brazilwood, vermilion, cochineal

Ingredients

brazilwood, vinegar, rock alum, cream of tartar, vermilion, sulphate of iron, oil, soda potash, carbonate of ammonia, aluminium oxalate, cochineal

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Hosseini provides several recipes for red ink (p. 165). R1: 4 ounces of brazilwood are added to vinegar and boiled to half weight, then filtered and mixed with 3 ounces of powdered rock alum (p. 165). R2: 2 portions of brazilwood, 0.5 portion alum, and 0.5 portion cream of tartar are boiled in 16 portions of water to half weight, then filtered and mixed with 0.5 portion gum Arabic (p. 165). R3 (for seals): 4 parts vermilion and 1 part sulphate of iron are mixed with oil and additional red colorant (p. 165). R4 (Stephen's red): Equal parts soda potash and carbonate of ammonia are boiled and filtered; then 0.5 parts aluminium oxalate and cochineal are added. The mixture is filtered after 24 hours (p. 168).

Evidence

"The current paper focuses on the ink making recipes of the manuscript Kašf al-Ṣanāye‘ translated from European source."

Remarks

The recipes found in the manuscript (p. 161) correspond closely to those in European texts like Beasley's Druggist’s General Receipt Book (p. 165). Recipe R4 is specifically identified as Dr. Henry Stephen's red ink (p. 169). The manuscript itself is noted to be in good condition (p. 161).