Reply to post:

The Wristwatch of the Long Now: When your MTBF is two centuries

Norman Nescio Silver badge

You missed out the oak gall ink on vellum (not vegan friendly) - still in use in UK

Thanks for the suggestion: in fact I made a deliberate choice not to include oak-gall ink because it is often acid, as it is prepared from tannic (and gallic) acids and iron sulphate (aka copperas), so the resultant ink can be acidic - so much so that in time it eats through the vellum/parchment and you are left not with a manuscript, but a doily. It is a problem with old manuscripts.

An example is at the the bottom of this interesting page:

Patricia Lovett:How Mediæval Manuscripts were Made

...you will be able to see the effects of the ink on the vellum. Note to the right in the middle line where the ink, which contains acid, has eaten through the skin to create holes. This is a problem with this manuscript as in some places the letters, or the spaces between letters have fallen out of the manuscript. This is not an isolated instance with oak gall ink.

But thank you again for the suggestion. Oak-gall ink on vellum is not a bad choice, and there are very many well-preserved manuscripts made in this manner, but it is not, perhaps, the best possible choice nowadays. On reflection, I should have made the reasoning behind my choices clearer, so thank-you for the opportunity to clear this point up.

NN

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon