Making and Knowing
A minimal edition of BnF Ms Fr 640 in English Translation

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Recipe for making bronze and many kind of varnishes

To make an excellent varnish with clear water which you will use with a brush and which [the varnish] dries immediately for applying to paper, a little table, or any other thing

First, you will take five ounces of spirits and one ounce of benzoin. Crush them between two pieces of paper or cards or in a mortar.

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but it should not be too small, then take a glass flask not too big , not too small and into it put a half of each, that means two and a half ounces. Then take the mentioned vetjoin, also roughly crushed, and add it immediately to the aforesaid water and let it rest for one and half day, and then take the aforementioned water and put it into another glass flask and let it soak very well. And on the rest of the aforementioned betjoin, which remains on the bottom of the first flask, add the rest of the water on this should it react well repeat the process you just did and mix the first water with the second, because you use this to make something more noble.