Privilegium maius and the iron gall ink

[Steven Avery]

It’s Only a Part of the Story: Analytical Investigation of the Inks and Dyes Used in the Privilegium maius
May 2019
https://www.academia.edu/69321839/I...sed_in_the_Privilegium_maius?uc-sb-sw=5682633

Posted by
Kathrin Kininger
Austrian State Archives
Department Member


Elisa Cala 1/ Fabio Gosetti1 , Monica Gulmini2 y, Ilaria Serafini3, Alessandro Ciccola 3,
Roberta Curini3, Annalisa Salis 4©, Gianluca Damonte *©, Kathrin Kininger 5, Thomas Just5
and Maurizio Aceto L*©

 

[Steven Avery]

Historically, the main types of black ink were (1) carbon-based inks, (2) iron gall inks (lGl), (3) sepia inks and (4) bistre inks, with the first two types being by far the most popular. Carbon-based inks were the first to be created, having been in use since at least 2500 BCH in Hast Asia. lGl were introduced much later, being known since the 4th century AD; the oldest occurrences identified are in the Vercelli Gospels (Biblioteca Capitolare, Vercelli, ms. A) [2] and in the Codex Sinaiticus (British Library, London) [3]. Within a few centuries, lGl almost totally replaced the carbon-based inks all throughout the Middle Ages and until the introduction of synthetic inks produced from petrol derivatives.