Making Inks

The Making and Knowing Project has reconstructed inks several times, both as products and as ingredients in more complex making processes described in Ms. Fr. 640. While the manuscript is itself written in iron gall ink (the “common” black writing ink of the Renaissance), it does not include any writing ink recipes. Learning about and making writing inks can shed light on the history and materiality of texts. Because of their relatively simple ingredients and the speed and ease of their making, writing inks are an excellent hands-on activity for beginners and experts alike. The activity can be done in small groups, as a demonstration for a larger audience, or as part of a deeper personal exploration of the materials.

Learning Objectives

The activity of making inks has several potential learning outcomes, which can include:

  • examine historical inks, focusing on the two most important black writing inks: carbon inks and iron gall inks
  • learn what inks are made of and how to make them
  • explore the ways that carbon and iron gall inks flow, bleed, and bead on various supports
  • appreciate the material properties of historical writing materials affect their making and their afterlives

What is an Ink?

Writing inks are a colored viscous fluid composed of a water-based liquid, a binding agent, and a colorant. Inks are often liquid, but can also come in the form of pastes, cakes, and sticks.

Teaching Ink Making

Ink Making: Presentations

  • Inks: History, Chemistry, and Preparation [PDF]

Ink Making: Activity Sheets, Field Notes, and Resources

  • Iron Gall Ink Making: Small Batch (~20 ml) [docx] [PDF]
  • Iron Gall Ink Making: Large Batch (~150 ml) [docx] [PDF]
  • Carbon Ink Making [docx] [PDF]
  • Iron Gall and Carbon Ink: A Comparison Making Activity [docx] [PDF]
  • Brazilwood “Rosette” Ink Making [PDF]
    • Brazilwood Rosette: Historical Ink and Lake Recipes [PDF]

The Materiality of Text in Ms. Fr. 640

  • Handout surveying the entries in Ms. Fr. 640 on the materiality of text and on literary culture in Renaissance France [DOCX] [PDF]

Inks in Ms. Fr. 640

There are several entries in Ms. Fr. 640 that address the making and use of inks, from printer’s ink (fol. 51r) and heat-activated “ink” (fol. 46v) to a thick-bodied ink for writing three-dimensional letters on paper that can then be used as a model for casting (fol. 131r). These entries can be found through a simple search for “ink” in Secrets of Craft and Nature in Renaissance France.

There are also essays in Secrets of Craft and Nature in Renaissance France that explore inks, including: