David Nunes Carvalho

“ We believe that some of the early manuscripts of New England are brighter than some town and church records of this century.
"In Europe at the present time, great care is taken by the different governments in the preparation of permanent ink—some of them even compounding their own, according to the most approved and expensive formulas.
"Manuscripts of the eleventh and twelfth centuries now in the state paper office of Great Britain, are apparently as bright as when first written; while those of the last two hundred years are more or less illegible, and some of them entirely obliterated." ”

“ There is no "History of Ink;" but of ink history there is a wealth of material, although historians have neglected to record information about the very substance by which they sought to keep and transmit the chronicles they most desired to preserve. From the beginning of the Christian era to the present day, "Ink" literature, exclusive of its etymology, chemical formulas, and methods of manufacture, has been confined to brief statements in the encyclopedias, which but repeat each other. ”

“ If we reason that the art of handwriting did not become known to all the ancient nations at once, but was gradually imparted by one to another, it follows that records supposed to be contemporaneous, were made in some countries at a much earlier period than in others. It must also be observed that the Asiatic nations and the Egyptians practiced the art of writing many centuries before it was introduced into Europe. Hence we are able to estimate with some degree of certainty that ink-written accounts of some Asiatic nations were made while Europe was in this respect buried in utter darkness. ”

“ When the formula for making a real "gall" ink had ceased to be a secret, chemistry was then but little understood. It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, to learn that "gall" ink of the first half of the twelfth century was low in grade and poor in quality. It was a muddy fluid easily precipitated and it deteriorated quickly. A century or more of experimenting was needed to modify or overcome defects, as well as to gain information about the chemical value of the different tannins, the relative proportions of each constituent and the correct methods in its admixture. ”

“ Accounts which differentiate in their descriptive details of questioned ink-written fragments of antiquity and on the genuineness or authenticity of which rests the truth or falsity of ancient history or other literature, serve to taint such remains with a certain degree of suspicion and doubt. When, however, in the light of investigation, the materials of which they are composed are found to approach closely the age they purport to represent, then it is that such fragments can be said to have fairly established their own identity. ”

“ The changes or fashion in the selection of writing papers are worthy of passing notice. The rough hand-made papers so heartily despised by the copyists of the thirteenth century are now preferred by neat penmen and skilled draughtsmen. The imitations of mediaeval paper, thick, harsh, and dingy, and showing the marks of the wires upon which the fabric was couched, are preferred by men of letters for books and for correspondence, while highly polished modern plate papers, with surfaces much more glossy than any preparation of vellum, are now rejected by them as finical and effeminate. ”

“ The more liberal use of paper at the beginning of the fifteenth century by this newly- created class of readers and book-buyers marks the period of transition and of mental and mechanical development for which the crude arts of paper- making and of black printing had been waiting for centuries. We shall also see that if paper had been ever so cheap and common during the Middle Ages, it would have worked no changes in education or literature ”

“ If all the processes of typography had been revealed to its scholars the art would not have been used. The wants of readers and writers were abundantly supplied by the pen. Papyrus paper was cheap, and scribes were numerous; Rome had more booksellers than it needed, and books were made faster than they could be sold. The professional scribes were educated slaves, who, fed and clothed at nominal expense, and organized under the direction of wealthy publishers, were made so efficient in the production of books, that typography, in an open competition, could have offered few advantages. ”

“ It must now be evident that there can be no material difference of opinions as to what has been so clearly and conclusively established, viz. that ink which contains a base of tanno-gallate of iron (without "added" color) is a permanent ink, and the length of its durability and continuing pristineness can be disturbed only by inferior quality of constituents, wrong methods of admixture and its future environment. Hence any black ink with this combination missing is of no practical value whatever either for record or commercial uses. ”

“ Let those who will have old books written in gold and silver on purple parchment, or, as they are commonly called, in uncial-letters,—rather ponderous loads than books,—so long as they permit me and mine to have copies, and rather correct than beautiful books. ”

“ Nothing has in fact been absolutely removed or eradicated, but it is a mere change of form, a sort of re-arrangement of the particles, the ingredients which formed the original color being still present, but in such a condition that they are invisible to the eye. A restoration of the invisible ink marks so that they can be observed, becomes possible by the use of chemical reagents and is the reverse of the one of erasure or bleaching, and changes the constituents again into a compound which has color from the one which had none. ”

