The Secrets Behind Ink In The 18th Century - Historical Writing Series Part 2
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
- A special thanks to Brian Allison for sharing the expertise with us!
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Nobody is ever going to convince me this Brian guy isn't some sort of daylight resistant vampire.
Teaching history nerds how to make ink seems like a weird way for a man eating monster to use his immortality
@@SonofSethoitae You get bored being immortal, eventually you do everything. This is just his most recent vampire hobby.
@@SonofSethoitae or the perfect way?
you watched too much Munsters, sure he looks a little like Grandpa
😁👌
The other old ecclesiastical use for red ink was in church service books. Words to be uttered were written in black ink, but directions for what the celebrant should do were were written in red. These directions were therefore called rubrics, from Latin "rubrica" meaning a red-colored substance
Rubrics are usually still in red, but are printed using modern printing inks.
Hence "Say the Black, do the Red"
That's an incredibly interesting addition, thank you!
Interesting. Wasn't sure how that worked out. Seen it in Catholic works. In some Protestant bibles the red ink is used for any time Jesus spoke.
I love learning where words come from.
@Manley Nelson Logwood: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haematoxylum_campechianum
I'm unaccountably delighted to see someone using a quill pen with good penmanship who is also left-handed!
I'm left-handed. When I started using pens in school work (weren't allowed to use them before, only pencils), I had to switch my hand position because my hand would go over the ink just written and smear it and get all over my pinky finger.
Triple threat!
me!!1!!1!!
I didn't realize how often you wear hats... it's so strange to see you without one.
He actually has hair. I thought for sure he'd be as bald as Yul Brenner.
No hats in the house.
@@drott150 I see power, I see pride
@@Yoachan That depends on where you are. There are plenty of paintings from the era where hats were being worn inside.
I always thought that he did because he has a bad receding hairline, but his is actually perfectly fine.
People used to use “penwipes” (small squares of cloth) to wipe the ink off a quill or pen nib after they wrote with it. That way, the ink wouldn’t dry on the pen and clog the tip.
Gary Cooper and today its sometimes used as an insult
Gary Cooper did the ink still stain? I’ve seen some extant examples in person that still have ink on them all dried/stained and wonder if the writer just didn’t use his wipe or used that quill a lot
@@lawrencescales9864
If you mean the wipes, they're eventually discarded after a lot of use.
I was schooled in the 50's and 60's. Many class rooms had the old style desks with an "Inkwell". And inside the storage cabinets of these class rooms were boxes of little bottles of ink! (6 per box) Also, boxes of the metal nubed and wooden handled "dip pens".
I also saw many "Penmanship" tablets and workbooks. Likely left over since the 20's and 30's.
Occasionally one of the older Teachers would give us a "History lesson" on how cursive was taught "in the Olden Days"! 😉
Now cursive is hardly taught at all. Sad.
luckily i still learned cursive;)!
I was schooled in the 80's. Those ink-well desks were still there - with some lasting into the late 90's. No ink by that time, though; I suspect the companies making the desks had just been doing them the same way for ages, and never bothered to vary up their plans.
Adrea Brooks
Many of the old desks were refurbished every few years! So some of those desks were likely several decades old!
Did the teachers beat the students who wrote with their left hand? Lol jk.....
PLEASE, please please make a video about how to prepare parchment for writing. It's one if the only things about writing from antiquity that I cant readily find information on.
I second this! high quality parchment is impossible to find to buy or to make!
I find the everyday, mundane things used back then really fascinating. I had no idea the creating of a pen from goose and swan feathers was so detailed in construction, and now the ink itself. Very interesting segments on writing. Bravo!
As a left hander, I didn't know that it was possible to use a quill! I have been told my whole life that it was impossible because the tip would stick into the paper as you pushed it along. Now that I know that it is possible I am going to watch how to make a quill NOW!!! Thank you for all of your history videos. Love them all. Take care.
What he said about irongall ink ‘burning through’ the paper, & that being a headache for conservation- it’s true for embroidery, too- because that was an easy (relatively speaking) way to get a colourfast black dye, but there are few extant embroideries with black thread (ie. blackwork) prior to the mid-16th c, because the dye is, in fact, eating away at the thread & fabric.
Try using Windex to clean the tips, it *should* neutralize the acids, and dry without residue. That's what we use to clean our rifle barrels after firing corrosive ammunition.
Iron(II) sulfate is also called ferrous sulfate. Iron(III) sulfate or ferric sulfate is not the same thing. Your chemistry nomenclature public service of the day.
