Ever wonder how eighteenth century soldiers composed letters home or wrote journal entries while sitting on a log before a campfire, in a tent, or traipsing throughout the countryside, campaigning prior to or after military action? For ions, right up to the nineteenth century, the method of writing included a container of ink and a brush or sharpened ‘quill’, usually a turkey or goose feather. The quill was dipped into a container of ink then quickly scribed on paper (by the time of the Revolutionary War, parchment was mostly replaced by paper among common usage). All fine and good when one was writing from a residence or office, the ink was readily available on a table or desk (as the case among generals and officers of high rank). But what of field officers and the rank and file? Could they cart around containers of ink among their select belongings stored in haversacks on their backs or bounced around on wagons over rough roads?
Petrus Maria Caneparius,[1] a Venetian physician and one of the most outstanding ink scientists of the early colonial period, recommended how ink was to be contained: “Keep the ink in a lead vase, for lead increases the blackness. The ink can be kept, however, in a glass vase, if the vase is thoroughly cleaned. You can also keep it in a vitreous potter’s vase, or in a gourd which has hardened with age.”[2] Can you imagine a soldier packing a lead vase – in a sack already nearing half his body weight? Or a clean glass container, carefully tucked away in his sack as he charges the enemy with his bayonet? The same was true for a potter’s vase or gourd that would take up space and most likely crack or break easily. Since soldiers often wrote home and many kept journals, how could they cart the liquid ink? They didn’t, least not liquid ink. Many used powdered ink – iron gall ink to be specific, which was made liquid and ready for use by just adding rain water, beer, or white wine. A small amount of powdered ink was tapped onto a small surface, (cup, tin container, piece of scrap metal, etc.), water or wine was added and afterwards, wash the unused ink away – no need to preserve what was left.
Outline of Article
This article will focus on metallic ink, specifically iron gall ink – the most popular and preferred ink worldwide for over 1,200 years. Iron gall ink was used almost exclusively in Colonial America including by British forces during the American Revolutionary War.[3]
- Iron gall ink’s source and composition will be described.
- A brief history of the ink’s development will be discussed including the surface upon which the ink was applied.
- The process for reducing liquid ink to powdered ink and its importance in Colonial America.
- Historical Documents using Iron Gall Ink (Declaration of Independence among others of similar importance).
There were basically two types of ink used the world over – carbon ink, mainly in Asian countries, particularly China (and much earlier by the Romans and ancient Greeks), and metallic inks, common among Europeans and settled colonies. Carbon inks ran freely and had to be applied with broad strokes of a brush. Their unpopularity was due to the failure of the black particles to stay in suspension, the tendency to smudge in damp weather, and the fact that they could be washed from the document. Carbon ink was composed primarily of water, gum, and lamp black[4] or ivory black.[5] Metallic inks kept their viscosity and could be applied with a sharpened point or quill, leaving a clear and exact image on papyrus, parchment, and later paper. Iron gall inks became popular because they flowed easily from a quill pen, penetrated the fibers of the parchment or paper, and formed a black insoluble compound.
Composition of Iron Gall Ink
During and prior to colonial times, iron gall ink was the most commonly used ink; other lesser and early inks were bistre & sepia,[6] included among carbon inks. Several metallic inks were available, such as copper, however it was proven early on that the darkest and longest lasting ink was derived from iron. As the name suggests there are two most important compounds in the ink’s manufacture, ferrous or iron sulfate and oak galls (from the oak tree Quercus Insitanica), containing tannic and gallic acid. Known today as ferrous sulfate, it was called copperas, or sometimes green vitriol, sal martis or sulfate of iron.[7] The ink was produced by mixing an aqueous solution of the ferrous sulphate (green vitriol or copperas) and extracts from gall nuts.[8] These two substances were combined with Gum Arabic from the Middle East, which gave body to the ink and kept it from flowing too fast, a problem with carbon inks.[9] Rain water was added during the boiling process as was sometimes beer or white wine (which was believed to have made the ink darker).
