03 - Hahn - Inks and Pigments: A Short Introduction

Pigments and inks
Oliver Hahn & Ira Rabin

Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM)
SFB 950 Manuskriptkulturen
Inks and Pigments

A short introduction
Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Pigments and inks
BBAW, Uigur Text, 4829a Municipal Archive of Nuremberg, „Tucherbuch“

BBAW, Uigur Text, U 3832
HaSgh4,
AAI, Hamburg

Typology of writing materials
The writing materials can be divided into two

groups…
first one containes materials that write

themselves, producing script by rubbing their
own material off onto the writing surface
• includes charcoal, graphite, chalk, raddle,

and metal styluses
• depending on the material and consistency,

Double silverpoint, from: Joseph Meder:
these are cut or pressed to make styluses Die Handzeichnung – Ihre Technik und
Entwicklung, Kunstverlag Anton Schroll,
Wien, 1919
and then used for writing

Joseph Meder
Die Handzeichnung – Ihre Technik und

Entwicklung, Anton Schroll publisher, Vienna,
1919, © OH
• charcoal
• fat coal
• natural black chalk
• artificial black chalk
• lead pen
• graphite

Chalk: different chemical materials with natural and artificial

provenance
natural black chalk: clay with black carbon
artificial black chalk: mixture of black carbon and binder)
artificial coloured chalk: (since 1500, mixture of lead white
with different colorants and binders)
Charcoal:
one of the oldest drawing and writing material
Carbonised organic material
Graphite: crystalline allotrope of carbon

The second group:
• coloring liquids that are applied to the writing surface with a

quill, pen, printing block, etc.
• inks made from dye solutions (for example, tannin inks) and
those made from pigment dispersions (for example, sepia,
soot inks)
• latter sometimes also rubbed as pastes into letters incised

into the writing surface, where they increase visual contrast

and writing implements

Black and brown
drawing and writing inks I
Iron gall ink

Carbon ink • the most commonly used writing
• fine dispersion of carbon pigments in a material
water-soluble binding media • preperation by means of reaction
• one of the oldest writing media between iron(II)sulphate and gallic acid
Plant ink
• so called tannin inks
• widely used in the early
Middle Ages

Black and brown
drawing and writing inks II
Rembrandt van Rhijn

Young woman doing her toilet
Sepia, transparent brown pigment

• obtained from the cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)
• use not before the late 18th century (Seydelmann,1780)?
• (already mentioned by Pliny)
Mummy, transparent brown or black pigment
• obtained from mummified bodies
• used in 16th century as pigment, drug
Bistre, soluble extract of wood soot

• mixed with glue or water-soluble
binding agent
• use since 14th century, Italy
mummy in the British Museum

Chronology of technological
treatises / recipes
Treatise of Vitruv, 25 BC
Naturalis Historia, Pliny, 1th century
Greek papyrus, 3th century
Theophrast, 4th century Mappae Clavicula,
antique provenance, since 8th century in Lucca
several copies until 14th century
Theophilus Presbyter, 12th century real iron gall ink?
Straßburger Manuskript, 15th century
Trierer Malerbuch, 15th century
Colmarer Kunstbuch, 1478
Prager Malerbuch, 1477
compilation of different recipes (1460 - 1530,
cloister Tegernsee)
Detail from the Liber illuministarum
Valentin Boltz von Ruffach, Illuminierbuch, 1549
(15th century)

Iron Gall Ink
recipes from Europe
Liber illuministarum (Kloster Tegernsee)

• compilation of recipes from the 15th century
• 32 recipes for the preparation of iron gall ink

• only gallic acid, no other tannins
• “atramentum”, probably vitriols
• “Nigredo”, probably aqueous solution of vitriole
• binding media: gum Arabic “dinten gummi”
• iron gall inks for parchment contain more binding
media than those for paper
• different wines “vinum naturale”, water, vinegar