Addendum
The number refers to the oxidation state and "describes the degree of oxidation (loss of electrons) of an atom in a chemical compound."¹
¹ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidation_state
Could you render a natural iron sulfate from using Leeched pyrite And iron filings boiled together or is that a more complicated process
I have several documents from the 1850s-60s that the ink signatures have eaten completely through the paper, and contain traces of rust. Wasn't aware of the tannic acid until now. Great video.
I have enjoyed this series of Historical Writing! It is an important topic that isn't talked about much, despite the impact historical writing has been a part of modern life. I would like to see papermaking involved in this series. People need to know how important Hemp has been to the formation and evolution of the United States!
"That little town in Syria" is a large city dating back to 5000 BC! It's so big that with few of the surrounding cities and towns they form "Aleppo District"!
Loved the series as usual. Thanks for your marvelous efforts.
Cheers,
Al
The acid content burning the paper over-time... and that is why animal skin were the best medium!
I would love to see a segment on 18th century penmanship.
It’s pretty cool that when you mix two light-colored solutions together, you get a deep black liquid as a result.
Gary Cooper *science*
I always suspected that ink was a more complex and fascinating subject than the history books let on. Thank you both!
Iron gall ink goes back a lot further than the 15th or even the 12th century. It was the “standard” ink for fourteen centuries.
I know! 😂
It's always great to see folks who are knowledgeable and passionate about...well, any topic, really!
Wow
I really like the direction this channel is going.
I came for the food and I stayed for the ink.
I remember in the late 50’s in school. We use ink pens with a lever on the side . Held the pen tip in a small bottle of ink, used the lever sucked in the ink. A year later a plastic cartridge of ink was used. Unscrewed the pen, Inserted the cartridge in the pen, reassembled the pen which Punctured the enclosed cartridge, then used the pen. We never heard of disposable ink pens.
Kevin Olschesky I believe it was called a Fountain pen. Not sure that’s the cartridge pen’s were called fountain pen’s, or ink converter pen’s.
People still use them today.
I remember it well, along with all the ink spills.
Mark Wilko If you can find one.
@@GEAE_Denny_L the cartridge pens are a subset of fountain pens, they’re usually called cartridge converters.
In the making of red ink; Brian Allison mentions that logwood was the item used. He mentioned that it’s hard to get. Trapping supply outfits sell it for dyeing traps; especially new ones or ones that the old dye has worn off. It comes in crystalline form. The traps were also treated with hot wax; which I’m guessing is to seal the color in and prevent rust and corrosion from setting in.
Randolph Chappel thanks for the info! Fascinating! How did you find out about that? Ive read a few pieces on different inks being derived from plant/trees etc and I wondered how many years back colored ink was first used. Ive seen cave drawings using colors but archeologists arent exact on dating and the range is so vast varying from thousands of years . Cheers! Sorry for the ramble but I enjoyed your comment!
I did some trapping about 40 years ago and learned the process from an old trapper. Besides that; with accountants, back then; like in Scrooge’s days; the credits were written in black and the debits were written in red. So if your net worth came up “ In The Red!” Off to debtor’s court you went! Bah Humbug‼️
never been so excited for a video about ink! Loving this series :)
Great series guys, oak is loaded with tannin and it reacts to iron oxide. Woodworkers use a similar process to "Ebonise" Oak. Poor old backwoods ridge runners just used ground up oak gauls and some rust scraped off the plow for ink. Ink etching really stinks if you have a document written on both sides of the paper.
18th century Ted Cruz teaching me all about iron gall ink.
And once again, there is another thing I can no longer un-see
Hahahaha
I saw Mitt Romney.
Was checking comments to see if I was the only one that thought that... I'm apparently not very unique.
Yeah, I noticed the resemblance, too, but I was *trying* not to say anything. The poor guy probably hears it all the time, and is surely tired of it. So why humiliate him in public when he's talking about something much more interesting?
One of the best channels on CZcams! Good clean entertainment and learning videos produced with quality.
Love this series!!!!! 💗💗💗 It really makes me want to do some pen and ink drawing/writing!
The craziest thing is that I made this exact ink earlier this week, that being the one that mix tannic acid and ferric chloride
Pens are a dime a dozen today. Hard to imagine that so much went into not just the ink but making the pen as well. We have so many luxuries today we take for granted.
Try a fountain pen sometime, they're so much nicer to write with.
@@pozsmith8207 sadly i seldom write anymore.
Modern fountain or ball-point pens are a lot more complex and harder to make than a quill. It's just that we don't see that anymore, because we're not doing it ourselves - there's no way we could, it involves way too much specialized to be good at making modern pens and inks for the avarage Joe to even begin trying to make these things themselves.
Back in the middle ages they made printing ink made out of soot from the chimney and vegetable oil.
Back in the '80's we used dot matrix printers with ink ribbons. These ribbons were rather expensive so I began to look for ways to re-ink them. I found a way using black pigment from a paint store and canola oil. Re-inking them was a messy affair but it worked quit well.
Whaaaat. You're down the road!! In this same park, is the Goodlettsvile little league champs!! I literally grew up across the street from this very place. Awesome sauce!!!
Fantastic and topical for me. I got back into using fountain pens after some years away from them. I also dicovered the variety of flexible nibs on the current market and starting learning Spencerian handwriting to improve my lifelong, awful chicken scratch. There are an amazing number of colors of modern fountain pen inks, but I have wondered how they did it before modern pens existed. Thanks for bringing my renewed interest in handwriting together with your truly wonderful historical perspective.👍
just discovered your site. After reviewing a number of your videos I am impressed with your dedication and work. Thank you for your efforts to provide insight into our past.
last i heard Aleppo has been there since mesolithic times and possibly longer. Any new info to share?
This was thoroughly amazing. Never knew anything about old pigments.
Fascinating. You’ve got to wonder what kind of mind came up with the idea of digging in trees to get that stuff out then making it into ink.
I imagine there was a LOT of experimenting to find what worked. I mean, the process changed over hundreds of years, and varied ftom region to region at times, with different recipes
Ahhhhhhhh!!!! Another video from Townsends!!! Lucky us🍀
A marvelous and detailed presentation! A pleasure to learn from these two gentlemen, thank you for sharing this fascinating subject.
My great great grandfather was taken prisoner in the war with Mexico. They could write letters home but they were closely censored. They added secret messages written with "rice water". When held over a candle the rice water messages would become visable.
Fascinating subject. I'm not kidding or making fun. The trial-and-error chemistry that went into this is over the years is so interesting; even the locations where the best stuff was being tied to the name of it is so cool.
Thank you for sharing this video. Very informative. I love this stuff, and you neither asked or thought about it when you were in history class back in school. It was just stuff that........was. Again, thank you.
Perhaps an episode on papermaking in the 18th century?
I have always been interested in this subject. Used a lot of ink pens to practice my writing skills. I get complemented on my penmanship all the time because of it. Love this series!
Please don't call them "ink pens". All writing pens use ink. For more than 130 years, a pen with an internal liquid ink supply and a nib has been called a FOUNTAIN pen. Before fountain pens became mainstream, most people used "dip pens", which were simply called "pens".
Looove it! I'm an artist and, although I don't consider myself a prepper, I draw satisfaction from the fact that I might be able to keep pursuing my favourite pastime without the current supply chain. These videos (I also enjoyed the quill episode) have been lovely in that regard; please keep em coming! I'd love to see one on the types of "paper" (reed paper, wood, skin parchment, etc.) used in the period in which you specialize.
This is a beautiful series and I am so excited for each episode as they have debuted! Lovely to feature that amazing artist too! Go Brian!
This was AMAZING! More science themed episodes, please!
Very interesting. I knew some of this, but learned some new (to me) things as well.
This channel is a wonderful time travel.
I am watching this while flying across the country. I can be reminded of how much just went into the ink process during the 18th century. It really helps me realize much more the effort it took to live then.
Awesome! Loving this writing series, so fascinating!
Great series! Thank you, Jon and Brian!
I love this series!!! Thanks for exploring this topic!
I especially enjoyed this video is because I love writing with dip pens and fountain pens! This was a fantastic follow-up to the previous one you did with Brian! Many thanks.💖👍😊
I found your channel a few days ago and I'm hooked. Thank you so much for the 18th century tips; cooking and beyond!
I just have to say I am *VERY* happy that you’re making these videos. Nowhere else online can I find people making ink to a high quality, using it with properly made utensils, and had it filmed in a high quality video. You guys have nailed it!
BTW Honey never goes bad.
well if you allow it to absorb water from the air it can eventually become dilute
but sealed, yeah.
I want to give you a cooking process from the 1700's to thicken sauces. I read this in a cookbook from 1767 to make lobster Newburg. To thicken the sauce they pushed hard-boiled egg yolks through a sieve into boiling cream. I tried this and it worked great!
