Units of paper quantity and US measure, in some sources, a quire was originally 24 sheets.) Quires of 15, 18 or 20 sheets have also been used, depending on the type of paper. The current word "quire" derives from OE "quair" or "guaer", from OF "quayer", "cayer", (cf. modern Fr. "cahier"), from L. "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. In the Middle Ages, a quire (also called a "gathering") was most often formed of 4 folded
Quill & Quire publishing industry began to grow and flourish. In 1971, Michael de Pencier purchased the magazine from Southam (who had bought it from Seccombe and owned it for just six months). "Quill & Quire" remained with de Pencier as part of the Key Publishers/Key Media stable for 30 years, until its sale in 2003 (as part of a larger transaction involving Key Media) to St. Josephs Corporation, a Canadian-owned and -controlled printing and media company based in Concord, Ontario, which also publishes "Toronto Life". "Quill & Quire" was substantially redesigned in 2006 in an effort led by publisher Alison Jones, editor