“ THE origin of Ink belongs to an era following the invention of writing. When the development of that art had advanced beyond the age of stone inscription or clay tablet, some material for marking with the reed and the brush was necessary. It was not difficult to obtain black or colored mixtures for this purpose. With their advent, forty centuries or more ago, begins the genesis of ink. ”

“ As an industry it can be said to have definitely begun when the French government recognized the necessity for one, A. D. 1625, by giving a contract for "a great quantity of 'gall ink' to Guyot," who for this reason seems to occupy the unique position of the father of the modern ink industry.
Ink manufacture as a growing industry heretofore and to a large extent at present, occupies a peculiarly anomalous situation. Other industries follow the law of evolution which may perhaps bear criticism; but the ink industry follows none, nor does it even pretend to possess any. ”

“ The possibilities of litigation over a will are almost infinite, and if such a rule should obtain this important channel of investigation would be closed. Suppose the same objection were raised to the first action of ejectment which might be brought, it might then with the same force be urged that parties to some future ejectment suit would be prejudiced by a chemical test of the ink used in the will, and so on ad infinitum. ”

“ COLORS AND THEIR ORIGIN— DISCUSSION OF THE RELATIVE MERITS OF LAMPBLACK, MADDER AND INDIGO—THE DURABLE VIRTUES OF INDIGO WHEN EMPLOYED ALONE—CAUSE OF THE BROWNING OF INKS—LONGEVITY OF INK DUE TO VEHICLE WHICH CARRIES IT—WHEN PERFECT INK WILL BE INVENTED. TO ascertain the correct formula of a substantially permanent ink, as we have learned, has been the aim during a century or more, of able chemists, manufacturers and laymen. Their experiments and study of ancient and modern documents all point unerringly in the direction of an ink containing iron and galls. ”

“ These are the first difficult bands which we encounter; and when we remember that the object of writing is to be clear and distinct, and that the test of a good style is that it seizes on the essential points in which letters differ, and puts aside the flourishes and ornaments which disguise the simple form, we shall see how much a strong influence was needed to prevent writing from becoming obscure and degraded. ”

“ There is a popular notion that the so-called inventions of paper and xylographic printing were gladly welcomed by men of letters, and that the new fabric and the new art were immediately pressed into service. The facts about to be presented in succeeding chapters will lead to a different conclusion. We shall see that the makers of playing cards and of image prints were the men who first made extended use of printing, and that self-taught and unprofessional copyists were the men who gave encouragement to the manufacture of paper. ”

“ The introduction of acid into ink has two purposes, one to secure more limpidity, and the other to cause it to penetrate the paper and in this way bind together the constituent particles of both ink and paper. Most of the chemical writing fluids of this decade carry a superabundance of acid in their composition, which in time will burn through the paper and ultimately destroy it. ”

“ The ink phenomena included in the past eighty years has demonstrated a continuing retrogression in ink manufacture and a consequent deterioration of necessary ink qualities. When the attention of some ink makers are addressed to these sad facts, they attribute them, either to the demand of the public for an agreeable color and a free flowing ink, or to an inability to compete with inferior substitutes, which have flooded the market since the discovery of the coal tar colors ”

“ After experimenting with various substances, and among others with Prussian blue and indigo dissolved in various ways, he found the sulphate of indigo to fulfil all the required conditions and, when added in the proper proportion to a tanno-gallate of iron ink, it yielded an ink which is agreeable to write with, which flows freely from the pen and does not clog it; which never moulds, which, when it dries on the paper, becomes of an intense pure black, and which does not fade or change its color however long kept. ”

“ The criminal abuse of ink is not infrequent by evil- disposed persons who try by secret processes to reproduce ink phenomena on ancient and modern documents. While it is possible to make a new ink look old, the methods that must be employed, will of themselves reveal to the examiner the attempted fraud, if he but knows how to investigate. ”

“ According to the most accurate experiments on the preparation of black writing inks, it appears that the proportion of the green copperas ought to be, and not to exceed, a third of the decoction of galls used; but the proportions used vary according to the practical experience of ink-makers, who have all receipts of their own, which they deem best, and, of course, keep secret. In the precipitate an excess of colouring matter, which is necessary for its durability, is preserved in it. The blue galls alone ought to be employed in making the best quality of black ink. Logwood is a useful. ”