iron gall ink complex

Ingredients

H2O, gall nuts, FeSO4·7H2O, Arabic gum, vinegar, cypress cone

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The gall nuts remained in water for three days to create enzymes for gallic acid extraction. Vitriol was then added. Isidore suggests adding 20 crushed cypress cones for parchment substrates. The gum, having already melted in vinegar, was added last. The instruction ‘Put the leftovers in another vessel’ refers to the liquid from the fabric filtration, while ‘received’ refers to the residual sediment. The residual sediment is placed in water, filtered after a day, and vinegar is added (p. 586-587).

Evidence

"Second Recipe- IA, IAC (“black ink manufacturing”) (Oxford, Bodl. Libr., Canon. gr. 39, f. 276); (Rom, Biblioteca Vaticana, Vat. gr. 914, f. 2)... These consecutive filtrations produced a very fine-flowing thin black-purple ink, which gradually darkened during drying."

Remarks

The addition of cypress cones contributes to a pleasant smell. The IA sample without cypress cones was strongly cracked after ageing, whereas the IAC sample with cypress cones showed better preservation (p. 591).