types of inks, colored inks, secret writing

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The Tunisian scientist Ibn Badis, in his treatise 'Umdat al-Kuttab', provides extensive instructions on scribal technology, including specific chapters on the preparation of various ink types, colored inks, the coloring of dyes and mixtures, and the formulation of inks for 'secret writing' (p. 6).

Evidence

"Ibn Badis (1007-1061), who in his Umdat al-Kuttab (Staff of the Scribes) in twelve chapters, writes amongst others on: the excellence of the pen, the preparation of types of inks, the preparation of colored inks, the coloring of dyes and mixtures, secret writing"

Remarks

Levey's review of this 11th-century work highlights it as a foundational text for Islamic chemical technology and scribal arts (p. 6).