Copperas
Copperas was produced by the oxidation of mined pyrites (FeS2 or fools’ gold). In Europe it was commonly found weathered out of chalk cliffs in the form of nodules. The pyrite was crushed and put into huge tanks where, over a period of two or three years, they slowly oxidized[10] to form iron (II) sulphate and sulphuric acid. In a process that changed little over the centuries, rain water carried the solution, formed by the oxidation, to a lead chamber.
Scrap iron was added which had three functions: neutralized the sulphuric acid forming FeSO4, reduced any iron (III) to iron (II), and precipitated any less reactive metals (such as copper) from the solution. The solution was then boiled over approximately six days to concentrate, forming crystals of FeSO4 called copperas or green vitriol.[11] These crystals were primarily used for dyeing leather black (by reaction with the tannins in leather), and, important to this article, for the making of ink.
Gall
Gall is the second most important ink ingredient, contain tannic[12] and gallic acids which combine with the iron in the copperas to form a black pigment. The gall is an excrescence (abnormal outgrowth) produced when the commonly called gall wasp punctures the bark of an oak tree and deposits an egg. This occurs during the growing season in spring temperate climates. When the larva develops, the tree produces the gall which serves not only as a home (microhabitat) and protection from predators, but as food for the insect (edible nutritious starch and other tissues). If the larva dies or leaves at a certain stage, the tree discontinues the production of tannic and gallic acids within the gall. Gall is of greatest value to the ink maker when it contains the maximum amounts of those two acids. The blue or Aleppo gall was recognized and recommended in most ink formulae as the best for producing a quality ink. Galls are about the size of a nutmeg and were imported from Syria and other Baltic regions of Europe, Persia, and parts of Asia Minor. The brown English galls, colloquially called oak-apples, and those produced in southern Europe were inferior to the Aleppo in tannic and gallic acid content.[13]
Gum Arabic
Gum Arabic gave body to the ink and kept it from flowing too easily. Gum Arabic primarily came from Egypt and Levant Countries (Near East, Middle East, and Eastern Mediterranean States). It oozed from acacia trees (often mistakenly attributed to mimosa trees) and hardened into round, yellowish white drops about the size of small eggs. Venetian physician Caneparius called them the ‘tears of Arabia’. The gum provided viscosity, preventing the ink from spreading and souring while suspending coloring matter. Many colonial writers found that the correct amount of gum was necessary to make the ink flow properly when using a quill pen.[14]
Colonial Formula
During the period of the American Revolution, a formula for making iron gall ink appeared in the Letter Book of William Allason, Falmouth, Virginia, dated 1770-1787.[15] “Arabic [gum], three ounces; vitrol [green vitrol or copperas], two ounces Galls, three ounces; white wine two pints and a half; beat the Galls put them with the wine into an earthen vessel, set it in the sun for six days, stir them every day twice or thrice, then sit it over a moderate fire for a half a day or a day; then strain it having dissolved some vitrol and Gum in a little wine, put it into it, then set it in the sun three days more, and it is made. To keep it from freezing put in into a little aqua vitae [strong alcoholic spirit esp. brandy] — You may use Rain or River water instead of wine.”[16] Another formula of common use can be found in David’s History of Ink,[17] published in 1860, page 29, found on-line in the ‘National Archives’.
History
Greek texts used metallic ink as early as 252 BC on papyrus. It was also the first instance for using a specific writing implement for metallic ink; a reed pen. The main difference between this earlier metallic ink and later gall ink was that these early metallic inks lacked sulphur; also there was a predominance of copper as opposed to iron.[18] Wikipedia and many web sites including several texts state that the first recorded usage of iron gall ink was by a Roman author and military leader, Pliny the Elder[19] (AD 23-79). This is not true. He used a form of carbon ink made from soot. Pliny was not acquainted with gall ink as it did not come into existence until the first centuries of our era,[20] around the seventh century.[21] Scholars believe that in all probability gall ink was invented in Persia or Baltic countries for the species of oak (Quercus Insitanica) on which the gall wasp deposits it ova that form the excrescences known as galls, grows in Asia Minor (Armenia, Syria, and Persia). The Chinese became acquainted with oak-galls as late as the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) when they were introduced from Persia.[22]
All subsequent materials, starting with palm leaves, papyrus, parchment, and paper, were devised for the one purpose of taking ink. As these materials improved in quality, it became possible to make writing not only a matter of preserving records, but a beautiful art.[23]
Papyrus
By 2,500 years BC, palm leaves were replaced with papyrus, a single stemmed perennial of the sedge family growing on the Nile River shores. The inside of the triangular stalk was cut or peeled into long strips. These strips were laid out in two layers, one horizontal and one vertical. They were pressed and dried to form a papyrus sheet. Many of these sheets were joined end-to-end forming a roll one foot in height and up to 100 feet in length. Glue was not required as the natural gum of the plant held them together. Manuscripts written in Europe on imported papyrus was found as late as the 11th century. Eventually parchment, developed out of necessity, replaced papyrus.
