printed items valued for their history, design or association.
The range is enormous, from early printed books and sixteenth-century woodcuts to Georgian trade cards, Victorian chromolithographed advertisements and twentieth-century travel posters. Printed matter is particularly important as historical evidence: furniture makers' trade catalogues, auction sale catalogues, country-house inventories and retailers' labels can help identify and date objects and establish provenance. Collectors may focus on a particular subject, printer, design style or region. Condition matters greatly, as paper is vulnerable to light, damp, foxing, insects and acidic mounts, and items should be stored flat in acid-free folders away from direct sunlight. Original printed material should be distinguished from later facsimiles and reproductions by examining paper, printing method and signs of age. Framed posters, prints and ephemera are widely used in interiors, adding period character to studies, kitchens and cloakrooms.
