red, now faded, rubrication

Evidence

"The numbering seems to have been written in the same ink as the once red, now faded, rubrication highlighting the recipes’ titles and it looks as though it was completed by the collection’s scribe."

Remarks

The text observes that in MS Rawlinson C. 506, the rubrication used for titles and the numbering system used the same ink batch (p. 83). The scribe likely intended the numbering to correspond to a table of contents that is now lost (p. 83). Fading of the red colorant suggests a sensitivity to environmental factors or the use of a specific pigment/lake common in the 15th century (p. 83). The author notes frequent changes in ink and script style throughout the manuscript, indicating it was compiled over a long duration rather than in a single session (p. 82).