Iron Gall Ink – hibr aswad ma‘ī
recipes from Arabia
Muhammad b. Maimūn b. Azhār

(649?/1251?)
(Moroccan Ms is privately owned)
No. 26
Gall nuts – Cyprian vitriol – gum
Arabic – saffron – musk – aloe
No. 27
Gall nuts – white vitriol – gum Arabic
No. 28
Gall nuts – green vitriol – gum Arabic
Schopen 2006 (modern copies, © Schopen)

Iron Gall Ink
Iron gall ink is produced with four

basic ingredients...
• galls (gallic acid)

• vitriol (with iron(II)sulfate as main component)
• gum arabia as binding media
• aqueous medium as wine, vinegar or beer
complexation oxidation decarboxilation
Krekel, 1999

Iron Gall Ink
XRF analyses
typical iron gall ink
XRF-spectrum!
Codex Egberthi (ca. 980)

Iron gall ink, pigments on parchment
Achim von Arnim
“Studien zu Naturwissenschaften”
GSA Weimar (18th century)

Iron Gall Ink
Case study: Erfurt Hebrew Giant Bible
Erfurt Hebrew Giant Bible
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, SPK
Ms or fol 1210/1211
Erfurt, 14th century, mid.
Hahn et al., 2008
representative XRF-spectra of two iron

gall inks (“A” and “D”) found in the Erfurt
Bible
elemental composition differs remarkably:
the iron gall ink „D“ contains Fe and K as
well as Zn and Mn whereas the iron gall
ink “A” only contains Fe und K

Iron Gall Ink
Case study: (zinc) iron gall ink
Microscopic investigation
Jacobus de Cessolis, Libellus de

moribus hominum et de officiis
nobilium super ludo saccorum
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, SPK
Theol. Lat. Qu. 175, f.102v
Erfurt, 14th century, mid.

Iron Gall Ink
Vitriol
production of vitriol:
the solution is thickened by boiling an
crystalises on roods (Agricola 1556)
vitriolum vitriolum
romanum goslariensis
FeSO4 x 7H2O 82 % 50 %
Fe2(SO4)3 x 18H2O 6% 3%
CuSO4 x 5H2O 2% 7%
ZnSO4 x 7H2O - 11 %
MnSO4 x 5H2O - 9%
Al2(SO4)3 x 18H2O - 12 %
KAl(SO4)2 x 12H2O 10 % -
MgSO4 x 7H2O - 8%
vitriol with different amounts of Zn, Al, Fe,
Hickel, 1963
Cu, Mn (Rammelsberg, Goslar, Germany)

Iron gall inks
XRF – qualitative investigations
Letter of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to his publisher

Johann Christian Kestner (14. April 1773)
Cr, K 
Fe, K 
Cr, K  ; Mn K 
O riginal Ink
D eletion
P aper
10000
Intensity / Counts
Fe, K 
Zn, K 
Cu, K 
Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv
Zn, K 
1000 Weimar
Cu, K 
100
Hahn et al., 2005
Existence of chrome
5 6 7 8 9 10
indicates that the deletion
Energy / keV
was done in 19th century!

Iron gall inks
XRF – quantitative investigations
• interfering fluorescence from the

background
Fe
• thickness of different inks or
Ca ink
K paper
Intensity [Counts]
10000 Fe
pencils varies remarkably
Ca Cu Cu
S
Mn
1000 Al
P
100 Si Cl
2,5 5,0 7,5 10,0 12,5

Energy [keV]
• considerable variance of the count rate

due to the inhomogeneity of the samples

Iron gall inks
fingerprint model for ink paper layer systems
Ink
main component: Fe
minor components: Cu, Zn, K, ... w
1
ink paper
Qtt Qp
m, Qpp
Qt
0 m
dt dm dp z
Paper
contamination: Fe, Cu, K, ... This model takes into account
Fibers of approx. 10 - 20 µm diam.
• the paper background
• the thickness of the ink layer
Malzer et al., 2004
• the diffusion of the ink into the paper