Parchment
Two hundred years before Christ, during the Ptolemy dynasty, Egypt forbade the exportation of papyrus into Greece.[24] There was a necessity in Greece to find a substitute – reverting to a very old custom of preparing animal skins by washing, dressing, and rubbing them smooth. Tradition credits Eumenes II, King of Pergamum[25], for devising this expedient. The material was called pergameno – from which the English “parchment” is derived.[26] Parchments were made chiefly from the skins of sheep and calves and was expensive to produce. Any variation in the rubbing or polishing of a parchment sheet betrayed the variation of color leading to an inferior appearance of the writing. A less time consuming and more economical material needed to be found.[27]
Paper
The invention of paper is attributed to Tsai Lunan, an official of the Chinese Court of the Eastern Han Emperor Hodi around 105 AD. However some scholars claim recent discoveries place the invention of paper 200 years earlier. Tsai Lun broke the bark of a mulberry tree into fibers and pounded them into a sheet. Later it was discovered that the quality of the paper could be improved by the addition of hemp rags and old fish nets to the pulp. This paper was used throughout China and spread to the rest of the world via the Silk Road. China guarded the ‘secret of paper’ for several centuries. By the 8th century, the process passed beyond China’s borders. Bagdad started a paper industry in 783. Egypt by the 10th century. Around 1100, paper manufacture spread throughout northern Africa. By 1150 it arrived in the Iberia peninsula and Spain. By 1453, with the advent of Johann Gutenberg’s printing press, the paper industry was well established throughout Europe. Paper was first manufactured in North America in Philadelphia in 1690.
Long after paper was introduced, parchment continued to be used for the more costly manuscripts. Even after the introduction of printing with types, parchment copies were taken off the press whenever it was desired to make a special appeal to wealthy lovers of books. Vellum was considered one of the finest parchments – made from the skins of very young calves for it was the finest and thinnest of all.[28]
Powdered Iron Gall Ink & Colonial Usage
Powdered ink was often called a portable ink, being suitable for carrying on a journey. Its popularity grew in the seventeenth century and was widespread by the eighteenth century, finding its way among soldiers throughout Europe and America. It was usually made by reducing the galls, copperas, and gum arabic to the finest possible state, sifting the powder through a cloth, and just prior to use, adding water or wine to the powder as needed. Caneparius called this inkdust and stated that this was not used as extensively as the regular liquid ink.
