The Colours of Black: Printing Inks for Blockbooks.pdf

BIBLIOTHEK UND WISSENSCHAFT 46 · 2013 Bibliothek und Wissenschaft Herausgegeben von Claudia Fabian, Michael Knoche, Monika Linder, Elmar Mittler, Wolfgang Schmitz und Hellmut Vogeler 46 · 2013 Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Blockbücher des 15. Jahrhunderts Eine Experimentierphase im frühen Buchdruck Beiträge der Fachtagung in der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München am 16. und 17. Februar 2012 Herausgegeben von Bettina Wagner Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Bibliothek und Wissenschaft Bibliotheken sind wichtige Institutionen des kulturellen Gedächtnisses. Sie überliefern gedruckte und handschriftliche Dokumente und Medien aller Art und stellen sie der Wissenschaft als Quellenmaterial zur Verfügung. Geschichte und Organisation der Bibliotheken sind ebenso Objekt der Forschung wie die Bestände, die sie bewahren. Das Jahrbuch Bibliothek und Wissenschaft publiziert Untersuchungen zu einzelnen Texten, Sammlungen und Quellengattungen sowie kulturund wissenschaftshistorische Beiträge zur Geschichte und Methode der Bibliotheksarbeit und zur Bibliographie. Bibliothek und Wissenschaft ist das fachübergreifende Forum für den Prozess der kulturellen Überlieferung durch Bibliotheken. Manuskriptangebote werden an einen der Herausgeber von Bibliothek und Wissenschaft oder an den Verlag erbeten. Redaktionsschluss ist jeweils der 31. März eines Jahres. Prof. Dr. Elmar Mittler, c/o SUB Göttingen, Papendiek 14, 37073 Göttingen, E-Mail: mittler@uni-goettingen.de Dr. Claudia Fabian, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Ludwigstr. 16, 80539 München, E-mail: claudia.fabian@bsb-muenchen.de Dr. Michael Knoche, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Postfach 2012, 99401 Weimar, E-Mail: michael.knoche@klassik-stiftung.de Dr. Monika Linder, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Postfach 330014, 14191 Berlin, E-Mail: ml@dainst.de Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schmitz, Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek, Universitätsstraße 33, 50931 Köln, E-Mail: schmitz@ub.uni-koeln.de Prof. Hellmut Vogeler, Drosselweg 7, 69214 Eppelheim, E-Mail: auceps@gmx.de Harrassowitz Verlag, 65174 Wiesbaden, Fax: 0611/530999, E-Mail: verlag@harrassowitz.de http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de BuW im Internet unter: http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/edoc/aw/buw Abonnenten können sich für den kostenlosen Online-Zugriff anmelden. Informationen über den Verlag oder die SUB Göttingen, E-Mail: pep@sub.uni-goettingen.de Schriftführender Herausgeber: Elmar Mittler © Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden 2013 Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen jeder Art, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfi lmungen und für die Einspeicherung in elektronische Systeme. Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier. Satz: Bärbel Kröger, Göttingen Druck und Verarbeitung: Memminger MedienCentrum AG Printed in Germany ISSN 0067-8236 ISBN 978-3-447-10052-6 Abstracts Peter Meinlschmidt, Carmen Kämmerer, Volker Märgner, Bettina Wagner: Der Einsatz von Infrarot-Technik zur Dokumentation von Wasserzeichen aus Blockbüchern Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 13–33. Durch eine neue Technik ist es möglich geworden, Wasserzeichen in Papieren von historischen Dokumenten mittels einer Infrarotkamera in ähnlich einfacher Weise photographisch aufzunehmen, wie es heute bei der Digitalisierung von Handschriften und gedruckten Büchern der Fall ist. Die Möglichkeiten dieser Infrarot-Technik werden in dem Beitrag an Hand verschiedener historischer Papiere, insbesondere auch von Blockbüchern, vorgestellt. Perspektiven für eine mögliche zukünftige Unterstützung der Erkennung und Charakterisierung von Wasserzeichen durch die Nutzung moderner Bildverarbeitung und Mustererkennung werden kurz beschrieben. A new technology has made it possible to document watermarks in papers of historical documents with an infrared camera in the same procedure used today for the digitization of manuscripts and early printed books. The potential of this infrared-technology is explained in the paper in respect to various historical