Iron gall inks
Case study
Different parts were written

within a couple of years
Humboldt-Journal:
VIII, f. 167r

Iron gall inks
Humboldt-Tagebücher VIII, f. 167r
3,0
2,8 K
2,6 Ca
Mn
Cu
Zn
0,75
Wi
0,50
0,25
0,00
1
8
k0
k0
k0
k0
k0
k0
k0
k0
k0
k1
k1
k1
k1
k1
k1
k1
k1
k1
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
Iron gall inks
Case study – Dating?
Goethe- und Schiller Archiv Weimar

Handschrift III H1, dritter Akt des „Faust II“
(Signatur GSA 25/W 1567)
Two different working processes

1800 / 1825

Iron gall inks

Iron gall inks

Carbon inks
preparation
• fine dispersion of carbon pigments in a water-soluble binding

agent
• one of the oldest writing media
• origins of this deep-black drawing material lie in Egypt,
India, and China
• Greeks and Romans called it “Indian ink”
• (atramentum indicum, Pliny, xxxV, 18)

Carbon inks
preparation
• Chinese ink was known, but very expensive!

• first raw materials to produce “Arabian” carbon inks were soot
from stone pine resin, fish glue, and gums
• later more expensive raw materials were used, like sandarac resin,
styrax resin from the bark of the oriental sweetgum and others
sandarac tree oriental sweetgum rock roses

(Tetraclinis articulata) (Liquidambar styraciflua) (Cistaceae)

Carbon inks
Preparation in China
China Ink - invented in the Han dynasty (206BC-220AC).

Soot from resin rich oak or pine tree burnt in restricted air, with horn
glue, is repeatedly rolled, pounded, steamed- well mixed dispersion.
Solid inksticks- evolved in the Tang period (618-907AC)- last longer.

Soot was pressed into wooden molds.
Liquid ink is obtained by rubbing the stick on an ink stone with water.
Soot from lampblack- Song period (960–1279AC)
Important trade good, with high quality

Carbon inks
Preparation in Europe
Liber illuministarum (15th century)
• only four recipes for different

purposes
• carbon obtained with
carbonization of leather
• soot obtained from vegetable oils
or olibanum
• addition of egg yolk or gum
Arabic
• egg yolk: amount of lecithin emulsifies
oil in aqueous systems!

Plant ink
Preparation
• vegetable inks, or tannin inks

• best-known is blackthorn ink; produced from the bark of thorn woods
and wine.
• in the early Middle Ages, plant inks were widely used in the production
of manuscripts in cloisters
Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa)
• usually light brown

• sometimes small amounts of iron compents were added,
• Theophilus’ ink (?)
• the naked-eye distinction between both inks is impossible

Plant ink
XRF?
typical plant ink XRF-spectrum:
→ no characteristic elements!
→ pure „organic“ material
Stuttgarter Psalter, 820/830, Saint-Germain-des-Prés f.6v

©Würtembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart

IRR of three main ink types
750 nm 1000 nm 1300 nm
Iron
gall ink
Plant ink
Carbon
ink

Evolution of writing inks: timeline
Sources Common “knowledge“ Analytical results
Carbon ink (+Cu/Pb) Plant ink (+Cu) Iron-gall ink
EVERYWHERE in Antiquity Philo of Byzantium 3rd BC

EGYPT 3rd BC (Greek)
Gallnut (on leather) + Chalcanthon
GRECO-ROMAN WORLD ~1st BCE / EC:

Vitruvius/Pliny EGYPT 3rd CE (Coptic)
Soot + Gum/Glue Orient 4th CE (Hebrew)
Dioscorides
Soot + Gum + Glue + Chalcanthon GERMANY 9th CE EVERYWHERE in Middle Ages
GREECE 9th CE
MIDDLE EAST ORIENT
from 7th CE from 9th CE
BYZANTIUM “traditional
ink“
EUROPE 12th CE NORTHERN EUROPE 6th - EUROPE 12th CE
Eraclius 9th CE Theophilus (1st recipe?)
Soot + Gum/Glue