Though it was quite pale when first made, travelers and especially soldiers overlooked its limitations. They favored its practicality that allowed them to write in camp or ‘in the field’, especially when on the march. In 1764, directions for making an ink powder were printed in The Handmaid to the Arts[29] and consisted of evaporating the liquid ink in a balneo mariae (water bath evaporation process) and powdering the residue. When water was added, it would write as black as it did before evaporation. It is not known when this type of ink was first used. Evidence has been found of ink powder that had fallen in the inner margin of record books as early as 1680. It was often advertised for sale in the Williamsburg (Virginia) Gazette during the eighteenth century. Whether one was in the militia, a Continental Soldier, or a British regular, soldiers purchased the ready-made powder prior to ‘going off to war’, or family members would post them packets of ink powder when requested.[30]
Though some powdered ink was made in the American colonies, most was transported from Europe. It was easier than liquid ink to package, ship, and protect from freezing or spoilage by mold and bacteria. For these various reasons, it is believed that ink powder was more popular and practical in the Americas than in Europe during the eighteenth century.[31] The containers used for packaging ink powders could be of a much simpler nature and were likely made of paper. A communication dated 19 Dec. 1782 from L[eighton] Wood to James Simmons requesting “half dozen papers of Ink Powder” seems to substantiate this idea. This document may be found in the Executive Papers in the Archives Division of the Virginia State Library.[32]
Iron Gall Ink’s Importance in Historical Documents
Iron Gall Ink was used for most of the important historical documents dating back to the Magna Carta in 1215. Kings and Church officials throughout the Middle Ages and beyond chose gall ink in their manuscripts as did artists in their drawings: Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Delacroix, Vincent van Gogh, to name a few. Examples of musical scores by Hugo, J.S. Bach, Grieg, Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart, all used gall ink. The list includes countless maps, architectural drawings, letters, and legal documents from the eighth to the nineteenth century. American Historical Documents include the most famous Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution (including all its drafts), and the Bill of Rights. A brief list of America’s Heritage includes: 1766 An Act to Repeal the Stamp Act, 1765 Declaration of Rights and Grievences, Jefferson’s 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, James Otis’ The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, early anti-slavery writings by Anthony Benezet and Benjamin Rush, Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, Benjamin Franklin’s 1775 Plan for Confederation, Articles of Confederation, Alexander Hamilton’s 1788 The Federalist, and George Washington’s First Inaugural Address. Also inclusive were countless maps, engravings by Benjamin Smith, Lodge’s View of the Attack on Bunker Hill…”, Paul Revere’s infamous The Bloody Massacre…”, and of the Boston Tea Party. Countless letters and memoirs by the Founding Fathers plus most of the timely cartoons drafted and published prior to and long after the Revolution were drawn in iron gall ink.
The special collections in the Library of Congress’ custodial divisions contain iron-gall ink documents. The Manuscript Division alone currently has over fifty million items in eleven thousand collections, and thus holds the majority of the Library’s iron-gall ink-inscribed materials. Hundreds of the most important heritage documents composed using iron gall ink can be found on-line through the Library of Congress’ Creating the United States Exhibition that opened on April 12, 2008. Go to:
Over the centuries, iron gall ink has proven to be extremely corrosive to documents. The ink can render manuscripts and other documents illegible and inaccessible by causing loss of text, bleeding, fading, strike-through and acid migration. This process, known as ink corrosion, is very difficult to arrest without further loss or change to the appearance of the ink. In 2008, the Conservation Division and the Preservation Research and Testing Division in the Library of Congress had concluded two projects that furthered the continuing efforts to treat artifacts suffering from iron gall ink corrosion. Presently there are several texts and many on-line articles that address this ongoing concerning problem of maintaining the important artifacts of America’s heritage.
For Further Reading on Ink in the American Revolution and the History of Paper, check out these Free Previews on Amazon.
Also on Revolutionary War Journal
RESOURCES
Barrow, William J. “Black Writing Ink of the Colonial Period.” 1948: The Archivist – Document Restorer. Richmond, Virginia.
Davids, Thaddeus. The History of Ink: Including Its Etymology, Chemistry, and Bibliography. 1860: Published by Thaddeus Davids & Co., New York, NY.
De Vinne, Theo. L. The Invention of Printing – A Collection of Facts & Opinions. 1876: Frances Hart & Co., New York, NY.
Dossie, Robert. The Handmaid to the Arts, Vol. I & II, Second Edition. 1764: Printed for J. Nourse, Bookseller, London, England.
Ellis, Margaret Holben. The Care of Prints and Drawings: American Association for State and Local History. 2016: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD.
Ketchum, Richare M. Saratoga: A Turning Point of America’s Revolution. 1997: Henry Holt & Co., New York, NY.
Mickelson, Meredith. The Diferentiation of Early Inks by Analytical Methods. 1981: Published by author.
Nicholson, Paul T. & Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. 2000: Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.
Van Grieken, Rene & Janssens, Koen. Cultural Heritage Conservation and Environmental Impact Assessment by Non-Destructive Testing and Micro-Analysis. 2014: CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Waters, Campbell E. National Bureau of Standards. “Inks”. Circular C426, August 7, 1940.
Wiborg, Frank Bestow. Printing Ink: A History and a Treatise on Modern Methods of Manufacture and Use. 1926: Harper & Brothers, New York, NY.
