Barleywine
Hello,
Cards was "varnished" with a piece of soap and after this soap pellicule was spread on cards ensemble with a specific piece of round stone fited on a piece of wood.
Now printers uses a spray of liquid varnish. Mat, satin or glossy finish.
I am not sure that Flornoy used this XVIII century technic.
Cordially,
Yves
Sounds like the soap coating was "burnished" into the cardstock so it wouldn't feel too waxy to the touch. I was reading about crude soap on wikipedia; apparently Marseille was one of the centers of European production.