There was so much to know to write effectively on what seems, at first glance simplistic. Brian Allison has an extraordinary breath of knowledge on the topic.
We are SO spoiled! I love your channel because it helps us appreciate the challenges our ancestors overcame & why innovation is so prized in some cultures. Thank you.
this is a fantastic mini series on writing! thank you so so much!
I just adore this channel. It’s cheerful and educational, it’s calming, and I know that when I come to watch I can get away from all the drama and horrible news of now for a minute and learn something of the past.
This is amazing! Thanks for making these wonderful videos!
I've loved this topic on writing with a quill. Would also enjoy learning to make an antique looking writing paper and the use of wax and stamp to seal a letter.
What other writing instruments were used in the 18th century? Chalk? Pencils?
Thanks for this video on writing. I am really enjoying these ‘Daily Life in 18th century America’ segments!
I do a lot of homespun calligraphy videos on my You Tube channel. This series is very enlightening, love it so much! Thanks!
Such a great interview!
Well done! Thanks Brian and Jon, very interesting video!
I became aware of your company way back in the before times, when I was apprenticed to a reenactor in a traveling troop of Voyageurs based in Indiana, and have really enjoyed how much you guys have grown, esp with your research & the sharing the knowledge.
Great episode, as usual!
Fascinating indeed!
Iron II Sulfate is also known and sold as Ferrous Sulfate. The oak galls contain Tannic Acid, as do tea and coffee. If coffee is left in contact with iron or steel it will form the same black stain as the Tannic Acid reacts with the iron to form iron tannate.
Really digging this series
Great video series on writing quills and ink. At one time I had a pen and ink set, and I was fairly good at it, many, many years ago back in school. Thanks for the videos.
This was so informative! I enjoy reading and writing, and find this so fascinating. This was so well informed and was taught in such a way so as to be interesting. Thank you both for this!
Loved this episode. Thank you for a well rounded lom at all aspects of the 1700s. You guys are awesome!!!!
Another delightful demonstration! Thanks Jon! THANKS BRIAN! Why is this topic so potent? Well, it is...
Whoever knew ink could be so interesting!
Very excellent presentation! I have always been curious about how ink was made back then. Thank you!
I love these videos on pens and inks, thank you!
I love how the clothes look on you two. I know this episode was on Ink, and I'm just as amazed, and glad I learned about this today. A video idea for you could be about the types of clothing they wore, because the style is so different from today that it makes me wonder what was considered the common clothes to the formal, and how they were treated by the people at the time.
Comment: as a sometime costumer, I, too, was fascinated by their garb. Maybe they'll do a bit on what, why, and how!
21st century Bilbo Baggins..
And I LOVE IT! You are what we need more of in this world.
"If more of us valued food and song and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
Thank you for this knowledge. I collect old inkwells and old bottles from 1870-1910, and really cherish them.
I feel there is much, much more to this subject.
Thank you for this series!
I love these videos my man. I'm doing a lot of self teaching when it comes to common life across many different eras. Very fascinating and allows for a lot of good bases for fictional world building.
Thank you once more for a wonderful look into the 18th century. Please continue the great work. Makes me want to dig a little deeper into the writing and the correspondence of this time period. I am off to do some research.
Another great video to go along with the Quill episode. Thanks!
Thank you, Townsends
Really enjoyed watching these 2 episodes, historical and interesting, so intriguing to learn about it! Thanks for sharing these awesome videos.
This is such a wonderful series Jon. Learning about period inks is fascinating. Thanks so much for bringing this to us in such a fun and enlightening way. Will you be doing anything on how to preserve old documents that used these types of ink, or showing us some actual document examples? I think it would go very well with this series. Thank you once again, and have a great day!
Just wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing this info! ❤️
I very much enjoyed this video. Thank you for making it.
Thank you for this informative video! I’ve wondered about alternative binders. Thank you for clearing that up!
Dude, these experts you bring in... I am in absolute awe
Once again fine production good sir! I've experimented using walnut husk for making ink/dye in the past & knowing about the Iron2 substance would have been swell but, now I know. So again thanks for presenting this interesting topic from yesteryear in such a refined manner. Kudos & keep up the good work!
Brian seems like he loves his job. That's great to see.
I'm really enjoying these episodes. Would like to see more.
I’ve been out mushroom hunting the past week, all this rain is really bringing a bumper harvest of beautiful chanterelles. I’ve seen a bunch of those round balls that grow on oak leaves but haven’t picked any, I think I’ll start and try to make ink.
Very interesting and a great video. Thanks