ON-LINE RESOURSES
Dekle, Claire & Haude, Mary Elizabeth. Iron-gall Ink Treatment at the Library of Congress: Old Manuscripts – New Tools. Presented at the Book and Paper Group Session, AIC 36th Annual Meeting, April 21-24, 2008, Denver, Colorado.
Duffy, Christina. Blog: British Library. Iron Gall Inks and Wasps. Aug. 19, 2013
Library of Congress. Creating the United States Exhibition. Opened April 12, 2008. Home site:
Silk Road Foundation. History of Paper. 2000.
University of Michigan Library. How Ancient Papyrus was Made.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Petrus Maria Caneparius, a Venetian physician, was the most outstanding ink scientist of the seventeenth century. He devoted to inks a large part of his De Atramentis which was first published in 1619 and reprinted in 1660. His descriptions of inkmaking are often quaint, a chemical reaction reported in lengthy detail being frequently characterized as “a marvel of nature.”[2] Barrow, pg. 298.
[3] Ibid, pg. 291.
[4] Lamp black: A black pigment made from soot.
[5] Ivory Black: A black carbon pigment made from charred ivory.
[6] Ellis, pg. 98. Bistre often refers to a charcoal or ‘soot’ color. Beechwood was burned to produce the soot, which was boiled and diluted with water. Many old masters used bistre as the ink for their drawings. Sepia was named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia. Sepia ink was commonly used as writing ink in Greco-Roman civilization.
[7] Barrow, pg. 293.
[8] Van Grieken, pg. 100.
[9] Ketchum, pg. 119.
[10] In an oxidation- reduction (reduction is the process of gaining one or more electrons), one atom or compound will steal electrons from another atom or compound. A classic example of this redox reaction is rusting: oxygen steals electrons from iron. In this case, Ferrious sulfate FeSO2 is oxidized to FeSO4 – oxygen stealing electrons from the iron. .
[11] Duffy, Iron Gall Ink and Wasps
[12] As also found in leather.
[13] Barrow, pg. 294.
[14] Ibid., pg. 295.
[15] The original text by Allason can be found in the Archives Division, Virginian Library.
[16] Barrows, pg. 297.
[17] Thaddeus David, New York City, was the largest manufacturer of ink in the US throughout most of the nineteenth century.
[18] Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, pg. 238.
[19] Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) was born Gaius Plinius Secundus, friend of Roman Emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedia Naturalis Historia, which became a model for future encyclopedias. It is believed that he died during the eruption of Mt Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii, victim of one of the pyroclastic surges while aboard ship. Pliny used an ink made of soot, charcoal, and gum – giving no clue as to how they were combined.
[20] Wiborg, pg. 75.
[21] Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, pg. 238.
[22] Wiborg, pp 75-76.
[23] Ibid., pg. 78.
[24] The Macedonian & Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt occurred from 332 – 30 BC. Ptolemy I, a Greek general of Alexander the Great and close friend, founded the dynasty in Egypt when he took command of the country after Alexander’s death. He accepted the title of King as Ptolemy I Soter (Savior) in 305 BC (dying in 283 BC at age 84). He was followed by a long succession of offspring. All male rulers of the dynasty took the name of Ptolemy while princesses and queens often preferred Cleopatra. The Egyptian tradition of Kings marrying their sisters was followed in which both co-ruled with their siblings – making later generations of rulers feeble. It was probably during the time of Ptolemy IV or V (221 – 180 BC), when Egypt’s influence waned, gaining closer ties to Rome, that limitations on Greece exports were imposed.
[25] Eumenes II (221 – 160 BC), King of Pergamum from 197 BC until his death.
[26] Wiborg, pg. 79.
[27] Ibid, pg. 80.
[28] Mickelson, pg. 81.
[29] The Handmaid to the Arts. The Process of Balneum Mariea, or evaporating bath, is described in detail on page 28. Page 40 refers to reducing gall ink in this process. You can obtain a copy of this 1764 text in the National Archives. To search or download a copy go to: https://archive.org/details/handmaidtoarts01doss
[30] Barrows, pg. 297
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ibid, pg. 298.