[EKStationers] Re: [Scribes] Old English recipe for ink from UK Nat'l Archives (fwd)

[Lyle H. Gray]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:28:20 -0500
From: Randy Asplund <randyasplund at talkamerica.net>
To: scribes at castle.org
Subject: Re: [Scribes] Old English recipe for ink from UK Nat'l Archives

Ian is right about copperas [not having copper in it]. And there
is more to it than that....

Yeah, just to confuse you, the other name for this material is
"vitriol."

Note that the ink recipe calls for copperas and/or vitriol,
implying they are different things.

Confused yet? You WILL be.....

There was another material called vitriol, and it was made of
copper.

Copper sulfate is BLUE vitriol and was used as a substitute for
Iron sulfate, which is Green vitriol (aka "copperas.")

I'm still trying to figure out how this recipe makes sense. Oil
strikes me as a bad idea in ink. The typical method is to take
crushed galls and simmer them in water, or wine or vinegar, or a
combination of the three to extract the tannic acids, then you
add the vitriol to make it turn black.

Does anybody understand the material gum of (clyche), (clvyche),
(cliyche)?

Ranthulfr


Dave wrote:

>Just a quick note.
>
>  Copperas has not copper in it.
>
>  Copperas is Ferrous Sulphate and is a greenish bluish color.
> As far as I've been able to tell it was called copperas in
> period because they THOUGHT it had copper in it.  Indeed it
> does not.
>
>  Ian the Green