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For a tasting with nine to thirteen glasses, the best US paper size is Legal, being 14″×8½″ (e.g., the recent Classic Years of Taylor, Fonseca, Warre). When returning to the Old World should I bring a stash of US Legal with me? Hmmm.

Please would somebody wonder in to a stationery shop and report here what paper sizes, larger than A4 but smaller than A3, are readily available?

Thank you.

jdaw1 wrote:Please would somebody wonder in to a stationery shop and report here what paper sizes, larger than A4 but smaller than A3, are readily available?

Thank you.

I'm always in a state of wonder in stationery shops as well.

Whoops. I meant ‟wander”. But you can ‟wonder” about the error if it pleases you.

I did call into Rymans and WH Smiths today. Rymans sell European sizes only, from A1 through to A5 (A2 only in card) and WH Smiths sell only A4 or A5.

I will keep looking but suspect that the only source in the UK is likely to be via ebay or similar.

So none of the ‘European’ B sizes then? (Wikipedia.) Not so helpful.

Would somebody be able to acquire 14″×8½″ US Legal before the end of June?

jdaw1 wrote:So none of the ‘European’ B sizes then? (Wikipedia.) Not so helpful.

Would somebody be able to acquire 14″×8½″ US Legal before the end of June?

Getting non-standard paper is quite difficult in the UK. I gather that getting hold of American paper causes nightmares for people involved in either the screenwriting or legal industries (who seem to be the two professions which have a need of sending things across the Pond on the correct paper). The problem with the B-series is that they are mainly used for printing and bookbinding which is why they tend not to be available to the general public.

One of the printers (e.g. http://www.kallkwik.co.uk/) might be able to supply some (probably manually cut down from a larger size) but it's pretty expensive. It might be better to bring some with you if you're shipping a container with your other possessions.

JacobH wrote:It might be better to bring some with you if you're shipping a container with your other possessions.

That’s the plan then. I’ll bring enough thatI can leave some with DRT, AHB, and anybody else likely to be doing much of the arranging of medium-sized tastings.

jdaw1 wrote:

JacobH wrote:It might be better to bring some with you if you're shipping a container with your other possessions.

That’s the plan then. I’ll bring enough thatI can leave some with DRT, AHB, and anybody else likely to be doing much of the arranging of medium-sized tastings.

Do we have printers that will accept this non-British stuff?

DRT wrote:Do we have printers that will accept this non-British stuff?

Caution: before ranting about the superiority of Imperial measures (a rant with which I might well agree), know that the A sizes are of French devising. Technically superior to the American sizes, but still French.

Went into Staples today - A4, A4, A4.

More A4.

Some coloured A4.

Heavyweight A4, budget A4, copier A4, Laser A4, desktop A4.

Some more A4.

A4 has the lovely attribute that when you fold it in half you get A5, which is exactly the same shape, and double gives A3, which means that the long side must be sqrt(2) times the short side, approx 1.414, as against the American proportion of 1.294. The most aesthetically pleasing proportion would be the natural ratio that comes from dividing one high-ranked Fibonacci number by its predecessor, giving a proportion of 1.618, so the international size is also more aesthetic.