VMs: RE: John M. Manly's 1922 Harpers article...

["GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxx>]

Stolfi writes:

> Now, looking at the best color images available for the
> VMS, I got the
> impression that the ink used for the text and illustrations was
> neither iron-gall nor india ink. Rather, it seems to be
> a suspension
> of some yellowish-brown opaque powder, like a tempera
> or watercolor.
> If true, that would be another puzzling peculiarity of
> the VMS...

In my inquiries into this subject, I discovered that the "brown"
or yellowish-brown ink was not all that exclusive.  A number of
English manuscripts sport this color ink, but since I'm a bit of
an Anglophile, I haven't journeyed the investigation far from
these shores, so the use of this "brown" ink may be wider spread.
Beinecke has told me it was written in "brown" ink, but not having
observed the manuscript in person I can't verify that.  Ascham's
'Sacro Bosco' manuscript is also written in a brown ink,
apparently thick at times if the copyflo is any evidence, but not
being able to compare the two, I can't draw any real comparison
beyond that.  Suffice it to say that the 'brown' ink is a definite
feature of a number of Cantabrigensian manuscripts, and its use
may well extend far beyond my admittedly limited investigation.

GC