Our name finds its roots in a story of jealousy, rivalry, the struggle for power... and the difference between reeds and leather.

The year was 150 BC, and the world had become more unified under Alexander the Great than ever before. It was an age where the pace of discovery and innovation was growing too quickly to be contained. An age where great civilizations were made on the strength of their knowledge... and on the size of their libraries.

At that time, most of the civilized world used papyrus as its writing material, and thereby the sole conduit of written information. Far superior to the competing technologies such as clay tablets (or for that matter, oral tradition), papyrus enjoyed a makeshift monopoly on the transmission of knowledge throughout the Mediterranean and Western Asia... as did its exclusive supplier, the great Egyptian Empire.

The sole source in all the world of the reed whose inner stem was soaked and beaten to form papyrus scrolls was the legendary city of Alexandria, capital of Egyptian civilization and home to the largest library in the ancient world, a library unrivaled in the breadth of its culture and learning.

Almost unrivaled, that is. For Alexander the Great had left behind two cities to serve as centers of culture in the ancient world. Alexandria was one. The other was a city in modern-day Turkey, on a hilltop sixteen miles from the Aegean Sea, a city by the name of Pergamon. Pergamon, too, had a great library, indicated by some ancient historians as containing as many as 200,000 scrolls, so many that they could not even be contained in a single building.

Too many, in other words, for the Egyptian emperor Ptolemy V. He ceased all sales of papyrus to Pergamon -- confident that to do so would bring the feverish growth of knowledge in that city to a grinding halt, and confident that he could thus preserve his city's status as the center of knowledge and home to innovation, and growth.

But knowledge represents only one half of innovation... for knowledge is nothing without creativity.

And while using leather for writing was nothing new, it was the creativity of Pergamon that gave birth to new techniques which enabled animal skins to be transformed into the leaves of parchment, or Pergamino, which were carefully and painstakingly sewn into the first books as we know them today. Delicate, tender, tasteful and profound, they could maintain good condition and retain ink for thousands of years, long outliving papyrus... and remaining a standard for learning, luxury, and class to this very day.

And now? The spirit of Pergamon now lives on through the land of Pergamino -- home to your knowledge, and your creativity.

Art, Fashion and Paper — lifelong passions of mine — have more in common than you would think.

Through the ages women have chosen their wardrobe — not merely in terms of fashion, but also in terms of stationery — indeed to communicate our thoughts and ideas, but also to establish our values and identity to the outside world. Now that we are busier than ever, as our words are channeled invisibly at the speed of light, the art of letter writing seems to have become an endangered species... a lost art.

Six months ago, I wanted to make something that had been brewing in my head for a couple of years a reality, something I had searched for and failed to find. In a day when you can expect the height of style even from something as mundane as a broom closet, it was time to bring a lot of style to our greeting cards and stationery. In a moment of inspiration, I decided to create a line of beautiful works of chic art that would communicate a fabulous woman's essence, style — and of course her quip, wicked sense of humor. I wanted to create sophisticated greeting cards that in turn offered a tactile experience, hence the cashmere-soft touch feel to reflect the women who would appreciate and enjoy them.

The characters you will come to know (or Pergies, as we lovingly refer to them) are inspired by us; women who share many of the same goals and dreams. It was surprisingly easy, to breathe life into each of them, to give each a tangible purpose and desire, far easier than I ever expected. If the devil's in the details, then my dream is that you will fall in love with the devilish attention to detail in every illustration.

Our Pergies are impossibly stylish, gorgeous and smart, independent and determined. They are who we all are — or aspire to be — at one point or another. My hope is to have created a voice with a touch of humor and hubris, and tongue planted firmly in cheek. Most importantly, I hope that the recipient of your "small gift" feels the joy of receiving a special card with a hand-written message to make her laugh, cry or both! That is the real art... an art we can’t afford to lose.

Such was the frantic search for perfection that Pergamino's creator literally combed the world looking for that special artist who not only possessed the right technical aptitude but also shared the same passion for fashion, and the same drive for perfection. It was difficult to find one person who would not only embody all these qualities but also be able to give life to the whims and fancies of something in the imagination of another.

And yet after two years of searching, Monica finally discovered that gem buried on the other side of the Atlantic. Lili's childhood was filled with coloring boards and crayons, which later became computer monitors, electronic pens and drawing tablets, along with stacks of fashion magazines. This tres-chic, multilingual twenty-something artist is self-taught and immensely talented. She brings with her a very strong work ethic and dedication, as well as an uncanny ability to create characters out of illustrations and breathe life into each of them. She is the perfect addition to the Pergamino team. When not working, she spends her time (just like our Pergies) gallivanting around Europe, recharging her batteries. Her canine assistant, Varg, is a permanent fixture in the studio — and we wouldn’t have it any other way!