MS Place,IRR
dateof three main ink
VIStypes
NIR ink
Maimonides autograph Cairo ca.1165 Iron gall
Heb. 8° 6235
Heb. 8 6235 Aleppo 1236
Yah. MS.Heb. 6 Al-Twila (Yemen) 1359
Heb. 8° 2238 <Iran> 1106/7
Yah. MS Ar. 966 (Kuran) <mid 9th cen.>

revocalised 904/5
Heb. 4° 5703/2 (Bible) Palestine <10th cen.>
Heb. 8° 1403/3 Saragossa (Spain) 1341
Heb. 8° 4210 <Italy> ̊1282
Heb. 4° 1114 Germany 1366/7
Heb. 4° 1114 Germany 1419
Syriac handwriting by a carbon

scribe-monk, Jerusalem
1992
Mixed inks

Mixed inks, Raman spectroscopy

Mixed inks, mass spectroscopy
Gallic acid (M:170)
Ellagic acid (M: 302)

Iron gall inks
Corrosion / Ageing Aspects
Very heterogeneous appearance

• black / brown areas
• crystalline areas
Mishnah codex (10th century AD)

MS Kaufmann A50
17.04.‘19 French
Manusciences German
Thema derSummer School
Präsentation 39
Gefördert von
Iron gall inks
0,014
0,012
0,010
0,008
Intensität' , a.U.
0,006
0,004
0,002
0,000
-0,002
-0,004 Ironmit
Tinte gall ink Belägen
gelben
Yellow
Gelber ochre, Goethite
Ocker
-0,006
-0,008
400 450 500 550 600 650 700
C1899-36 (Detail)
Wellenlänge, nm
Gallery of prints Dresden
VIS-Spectroscopy of the „yellow“ iron gall ink

• huge amount of iron oxides
• ageing product looks like goethite (FeOOH)
Iron gall inks
Fe
dark brown
6000
Intensity [Counts]
Cu
Korrelation zwischen Farbe und chemischer Zusammensetzung
4000 15000 Fe
black
2000
Intensity [Counts]
10000 Zn
Fe Cu
K
Ca
0
2 4 6 8 10
5000
Energy [keV]
Fe Zn
KCa Mn Cu
0
2 4 6 8 10
Energy [keV]
1200 brown Fe
light brown
Intensity [Counts]
800
Cu
400
Cu
Ca Fe
K
Achim von Arnim Ca
0
“Scientific lectures” 2 4 6 8 10
GSA Weimar, date of production: 1798 – 1800 Energy [keV]

Iron gall inks
J. S. Bach, Mass in B minor, Staatsbibliothek Berlin

Non degraded
Paper starts to fluoresce greenish around the

ink, the fluorescing area extends to the verso
of the paper
The color of the greenish fluorescing turns to

a yellow hue, in daylight this area appears
light brown
In daylight, the verso is discolored to a light

brown tone, under UV still fluorescing halos
are visible
No fluorescence, the light brown tone on the

verso intensifies to a dark brown
Ink line cracks when touched

Serious loss of material
© ICN
46
The palette of different colours
Municipal Archive of Nuremberg,

„Tucherbuch“
Public library Trier

„Codex Egberti“, Ms. 24

Azurite: 2CuCO3 x Cu(OH)2

Lapis lazuli
Indigo
Lead white: 2PbCO3 x Pb(OH)2
Calcite: CaCO3
Malachite: CuCO3 x Cu(OH)2
Lead read: Pb3O4
Ochre: Fe2O3 x mH2O
Cinnabar: HgS
Metal foils and inks: Au, Ag, Pb, Sn
Dyes from plants an insects

Colorants
inorganic organic
pigments dyes
natural / mineral
artificially
pigments artificial produced from
produced
pigments plants / insects

Mineral pigments
Mineral ochres, providing colours from yellow, orange, red

and brown belong to the oldest pigments
These earth pigments consist of different iron oxides and

mineral compounds (silicates, etc.)
Red ochres contain hematite [Fe2O3], yellow ochres contain

different iron oxides, especially goethite [-FeO(OH)]
Red bole contains iron oxide and a huge amount of silicates;

the material is very smooth and flexible and it is used for
gildings with gold leaf
Iron oxide black, Fe3O4, is a modern artificial pigment (1920)

