Units of paper quantity was ordered by the ream of 480 sheets. In 1840, a ream in Lisbon was 17 quires and 3 sheets = 428 sheets, and a double ream was 18 quires and 2 sheets = 434 sheets; and in Bremen, blotting or packing paper was sold in reams of 300 (20 quires of 15 sheets). A mid-19th century Milanese-Italian dictionary has an example for a "risma" (ream) as being either 450 or 480 sheets. In the UK in 1914, paper was sold using the following reams: Reams of 500 sheets were mostly used only for newsprint. Since the late 20th century,
Norman B. Ream Norman B. Ream Norman B. Ream (1844-1915) was an American businessman. A Civil War veteran, Ream became a millionaire by investing in steel, railroads, insurance, and banking. Norman B. Ream was born on November 5, 1844 in Harnedsville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He was educated in public schools. During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, he served in the 85th Pennsylvania Infantry of the Union Army. He became the youngest man to be promoted from private to First-Lieutenant in the Union Army. However, he was "incapacitated" by war wounds. Shortly after the war, in 1866, Ream moved to Princeton, Illinois, where