of an old scribe some twenty
years ago, I was struck with the clearness and legibility of the
writing, owing in a great measure to the permanent quality of the ink,
which had not faded in the least, although many of the MSS. were at
least two hundred years old. It was remarkable, that the writer must
have been celebrated in his day for the excellence of his calligraphy,
for I met with a letter or two from his correspondents in which there
was a request for the recipe of the ink he used. I found his recipes,
which I copied, and from one of them, dated in 1654, I have, during the
last fifteen years, made all the ink I have used. The recipe is as
follows:
Rain water, one pint; galls, bruised, one and one-half ounces; green
copperas, six drachms; gum Arabic, ten drachms. The galls must be
coarsely powdered and put in a bottle, and the other ingredients and
water added. The bottle securely stoppered, is placed in the light (sun
if possible), and its contents are stirred occasionally until the gum
and copperas is dissolved; after which it is enough to shake the bottle
daily, and in the course of a month or six weeks it will be fit for use.
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