Different iron oxide
pigments
© Simone Bretz

Mineral pigments
Mineral Malachite, with

impurities of azurite (Vienna,
Museum of Natural History)
Use of minerals (e.g. earth pigments) is known since prehistory (cave paintings)
• often: iron oxide pigments (yellow, red brown)
• green earth; copper-containing minerals (green, blue)
• black minerals rather uncommon (charcoal or bone ash belong to early artificial
pigments)
• Lapis Lazuli (example for the use of gemstones)

Mineral pigments
Cinnabar / China red (HgS) as mineral

• very old mining sites (4000-3000 BC) in Wanshan-West Hunan
• known in Greece 6th century BC
• Arabs used it 8th -9th century
Two different manufacturing processes:

• Dry process by sublimation:
• mercury mixed with molten black sulfur
• mixture was heated up to 580°C
• Wet process by precipitation
• from a solution of mercury salt with H2S
Tsien and Needham 1985

Mineral pigments
Lapis Lazuli (Na,Ca) 8[Si,AlO4] 6(S,SO4) 2

preparation: pulverized, sieved and repeatedly washed out (wax pellets)
as sedimentation
Deposits in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia
• Assyria (18th century BC)
• Egypt (1300 BC)
• Greece (1300 BC),
• Romans (7th century)
Artificial production:
• Synthesized by heating clay (Si, Al), sulfur and soda
• 13th century by the Arabs
• 1806 Désormes and Clément,
• 1828 Jean Baptiste Guimet

Artificial pigments
earliest description of for the preparation of lead white,

2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2 in the 4th century BC
various descriptions from Antiquity until the Middle Ages
lead plates were dashed with vinegar
until the end of the 19th century it was the most important
white pigment
Prussian Blue, Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3, was accidentally

discovered in 1704 in Berlin
since 1710 it was one of the most popular blue pigments
(lightfast, chemical-resistant)

Natural dyes
raw materials for

dye production…

Natural dyes
relevant parts of the plants (leaves, roots, blossoms, bark) or insects

are purified and hackled
dyes are extracted or fermented with appropriate solvents
• acidic: vinegar, wine, alum
• basic: fermented urine (ammonia), soda, lime
solution is filtered out and……
• dried directly
• stabilised with mordant (e.g. alum; complex formation)
• stabilisation with overdyeing (e.g. lead white, chalk; adsorption)

57
Natural dyes
• stabilisation by means of adsorption (overdyeing)

• stabilisation by means of complex formation (mordant)
overdyeing of lead white with blueberry
Removal of cream of tartar out of wine

barrels, Hortus Sanitatis 1517

Natural dyes
Indigo as blue powder Dyer‘s woad Indigo, structural formula

http://www.dyeplants.de/faerberwaid.html
Indigo is the most important organic blue pigment (known since Antiquity)
colorless precursor is present in different plants (e.g. Indigofera tinctoria L.,

India)
production of the organic pigment by means of fermentation.
until the 16th century dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) was used for the
production of indigo in Europe
Natural dyes
Fermentation
Indican, plant precursor Indoxyl (yellowish)
Oxidation
+ O2
2 Indigo is a vat dye!
- 2H2O
Indoxyl (yellowish) Indigo (blue)

Artificial dyes
1856 artificial production of mauveine based on aniline

(Perkin)
1868 Laboratory synthesis of aniline (Graebe und

Liebermann)
1880 Laboratory synthesis of von Indigo

(Baeyer)
various artificial dyes since the early 20th century

Corrosion of colourants
Natural dyes are very sensitive

to the UV light and fade
Especially yellow, red and purple

dyes are very sensitive to the UV
light, sometimes they dissapear
completely
Stuttgarter Psalter, Paris, Frankreich, fol. 70,

Württembergische Landesbibliothek: the violet dye
rather disapeared
Quelle: http://digital.wlb-stuttgart.de/filegroups/stutps-
c_307047059/max/00000144.jpg

the colour effect of organic materials is caused by chromophores:

• conjugated double bonds (alternate double and single bonds)
• in combination with aromatic groups
-Carotin
The disturbance (disruption) of this conjugated double bond

system causes a discolouring of the dye

© Robert Fuchs
Kloster Schulpforta
Incunable (16th cent.)
Due to reaction with sulphur (or reactants containing Sulphur, e.g. H2S)
the red colour of the initials lead red (Pb3O4) turned to black (grayish)
lead sulphide (PbS).
2.4 Binders
a variety of different binders is used :

water-soluble binders water-insoluble binders
(water dilutable)
• glue • natural plant oils (linseed oil, nut

• gum (gum Arabic) oil, …)
• egg white • resin (rosin)
• paste • wax
• wax that was altered chemically • synthetical polymers, e.g.
• chalk synthetic resins (e.g.alcyd

resins)
• synthetical polymers, e.g.
synthetic resins • asphalt, bitumen
Tempera
mixture of hydrophilic and hydrophobic components
Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von 64

Inks and pigments
Conclusion
Writing materials
solids inks
rubbing materials dispersion inks soluble inks

organic pigment dispersed dye dissolved
• charcoal in binder in solvent (and
• graphite carbon ink Mixed inks! binder)
inorganic coloured inks with tannin ink, brazilwood,
• metal pen cinnabar, azurite, lead
• chalk red, lapis, etc.
iron gall inks

vitriole and gallic acid (tannins), binder
Inks and pigments
References
Bartl, A., Krekel, Ch., Lautenschlager, M., and Oltrogge, D. (eds.) (2005), Der "Liber illuministarum"
aus Kloster Tegernsee, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart.
Bosch, S., Colini, C., Hahn, O., Janke, A., and Shevchuk, I. (2018), The Atri Fragment Revisited I
manuscript cultures 11, 141-156.
Bronk, H., Röhrs, S., Bjeoumikhov, A., Langhoff, N., Schmalz, G., Wedell, R., Gorny, H. E., Herold A.,
Waldschläger., U. (2001), ArtTAX®: A new mobile spectrometer for energy dispersive micro X-Ray
fluorescence spectrometry on art and archaeological objects. Fresenius’ J. Anal. Chem. 371, 307–
316.
Cohen, Z., Olszowy-Schlanger, J., Hahn, O., and Rabin, I. (2017), Composition Analysis of Writing
Materials in Genizah Fragments, in Jewish Manuscript Cultures. New Perspectives, Wandrey, I. (Ed.)
Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 323-338.
Colini, C., Bonnerot, O., Steger, S., Cohen, Z., Ghigo, T., Christiansen, T., Bicchieri M., Biocca, P.,
Krutzsch, M. and Rabin, I. (2018), The Quest for the Mixed Inks, manuscript cultures 11, 41-48.
Ghigo, T., Bonnerot, O., Buzi, P., Krutzsch, M., Hahn, O., and Rabin I., (2018), An Attempt at a
Systematic Study of Inks from Coptic Manuscripts, manuscript cultures 11, 157-164.
Hahn, O., B. Kanngießer and W. Malzer (2005), X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Iron Gall Inks,
Pencils, and Colored Pencils. Studies in Conservation 50, 23-32.

Inks and pigments
References
Hahn, O., Wolff, T., Feistel, H.-O., Rabin, I., and Beit-Arié, M. (2008), The Erfurt Hebrew Giant Bible
and the Experimental XRF Analysis of Ink and Plummet Composition, Gazette du Livre Médiéval,
51, 16 – 29.
Harley, R. D. Artists‘ Pigments - c. 1600-1835, Archetype Publications Ltd., London, 2001, ISBN 1-
873132-91-3
Heiles, M., Rabin, I., and Hahn, O. (2018), Palaeography and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy:
Manuscript Production and Censorship of the Fifteenth Century German Manuscript, State and
University Library Hamburg, Cod. germ. 1, manuscript cultures 11, 109-139.
Hickel, E. (1963), Chemikalien im Arzneischatz deutscher Apotheken des 16. Jahrhunderts unter
besonderer Berücksichtigung der Metalle, Dissertation, Universität Braunschweig.
Krekel, Ch. (1999), Chemische Struktur historischer Eisengallustinten. In: Tintenfraßschäden und
ihre Behandlung; Eds. G. Banik and H. Weber, Werkhefte der staatlichen Archivverwaltung Baden-
Württemberg, Serie A Landesarchivdirektion, Heft 10, Kohlhammer Stuttgart, 25-36.
Malzer, W., Hahn, O., Kanngießer, B. (2004), A fingerprint model for inhomogeneous ink paper layer
systems. X-Ray Spectrometry 33, 229-233.
Meder, J. (1919), Die Handzeichnung – Ihre Technik und Entwicklung, Kunstverlag Anton Schroll,
Wien, 1919

