“It may be said in general, that BLACK ink of the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth centuries, at least among the Anglo-Saxons, preserves its original blackness [thereby meaning that its “form had not lost all its original _brightness_”] much better than that of succeeding ages,—not even excepting the sixteenth and seventeenth, in which it was frequently very bad. Pale ink very rarely occurs before the four last centuries. [Illustration]
“Peter Caniparius, Professor of Medicine at Venice, wrote a curious book concerning Ink, which is now scarce, though there is an edition of it printed in London, in 1660, quarto. The title is—_De Atramentis cujuscunque generis opus sanè novum. Hactenus à nemine promulgatum._ [A WORK ACTUALLY NEW, CONCERNING INKS OF EVERY KIND WHATSOEVER,—HITHERTO PUBLISHED BY NO ONE.] This work is divided into six parts. The _first_ treats generally of Inks made from PYRITES, [sulphurets of iron and copper,] stones and metals. The _second_ treats more particularly of Inks made from metals and CALXES. [Better say _calces_, or, to speak chemically, crystallized salts deprived of their “water of crystallization,” or carbonic acid, by the action of heat.]—The _third_ treats of Ink made from soots and vitriols.—The _fourth_ treats of the different kinds of Inks used by the _librarii_ or book-writers, [professional scribes or copyists of manuscripts before the invention of the art of Printing,] as well as by printers and engravers, and of staining (or writing upon) marble, stucco or scagliola, and of ENCAUSTIC modes of writing; as also of liquids for painting or coloring of leather, cloths made of linen or wool, and for restoring inks that have been defaced by time, as likewise many methods of effacing writing—restoring decayed paper—and of various modes of secret writing.—The _fifth_ part treats of Inks for writing, made in different countries, of various materials and colors,—as from gums, woods, the juice of plants, &c., and also of different kinds of varnishes.—The _sixth_ part treats of the various operations of extracting vitriol, and of its chemical uses.
“This work abounds with a great variety of philosophical, chemical and historical knowledge, and will give great entertainment to those who wish for information on this subject.