太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > forty centuries of ink >

第23节

forty centuries of ink-第23节

小说: forty centuries of ink 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!





Mary Johns; microscopic writer and author。



1749。



Charles Woodham; 〃A Specimen of Writing;

in the most Useful Hands now Practised in England。〃



1750。



John Oldfield; 〃Honesty。〃 He wrote one piece

in 〃The Universal Penman。〃



1750。



Joseph Champion; 〃The Parallel or Comparative

Penmanship。〃 1762; 〃The Living Hands。〃



1751。



Edward Lloyd; 〃Young Merchants Assistant。〃



1758。



Richard Clark; 〃Practical and Ornamental Penmanship。〃



1760。



Benjamin Webb; writer of copy books; etc。



1762。



William Chinnery; 〃The Compendious Emblematist。〃



1763。



William Massey; 〃The Origin and Progress of

Letters;〃 containing valuable information

about the art。



1769。



John Gardner; 〃Introduction to the Counting

House。〃



1780。



Edward Powell; writing master and designer。



1784。



E。 Butterworth; 〃The Universal Penman〃 in

two parts; published in Edinburgh。



1795。



William Milns; 〃The Penman's Repository。〃



1799。



William G。 Wheatcroft; 〃The Modern Penman。〃



1814。



John Carstairs; 〃Tachygraphy; or the Flying

Pen。〃 2。 〃Writing made easy; etc。〃



Illustrated works on the subject of penmanship of

contemporaneous times and not of English origin are

but few。 The best known are:



1543。



Luduvico Vicentino; 〃A Copy book〃 published

in Rome; seems to have been the first。



1570。



Il perfetto Scrittore (The Perfect Writer) by

Francesco Cresci; published in Rome。



1605。



Spieghel der Schrijkfkonste (or Mirror of

Penmanship) written by Van den Velde; published

in Amsterdam。



1612。



〃Writing and Ink Recipes;〃 by Peter Caniparius;

Venice and London。



1700。



Der Getreue Schreibemeister (or True Writing

Master); by Johann Friedr Vicum; published

in Dresden。



From 1602 to 1709 many 〃Indian〃 ink specimens

were extant and are still of the different schools of

penmanship。 The productions of Phrysius; Materot and

Barbedor illustrating the French style; Vignon; Sellery

and others; for the Italian hand; and Overbique and

Smythers for the German text; and Ambrosius Perlengh

and Hugo; with a few more; complete the list。









CHAPTER XII。



STUDY OF INK。



LACK OF INTEREST AS TO THE COMPOSITION OF INK DURING

PART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURYTHE CONDITIONS

WHICH THEN PREVAILED NEARLY THE SAME AS

THE PRESENT TIMECHEMISTRY OF INK NOT UNDERSTOOD

THIS LACK OF INFORMATION NOT CONFINED TO

ANY PARTICULAR COUNTRYLEWIS; IN 1765; BEGINS

A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION ON THE SUBJECT OF INKS

THE RESULTS AND HIS CONCLUSIONS PUBLISHED IN

1797THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND IN 1787 RECEIVES

COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE INFERIORITY OF INKS

ITS SECRETARY READS A PAPER THE SAME YEARTHE

PAPER CITED IN FULLDR。 BOSTOCK IN 1830 COMMUNICATES

TO THE SOCIETY OF ARTS WHAT HE ESTIMATES

TO BE THE CAUSES OF IMPERFECTIONS IN INK

ACTION OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

COMPLICATIONS SURROUNDING THE MANUFACTURE OF INK

ONLY THIRTY…FIVE YEARS AGO。



THE increasing demands for ink; and the lack of interest

as to its composition during the eighteenth

century; if viewed in the same lights which prevail in

our own times; permitted the general manufacture of

cheap grades of ink which possessed no very lasting

qualities。 The chemistry of Inks was not fully understood;

indeed we find Professer Turner of the College

of Edinburgh declaring in 1827:



