056r - - - - - 056r - - - - - Have the clearest and the most running river water you can, and heat it up slightly more than warm. Then have a bunch of reseda, take its seeds and dip them into the said water and bring it to a rolling boil it while stirring it with a stick. Then pour it into a muid or any other vessel, then throw into it two pecks of salt.
Then take a big cauldron full of the said river water and heat it up slightly more than warm. Take three or four times the quantity of red greasy earth you can hold in two cupped hands, dip it and throw it into the cauldron filled with the said water. Have as much pigeon manure as of the said earth, as much horse manure and as much iron scrapings. And mix each of these separately, throw into the caldron and leave for two or three days. Then throw it into the said muid and stir all strongly altogether. And the older this temper is, the better it will work.
You can make marble by distemper from lake or rose of Ghent & chalk. Once dry, glaze with lake mixed in wine, for the glue makes it die & blacken. And all will then appear red, but the varnish you will put here, which will penetrate, will make dark & light parts appear as they ought to be. The varnish is made thus, mix with clear Venice turpentine some spike lavender oil & until all is clear & liquid enough, &it is done without fire. This one es is for things in distemper, and the turpentine varnish that you know, for panels. Pure spike lavender oil varnish is not good for panels, for spike lavender oil is too penetrating & makes colours sparkle, unless it was made long ago.