Stark's ink

From Free net encyclopedia

Stark's ink is one of a number of types of homemade inks whose recipes were widely available in the 19th century, before commercially available ink was so easily obtainable and inexpensive that people largely stopped making ink at home. The origin of the name is unknown.

Recipe

This recipe is taken from the Household Cyclopedia of General Information, published in 1881. It is not in common use now, though the preparation of inks with similar methods was common at one time.

Recipe for 1 gallon of ink:

• Twelve oz. nut-galls
• 8 oz. each, sulphate of indigo and copperas
• A few cloves
• 4 or 6 oz. of gum Arabic

The addition of the sulphate of indigo renders the ink more permanent and less liable to mould. It is blue when first written with, but soon becomes an intense black.

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