iron gall ink

Ingredients

macerated galls, rainwater, gum arabic, copperas, white wine, vitriol

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Soak macerated galls in rainwater overnight. Reduce the liquid by boiling and sieve the result through a fine cloth. This recipe uniquely calls for the addition of gum arabic before the copperas. Furthermore, white wine is gently poured and mixed over the vitriol before it is added to the final mixture (p. 26-27).

Evidence

"Another fourteenth-century French recipe instructs one to soak macerated galls in rainwater overnight instead of for three days and then reduce the liquid by boiling and sieve through a fine cloth (Bat-Yehouda 178, 225)."

Remarks

The addition of white wine suggests the use of alcoholic solvents as acidifiers and preservatives (p. 20, 27).