Inks -their composition and manufacture
Ancient Egypt Old papyri Progress of writing Herculaneum fragments Carbon inks Iron gall inks The Lindisfarne Gospels Transition from carbon to gall inks Domestic ink-making Scientific experiments Unoxidised gall inks Aniline inks German regulations Other inks.
Ancient Egypt. The earliest use of a liquid which can be described as "ink" is found in those documents on papyrus which have been among the archaeological treasures of Egypt. Although the history of Egypt has been traced back for a period of more than four thousand years, and papyrus was employed as a writing material there from very remote times, the oldest specimen of the material extant is a roll which dates from B.C. 2500.
This possibly refers to the oldest specimen which bears decipher- able characters, for Professor Flinders Petrie has found fragments of papyri which date from a thousand years earlier.f As Egypt is still the subject of exploration, and as perishable articles have been found of a still earlier period than that last mentioned, we may reasonably hope that ink- written records may some day come to light which will carry back the history of the country to a more remote time.
Professor Flinders Petrie found in one tomb, dating* from 3500 B.C., baskets, a coil of palm rope, wooden mallets, and chisels left behind by the workmen, together with some pieces of papyrus which were almost white ; and he attributes the excellent condition of these things to the preservative nature of the clean dry sand in which they had been buried for so many centuries.} * British Museum- Guide, 1896, p. 312.
.The lettering in many of these papyri is extremely beautiful, and compares very favourably with much of the handwriting that some of us have to decipher to-day. And it would seem quite clear from an examination of many of these writings that the implement employed was a pen and not a brush. The papyrus in some instances is of a very light drab colour, and on this surface the old writing stands out with startling distinctness ; but when the material has assumed a dark brown or yellow tint, the writing is not so distinct, although the quality of the ink is quite as good.
That papyrus was not a cheap material is- shown by a specimen here, labelled " Aristotle on the Constitution of Athens. The only extant MS. of the work, brought from Egypt in 1890. Written about A.D. 100, ia four rolls, in four different hands, on the back of the papyrus which had already been u?ed [in A.D. 78-79] for the acconipts of a farm-bailiff named Didymus, near Hermopolis."
Another specimen of great interest lies close to the one first mentioned, namely, fragments of the Theogonia of Hesiod. It is written in a firm and large hand in very black ink, and the label tells us that its date is probably the fourth or fifth century, " contemporary with the early MSS. on vellum, and so marking the transition from the one material to the other." Progress of Writing.
The various specimens shown in the King's Library at the British Museum, in Cases A E, are designed to illustrate the progress of writing from the second century B.C. to the fifteenth century of our era, and at the same time they afford testimony as to the kind of ink employed during the period covered. The basis of the black ink used on papyrus by the ancient scribes was undoubtedly carbon, a substance which had the advantage of being easily procurable, while at the same time it was indestructible except by fire. It was probably prepared in the form of vegetable or animal charcoal, and was mixed with gum, oil, or varnish. Possibly, for the finer writing,
Some contents:
SECTION I
WRITING INKS
WRITING INKS
CHAPTER 1
CARBON AND CARBONACEOUS INKS
Sepia Source Manufacture Chemical composition Sepiaic acid British sepia Examination of commercial sepia Indian or Chinese Ink Lamp-black Composition Manufacture of lamp, black Old European methods Manufacture of Indian ink Qualities of Indian ink Examination of Indian ink Practical tests Carbon Writing Ink Ancient carbon inks Modern carbonaceous inks Pages 15-35
CHAPTER II
TANNIN MATERIALS FOR INKS
Galls : Origin Aleppo galls Chemical composition Chinese galls Chemical composition Japanese galls Acorn galls Oak-apple galls Other galls Tannins Classification of tannins Suitability of tannins for ink-making Chestnut bark and wood Chestnut extract Chestnut tannin Ink from chestnut wood Sumach Sumach tannin Ink from sumach Divi-divi Divi-divi tannin Ink from divi-divi Myrobalans The tannin of myrobalans Valonia The tannin of valonia Ink from valonia Oak- bark tannins Keactions of oak tannins Amount of tannins in oak-bark Ink from oak-bark Gallotannic acid Fermentation of gallotan- nic acid Properties Reactions distinguishing between gallotannic and gallic acids Pages 36-71
CHAPTER III
NATURE OF INKS
NATURE OF INKS
Constitution of ink-forming substances Influence of light and air Iron tannates Evidence of an intermediate blue iron oxide Tannates of iron Basic salts Methods of estimating tannates Procter's method Jackson's lead carbonate method Ruoss's ferric sulphate method Colorimetric methods Hinsdale's colorimetric method Mitchell's colorimetric method . : . Pasres 72-8(5
CHAPTER IV
MANUFACTURE OF IRON GALL INKS
The relative proportion of galls and ferrous sulphate Deductions from the composition of ink deposits Old type of iron gall ink Old formulas of iron gall. inks Unoxidised iron gall inks Gallic acid inks Japan inks ...... Pages 87-08
CHAPTER V
LOGWOOD, VANADIUM, AND ANILINE BLACK INKS
Logwood inks Logwood Logwood extract Hasrnatoxylin Hasmatein Iso-hcematein Addition of logwood to gall inks Log- wood inks without tannin Chrome logwood inks Ha?matein inks Use of logwood in patent inks Vanadium inks Black aniline inks Pages 99-111
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