iron gall ink

Ingredients

mashed galls, water, sweltering rainwater, copperas, gum arabic

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The recipe instructs the ink maker to soak mashed galls in water for a duration of three days. Following this period, the mixture is boiled after the addition of sweltering rainwater. Finally, copperas (iron sulfate) and gum arabic are added to the resulting mixture (p. 26).

Evidence

"A recipe taken from fourteenth-century France instructs an ink maker to soak mashed galls in water for three days, boil the mixture after adding sweltering rainwater, and finally add the copperas and gum arabic to the mixture (Le Mnagier de Paris 265)."

Remarks

This recipe demonstrates the widespread European practice of soaking galls for extraction of gallotannic acid via fermentation (p. 31-32).