Passage:
Historians studying seventeenth-century European publishing networks have traditionally evaluated the distribution of radical political pamphlets by analyzing printer imprints and colophons. However, recent scholarly work demonstrates that clandestine printing presses frequently forged imprint locations to evade censorship authorities. To bypass this evidentiary obstacle, researchers have turned to paper watermark analysis, which traces the specific paper mills supplying printers. Because paper mill distribution records indicate that high-grade rag paper manufactured in the Dutch Republic was rarely exported outside Northwestern Europe prior to 1680, scholars conclude that any anonymous pamphlet from this period printed on Dutch-milled rag paper must have originated within Northwestern Europe. Consequently, watermark analysis provides an unassailable boundary for geographic attribution where typographical evidence is compromised.
Statement to evaluate:
The author's argument for relying on watermark analysis assumes that clandestine printers operating outside Northwestern Europe prior to 1680 did not obtain Dutch-milled rag paper through unrecorded or illicit trade channels.
Answer: Answer