〃Gallic acid was discovered by Scheele in 1786;

and exists ready formed in the bark of many trees;

and in gall…nuts。 It is always associated with

tannin; a substance to which it is allied in a manner

hitherto unexplained。 It is distinguished from

tannin by causing no precipitate in a solution of

gelatine。 With a salt of iron it forms a dark blue

coloured compound; which is the basis of ink。 The

finest colour is procured when the peroxide and

protoxide of iron are mixed together。 This character

distinguishes gallic acid from every other substance

excepting tannin。〃



The general lack of information or knowledge respecting

ink chemistry or its time…phenomena was not

confined to any particular country; and it does not

appear that any general or specific attention was

scientifically directed to it until 1765; when William

Lewis; F。 R。 S。; an English chemist; publicly announced

that he proposed to investigate the subject。

His experimentations covered a period of many years

and their results and his theories as to the phenomena

of inks were published in 1797。 The most valuable

of his conclusions were that an excess of iron salt in

the ink is detrimental to color permanence (such ink

becoming brown on exposure) and also that acetic

acid in the menstruum provides an ink of greater

body and blackness than sulphuric acid does (a circumstance

due to the smaller resistance of acetic acid

to the formation of iron gallo…tannate)。 Many of his

other observations were later shown to have been

erroneous。 Dr。 Lewis was the first to advocate log…

wood as a tinctorial agent in connection with iron and

gall compositions。



Ribaucourt; a French ink maker; in 1798 determined

that an excess of galls is quite as injurious to

the permanence of ink as an excess of iron。



Pending the completion of the researches of Lewis;

the Royal Society of England; affected by complaints

from all quarters relative to the inferiority of inks as

compared with those of earlier times; brought the

subject to the attention of many of its members for

discussion and advice。 Its secretary; Charles Blagden;

M。 D。; read a paper before the society; June 28; 1787;

which was published in the 〃Philosophical Transactions〃

and widely circulated。 It is so interesting that

copious extracts are given:



〃In a conversation some time ago with my friend

Thomas Astle; Esq。; F。 R。 S。 and A。 S。; relative

to the legibility of ancient MSS。 a question arose;

whether the inks in use eight or ten centuries ago;

which are often found to have preserved their colour

remarkably well; were made of different materials

from those employed in later times; of which many

are already become so pale as scarcely to be read。

With a view to the decision of this question; Mr。

Astle obligingly furnished me with several MSS。;

on parchment and vellum; from the ninth to the

fifteenth centuries inclusively; some of which were

still black; and others of different shades of colour;

from a deep yellowish brown to a very pale yellow;

in some parts so faint as to be scarcely visible。 On

all of these I made experiments with the chemical

re…agents which appeared to me best adapted to

the purpose; namely; alkalis both simple and phlogisticated;

the mineral acids; and infusions of galls。



〃It would be tedious and superfluous to enter into

a detail of the particular experiments; as all of

them; one instance only excepted; agreed in the

general result; to shew that the ink employed

anciently; as far as the above…mentioned MSS。

extended; was of the same nature as the present;

for the letters turned of a reddish or yellow brown

with alkalis; became pale; and were at length

obliterated; with the dilute mineral acids; and the

drop of acid liquor which had extracted a letter;

changed to a deep blue or green on the addition of

a drop of phlogisticated alkali; moreover; the letters

acquired a deeper tinge with the infusion of

galls; in some cases more; in others less。 Hence

it is evident; that one of the ingredients was iron;

which there is no reason to doubt was joined with

the vitriolic acid; and the colour of the more perfect

MSS。 which in some was deep black; and in others

purplish black; together with the restitution of that

colour; in those which had lost it; by the infusion

of galls; sufficiently proved that another of the ingredients

was a stringent matter; which from history

appears to be that of galls。 No trace of a black

pigment of any sort was discovered; the drop of

acid which had completely extracted a letter; appearing

of an uniform pale ferrugineous color; without

an atom of black powder; or other extraneous

matter; floating in it。



〃As to the durability of the more ancient inks;

it seemed; from what occurred to me in these experiments;

to depend very much on a better preparation

of the material upon which the writing was

made; namely; the parchment or vellum; the blackest

letters being those which had sunk into it

deepest。 Some degree of effervescence was commonly

to be perceived when the acids came into

contact with the surface of these old vellums。 I

was led; however; to suspect; that the more modern;

for in general the tinge of colour; produced by the

phlogisticated alkali in the acid laid upon them;

seemed less deep; which; however; might depend

in part upon the length of time they have been

kept: and perhaps more gum was used in them;

or possible they wer

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的