Inks and pigments
References
Neevel, J.G. (1997), Iron gall-ink corrosion: Analysis and treatment. In: 3rd ARSAG Conference,
Paris: Association pour la Recherche Scientifique sur les Arts Graphiques, 1997, Preprints, 333.
Rabin, I. (2017), Building a Bridge from the Dead Sea Scrolls to Mediaeval Hebrew Manuscripts, in
Jewish Manuscript Cultures. New Perspectives, Wandrey, I. (Ed.) Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter (2017),
309-322.
Rabin, I., Hahn, O., Easton, R. Jr., Knox, K. T. Boydston, K., Heyworth, G., Leonardi, T., and Phelps,
M. (2015), Initial Inspection of Reagent Damage to the Vercelli Book, Comparative Oriental
Manuscript Studies Bulletin 1, 34-45.
Rabin, I., Hahn, O., and Geissbühler, M. (2015), Combining codicology and X-Ray spectrometry to
unveil the history of production of Codex germanicus 6 (Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek
Hamburg), manuscript cultures 7, 126-131.
Reclams Handbuch der künstlerischen Techniken, Bd. 1-3, Philipp Reclam jun. Stuttgart, 2. Auflage
1988, ISBN 3-15-010322-3.
Reißland, B. (1999), Ink Corrosion: Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Treatments of Paper Objects - State
of the Art. Restaurator 20, 3-4.
Schopen, A. (2006), Tinten und Tuschen des arabisch-islamischen Mittelalters. Dokumentation -
Analyse - Rekonstruktion, Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen.

03 - Hahn - Inks and Pigments: A Short Introduction

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

03 - Hahn - Inks and Pigments: A Short Introduction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pigments and inks

Oliver Hahn & Ira Rabin

Inks and Pigments

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

BBAW, Uigur Text, 4829a Municipal Archive of Nuremberg, „Tucherbuch“

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

The writing materials can be divided into two

first one containes materials that write

• includes charcoal, graphite, chalk, raddle,

• depending on the material and consistency,

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Die Handzeichnung – Ihre Technik und

• natural black chalk

• artificial black chalk

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Chalk: different chemical materials with natural and artificial

Graphite: crystalline allotrope of carbon

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

The second group:

• coloring liquids that are applied to the writing surface with a

• latter sometimes also rubbed as pastes into letters incised

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Iron gall ink

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Rembrandt van Rhijn

Sepia, transparent brown pigment

Bistre, soluble extract of wood soot

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Liber illuministarum (Kloster Tegernsee)

• 32 recipes for the preparation of iron gall ink

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Muhammad b. Maimūn b. Azhār

Schopen 2006 (modern copies, © Schopen)

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Iron gall ink is produced with four

• galls (gallic acid)

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Codex Egberthi (ca. 980)

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Hahn et al., 2008

representative XRF-spectra of two iron

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Jacobus de Cessolis, Libellus de

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Letter of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to his publisher

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

• interfering fluorescence from the

2,5 5,0 7,5 10,0 12,5

• considerable variance of the count rate

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Different parts were written

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Case study – Dating?

Goethe- und Schiller Archiv Weimar

Two different working processes

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

Manusciences ‘19 French German Summer School Gefördert von

• fine dispersion of carbon pigments in a water-soluble binding