J. Henry Middleton

“ They are executed with a reed pen in hieroglyphic writing on long rolls of papyrus, and are copiously illuminated with painted miniatures illustrating the subject of the text, drawn with much spirit and coloured in a very finely decorative way. Immense numbers of these Egyptian illuminated manuscripts still exist in a more or less fragmentary condition. One of the most perfect of these is the Book of the Dead of Ani, a royal scribe, dating from the fourteenth century B.C., now in the British Museum. ”

“ The inkstands of ancient scribes were commonly made double, to hold both black and red ink. Many examples of these from Egypt and elsewhere still exist, and they are shown in many of the Pompeian wall-paintings. They usually are in the form of two bronze cylinders linked together, each with a lid which is attached by a little chain. Other inkstands are single, little round boxes of bronze, in shape like a large pill-box. Another method, specially common in ancient Egypt, was for the scribe to carry about his ink, both black and red, in a solid form ”

“ Papyrus plant. The papyrus plant, the Cyperus Papyrus of Linnaeus, (Greek βύβλος) is a very tall, handsome variety of reed which grows in marshes and shallows along the sides of streams of water. The plant has at the top a very graceful tufted bunch of foliage; its stem averages from three to four inches in diameter, and the total height of the plant is from ten to twelve feet.
It grows in many places in Syria, in the Euphrates valley and in Nubia. In Egypt itself it is now extinct, but it was abundant there in ancient times, especially in the Delta of the Nile. ”

“ In the last few years the important discovery has been made that in certain late tombs in Egypt, dating from the Roman period, the mummied bodies are packed in their coffins with large quantities of what was considered waste paper. This packing in some cases has been found to consist of papyrus manuscripts, some of which are of great importance. ”

“ Roman libraries. Among the Romans of the Empire books were no less common. The owner of the above mentioned library at Herculaneum, consisting of nearly 1800 rolls or volumes, does not appear to have been a man of exceptional wealth; his house was small and his surroundings simple in character.
The great libraries of Rome. As early as the reign of Augustus, Rome possessed several large public libraries (bibliothecae) . The first of these was instituted in 37 B.C. by Asinius Pollio both for Greek and Latin manuscripts. ”

“ In historic times, however, papyrus and parchment appear to have superseded linen in ancient Rome.
Inscribed potsherds. Ostraka Manuscripts. For ephemeral purposes, such as tradesmen's accounts and other business matters, writing was often done with a pen and ink on broken fragments of pottery (ὄστρακα) . An enormous number of these inscribed potsherds, mostly dating from the Ptolemaic period, have been found in Egypt, and especially on the little island of Elephantine in the Nile a short distance below the first cataract. ”

“ Great numbers of reed pens have been found in Egyptian tombs and also in Pompeii; they exactly resemble those still used in Egypt and in Oriental countries generally.
Metal pens. Metal pens were also used by Greek and Roman scribes. Examples both in silver and bronze have been found in Greece and in Italy, shaped very much like a modern steel pen [12] .
Scribes' palettes. In some cases manuscripts were written with a fine brush instead of a pen, especially the hieroglyphic manuscripts of ancient Egypt. Many combined scribes' palettes and brush cases have been found in Egyptian tombs. ”

“ It may seem strange that written manuscripts should not have been much more costly than printed books, but when one considers how they were produced the reason is evident. Slave scribes. Atticus, the Sosii and other chief publishers of Rome owned a large number of slaves who were trained to be neat and rapid scribes. ”

“ The ends of the umbilicus were often fitted with a round knob or boss, which was decorated with gilding or colour. The edges of the papyrus roll were smoothed with pumice-stone (pumice mundus) , and the whole manuscript was often provided with a vellum case, which was stained a bright colour, red, purple or yellow. Tibullus (El. III. i. 9) alludes to these ornamental methods,
Lutea sed niveum involvat membrana libellum. ”

“ In Egyptian manuscripts red ink is used much more copiously than either in Greek or Latin manuscripts. Very often the scribe writes his columns alternately in black and red for the sake of the decorative appearance of the page.
Pen-cases. Egyptian pen-cases in the form of a bronze tube about 3⁄4 inch in diameter and 10 inches long with a tightly fitting cap have frequently been found. The British Museum possesses good examples of these, and of the other writing implements here described. ”

“ Red inks. The red ink used for ancient manuscripts was of three different kinds, namely red lead, vermilion or sulphuret of mercury, and red ochre. The ancient names for these red pigments were used very indiscriminately, μίλτος, minium, cinnabaris and rubrica. In some cases μίλτος certainly means the costly vermilion; and again the word is also used both for red lead and for the much cheaper red ochre. The latter appears to be always meant by the name μίλτος Σινώπις; see Choisy, Inscrip. Lebadeia, p. 197. The Latin words minium and rubrica are used in the same vague way; see Vitruv. VII. 9 ”

“ When by repeated beating the layer of pith had been hammered down to a thinner substance, and a great deal of the sap had drained off, some fine paste made of wheat-flour was carefully brushed over the whole surface of the pith. A second layer of slices of pith, previously prepared by beating, was then laid crosswise on the first layer made adhesive by the paste, so that the slices in the second layer were at right angles to those of the first. ”

“ Papyrus manuscripts of the sixth and seventh century A.D. are not uncommon, and, long after vellum had superseded papyrus paper for the writing of books, short documents, such as letters, Papal deeds and the like, were still frequently written on papyrus. Papal Briefs on papyrus still exist which were written as late as the eleventh century.
Black ink. The black ink which was used for classical manuscripts was of the kind now known as "Indian" or more correctly "Chinese ink," which cannot be kept in a fluid state, but has to be rubbed up with water from day to day as it is required. ”

“ During the early mediaeval period, when classical learning was little valued, many a dull treatise of the schoolmen or other theological work of small interest was written over the obliterated text of some much earlier and more valuable classical author.
Papyrus MSS. In some cases it appears that papyrus manuscripts were made into palimpsests, but probably not very often, as it would be difficult to erase the ink on a roll of papyrus without seriously injuring the surface of the paper. ”

“ Careful scribes probably prepared their own ink, as the writers of mediaeval manuscripts usually did. The common commercial black ink of about 300 A.D. was sold at a very cheap rate, as is recorded in an inscription containing part of Diocletian's famous edict which was found at Megalopolis and published by Mr Loring (Jour. Hell. Stud. Vol. XI., 1890, p. 318, line 46) . Under the heading "Pens and ink," Περὶ καλάμων καὶ μελανίου, the price of ink, μελάνιον, is fixed at 12 small copper coins the pound.
Very great skill is required to prepare carbon ink of the finest quality. ”