Re: VMs: Re: Facts and Fallacies

[Gordon Rugg <g.rugg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the information - it's good to have an attested example! My
(limited) reading on the topic of inks was inconclusive - premodern inks
appear to range from an extremely stable black which retains its colour
for centuries, to inks which were brown soon after writing, and possibly
at the time of writing. So, coming back to the question of whether the VMS
would have looked old when it was first bought, I get the impression that
it would have been difficult for a buyer to tell the manuscript's age from
its appearance.


Best wishes,

Gordon

ajb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Hello
>
> Gordon asked
>
> >...........if the VMS is written in oak gall ink
> >which turns brown with age. I don't know how quickly this
> >happens - does anyone out there have any figures?
>
> At least some 'black' ink faded to a light brown colour relatively
> quickly, though this was on paper not parchment, and I don't know
> exactly how long it took, or what the formula for the ink would
> have been. I have just looked up some old letters in my family
> archives and the most recent relevant example I can find would be
> this one dated 1902 which says -
>
> "...... and the sad fellow's foot and leg were dreadfully caught
> and are now become vastly swollen and much discoloured, and
> all the toes quite black as could be, black as this ink I write with;
> they had better had the leg off some time since, and saved the
> poor lad such tribulation......."
>
> (The incident relates to one of the all-too-common mining
> accidents in rural Derbyshire at that time.)
>
> When I first transcribed this letter in late 1962, the writing had
> faded to a mid brown colour.  It was written on good paper
> stock and had, I think, always been kept in dry household
> conditions. (Though the house was always cold, as I well know!)
> Great-grandfather Thomas invariably used an old steel "Waverley"
> pen [1] and would have been very likely to have made his own ink,
> though if his receipt has survived I cannot find it.
>
> So in at least one case, somewhat less than 60 years had led to
> considerable fading to brown.
>
> HTH. Not very useful but better than nothing......
>
> Regards
>
> Anthony
>
> [1]
> "They come as a boon
> And a blessing to Men:
> The Pickwick, the Owl,
> And the Waverley Pen."
>
> I have some of his original stock of these excellent pens here still.
>
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