red arsenic (realgar)

Ingredients

red arsenic (realgar), ḥibr (ink), yellow arsenic, midād (carbon ink), gum, red vitriol, gum water

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The user is instructed to grind red arsenic (realgar) finely and combine it with a low-quality ḥibr ink. Alternatively, one can take red arsenic and add yellow arsenic and carbon ink (midād), ensuring gum is added to the mixture. A variation suggests mixing red vitriol, yellow arsenic, and 'minerals', grinding them together, and mixing with previously mentioned gum water (p. 174).

Evidence

"Grind some red arsenic (realgar) finely, pour the closest thing to the most suitable/closest/lowest quality ink (ḥibr) that there is onto it; or take the red [arsenic], add the yellow [one] and the [carbon] ink (midād), and all this after the addition of gum."

Remarks

The text highlights a medieval understanding of color theory, stating that 'colours are produced from each other' (p. 174). Variations in the manuscript (Witness L) suggest that the proportions depend on the 'difference of weights' rather than just the 'difference of the colours' (p. 174).