While iron gall ink was an incredibly popular ink from the 4th to the 20th centuries, it is now known to have damaging effects on paper and parchment. We find this ink throughout the APS collection, meaning we conservators regularly have to decide when and how to treat it. In part one of this blog series, let's dive into the basics of this ubiquitous material.

These bands have promise as analytical spectroscopic markers for in situ non‐destructive Raman identification of iron‐gall ink on historic collections and were in good agreement with Raman data collected for laboratory‐prepared iron‐gall ink complexes and inks prepared following traditional iron‐gall ink recipes. All historic ink ...

The local repairs on Iron Gall Ink Workshop. Historic manuscripts and drawings made with iron gall ink on paper often contain weak areas caused by local corrosive action of the ink. Once these areas develop cracks, they become highly sensitive to further mechanical damage. Ultimately, this leads to loss of valuable fragments.

historic recipe for iron gall ink. Processing. Step 1: Take 18 weight parts Oak Apples (#37400) and put them in a plastic bag or wrap them in a piece of canvas, in order to crush the apples to granule-size with a hammer. Mix this with 7 parts Gum Arabic Powder (#63330) and 7 parts Iron…

Key words: ink - irongall - FTIR - degradation - cellulose. INTRODUCTION . Iron gall ink corrosion of paper is one of the largest threat for our graphic patrimony. A great work has been done in this field to explain the possible mechanism of paper degradation and to propose curative methods [1,2,3,4].

Iron gall ink, five seconds later. Gum Arabic can be added at this point. Gum Arabic—dried sap from the gum acacia tree—has extensive use as an art material, especially as the binder for watercolor and gouache. As an ingredient in iron gall ink, gum arabic adds brilliancy and substance.

Jane Austen Iron Gall Ink Recipe (also uses beer instead of distilled water) I recommend reading David Carvalho's 40 Centuries of Ink, and The Iron Gall Ink website (formerly called the Ink Corrosion Website). Also, check out the Open-Ink wiki,, a wiki for ink makers. Please share your experiments there.

Iron Gall Ink. From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, iron gall ink was one of the most frequently made and used inks in Europe – so much so that it was often referred to as 'common ink'. It was made in batches by hand until the 18th century, when it was produced on a commercial scale.

Iron Gall Ink. Iron gall ink (IGI) deterioration is one of the most troublesome problems in the conservation of cultural heritage. IGI is produced by the reaction of tannic acid with an iron salt, such as ferrous sulfate (FeSO). The solution is initially colorless, but when it is applied to paper and exposed to air, it oxidizes, forming ferric ...

Iron gall ink has been used for the last several centuries, and some formulations can 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 ...

Iron gall's unique black color comes from oxidization process. Basically, when you put pen to paper, the ink has a light gray appearance. As the acid in the ink evaporates out, the iron oxidizes, and you're left with a rich matte black hue. Iron gall ink starts off a light gray, then it turns jet black as a result of the oxidization process.

Once the iron oxidizes from Fe2+ to Fe3+ and you get the Fe3+-gallic acid complex you get a black, insoluble pigment. It is this pigment that forms when you write and see the color change from grey to a rich black color when writing with iron gall ink.

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Pomegranate Iron Gall Ink Peels and rinds of 4 pomegranates (chopped up in a food processor) 2 quarts distilled water Mix together in a sterile glass jar. Put on the lid and keep it on. Allow it to ferment and mold in a warm room for 2 months. The mold will transform the tannic acid in the pomegranate to gallic acid, for a richer ink.

The effects of iron gall ink have long been known to conservators but are still not fully understood. The ink is composed of four main ingredients: tannins, which come from oak galls—a growth triggered by parasitic insects that attack oak trees; iron sulfate in the form of bluish-green salt crystals; a binder, usually gum arabic from the acacia tree, added to improve the flow of the ink; and ...

This compound of tannin and Fe 2+ is actually so good at leaving traces on paper that it has been used as an actual ink for centuries. It is most well known as "iron gall ink." The "iron" part is FeSO 4, a chemical known to humankind since time immemorial.And the "gall" part refers to so-called "oak galls"—outgrowths of oak trees provoked by a certain species of wasp.

Iron gall ink was made from, well, oak galls - galls being, according to Uni of Kentucky entomologists, "irregular plant growths which are stimulated by the reaction between plant hormones and powerful growth regulating chemicals produced by some insects".The oak galls contain galllotannic and gallic acids which were extracted by soaking the galls in water or wine or by boiling.

As you guess iron gall ink was developed as an answer to the fugitive properties of carbon black inks. Some recipes fade/become browner than black over time, but for the most part it's pretty permanent. Some of that is because it bonds directly with the paper/parchment/etc. instead of just being adhered to the surface like carbon black.

Wear Gloves through this entire process as the ink will stain your hands, clothes, etc. Well, let's go through this a step at a time. You need to gather all of your materials, to get oak galls, iron(II) sulfate, and gum Arabic, I recommend buying the iron gall ink making kit from us.

Iron gall ink was the primary ink used from the middle ages up through the 20th century for all manner of recorded history from legal documents, to manuscripts, art, and prose. It penned many important pieces including the Declaration of Independence, the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, and even the class notes of the Worthwich students.

Chemists now know the reaction between the iron(II) cation (ferrous) and gallotannic acid found in iron-gall ink. Analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls ink has shown evidence of iron-gall ink so although it was not a common ink until 200 CE the ink material had been used. Modern ink is more complicated. It contains many ingredients.

Iron gall ink corrosion. In the last 20 years or so, a tremendous amount of resources and research has been poured into understanding and treating iron gall ink corrosion. Iron gall ink corrosion is the result of two different degradation processes that interact and feed off each other: acid hydrolysis and iron-catalyzed oxidation.

Iron gall ink corrosion can cause serious damage to historic documents. We have Pliny the Elder to thank for the ink recipe that originated in Greece. Iron gall ink was commonly created by adding iron ore and oak galls together, and cooking them over a wood stove top for several hours. The resulting ink was rich and brown. Its color could be altered with the use of additives such as copper …

You can learn more about making iron gall ink, corrosion, and historic recipes on this site: The Iron Gall Ink Website. A lot of you wrote in after the last post and shared their own experiences with self-made ink, and I did a bit of additional research, too – apparently you can also make ink from certain mushrooms and from berries, too.

Iron Gall Ink: Decision Making and Treatment Practices. November 6–9, 2017: One-day conference followed by a three-day practical hands-on workshop. It is intended for early- or mid-career practising paper and archival conservators (limited to 16 participants). November 6, 2017: One-day conference comprised of lectures, exercises, discussions ...

By Sakura Tohma. Recently we tried making iron gall inks!! Iron gall ink is produced by the reaction of tannic acid extracted from galls, a type of growth on trees (especially oak), with ferrous sulphate (FeSO 4).. This ink has been the most common type in the Western world from the 9 th century until the 20 th century, but a lot of historical manuscripts written with this ink suffered ...

Making Medieval Ink – Iron gall black ink. . Don't miss Domestika offers! This week, the Best-selling courses bundle is available at 58% off!! ...

Iron gall ink (also known as common ink, standard ink, oak gall ink or iron gall nut ink) is a purple-black or brown-black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources. It was the standard ink formulation used in Europe for the 1400-year period between the 5th and 19th centuries, remained in widespread use well into the 20th century, and is still sold today.

Iron gall ink is a purple-black ink, that turns a rusty-brown colour over time (notice how the ink in the image below looks brown). It was used across Europe until at least the nineteenth century and vast numbers of medieval and renaissance manuscripts were written with it. The transcript of the recipe on the National Archive's website has a ...

Iron gall ink can sometimes cause corrosion. There appears to be some confusion about how and why it does this, but from my reading, it seems likely that the corrosive nature has very little to do with the tannic acids (which are mild acids, no more dangerous than vinegar). Edit: This article suggests that the acids do affect the ink's stability. The corrosion causes old manuscripts to ...

What a great collection of papers to have from your great-grandfather! Since they are Civil War era, I am assuming the ink used was a homemade iron gall ink as this was the most prevalent ink of the era that is subject to fading. Unfortunately, there is no way to restore the ink on the original documents.

Iron gall (IG) ink has been around in some form or fashion for about 2,000 years, and it has been widely used since about the Fifth Century. IG is a permanent ink made from combining iron salts with tannic acid (often extracted from Oak Galls). Once applied to paper, the iron in the ink begins to oxidize, making the ink darker and impossible to ...

Iron gall ink is essentially created by the chemical reaction between tannic acid and iron(II) sulfate in an aqueous solution. The primary active components in tannin are gallotannic and gallic acid. With iron(II) sulfate, these tannic acids produce a black pigment, called ferrogallotannate or ferrotannate, upon exposure to oxygen.

manuscripts out there written with iron gall ink that have no damage to them whatsoever. So there must be, and are, several factors coming together to cause the problem, it isn't just the ink. One Recipe for Iron Gall Ink Ingredients: 1 gallon (3.8 l ) steam distilled water 6 oz (168g) Aleppo Oak Galls 1 oz (28g) Ferrous Sulfate (copperas)

Iron Gall Information and Fountain Pen Safety. Iron Gall inks had been the standard for writing ink from the 5th Century to the 19th Century. The chemistry of the fluid allows for deep penetration of the ink into the paper surface, making it difficult to erase. The traditional methods of producing iron gall ink resulted in an acidic mixture ...