papers, particularly papers used in blockbooks. Perspectives for a potential future support of the recognition and characterization of watermarks through using modern methods for image processing and pattern recognition are briely described. Paul Needham: The Paper Stocks of Blockbooks. Allan Stevenson and Beyond Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 35–58. In den 1960er Jahren machte der amerikanische Forscher Allan H. Stevenson (1903–1970) erhebliche Fortschritte bei der Analyse der Papiere von Blockbüchern im Hinblick auf die Datierung der Drucke. Krankheit hinderte ihn daran, seine Forschungen abzuschließen; die unfertigen und unredigierten Texte einer Reihe von Vorträgen, die er über das Thema gehalten hatte, wurden lange nach seinem Tod in unbefriedigender Weise veröfentlicht. In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat jedoch unser Wissen über die Papiere von Blockbüchern beträchtlich zugenommen, was uns dem Ziel Stevensons näher gebracht hat, nämlich einer Übersicht über alle Wasserzeichen, die in allen erhaltenen Exemplaren von Blockbüchern vorkommen. Die Grundlagen dieser Materialsammlung sind die Abbildungen von Wasserzeichen im Inkunabelkatalog der Bibliothèque nationale de France (CIBN) und das Internetprojekt ›Digitalisierung und Erschließung der Blockbücher aus bayerischen Sammlungen‹. Wenn diese Quellensammlungen zusammengeführt und um Belege ergänzt würden, die in kleineren Studien (darunter eine bahnbrechende Studie von Nigel F. Palmer) publiziert oder noch unveröfentlicht sind (wie zum Beispiel die Sammlung von Betaradiographien des Blockbuchbestands der Pierpont Morgan Library, New York), könnte das Ziel erreicht werden, Stevensons Vision eines bedeutenden wissenschaftlichen Projekts zu verwirklichen. In the 1960s the American scholar Allan H. Stevenson (1903–1970) made major advances in the use of paper-stock evidence for dating European blockbooks. Because of illness, he was unable to complete his researches; an unedited and uninished series of four lectures he presented on blockbooks were inadequately published long after his death. However, in recent decades our knowledge of the paper stocks of blockbooks has greatly expanded, bringing us nearer to what Stevenson hoped to compile, a corpus of all the watermarks used in all copies of all blockbooks. The chief foundation stones of this expansion are the watermark reproductions of the incunable catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (CIBN), and the online digital project, Blockbooks in Bavarian Collections. By merging these, and adding to them the reproductions contained in smaller studies both published (including a pathbreaking study by Nigel F. Palmer) and unpublished (a collection of radiogaphs from the Pierpont Morgan Library’s blockbook holdings), we could come close to realizing a signiicant scholarly project of which Stevenson was the prophet. 2 Abstracts Ad Stijnman: The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 59–80. Über Druckfarben in Blockbüchern ist nur wenig bekannt. Der Aufsatz fasst die verfügbare Dokumentation zusammen und präsentiert eine naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchung der Druckfarbe von Blockbuchblättern. Die Ergebnisse werden anschließend in einer Erörterung der Herstellung des ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ (Niederlande [Utrecht?], um 1466–1467) mit seinen zweifarbigen Drucken angewandt. Little is known concerning printing inks in blockbooks. The paper summarises the available documentation and presents a scientiic examination of the printing ink of a blockbook sheet. The results are next applied to a discussion on the production of the ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ (Netherlands [Utrecht?], c. 1466–1467) with its bicoloured impressions. Andrew Honey: »The Binding was the Ancient Legitimate One«. Looking for Early Binding Evidence in Blockbooks Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 81–110. Blockbücher sind ein Buchtyp, bei dem Anhaltspunkte für die ursprünglichen kodikologischen Zusammenhänge und den Lagenaufbau großteils verloren sind. Der Aufsatz stellt die Ergebnisse neuerer Untersuchungen zu den frühen Bindemethoden vor, die anhand von drei Blockbüchern der Bodleian Library Oxford sowie zwei weiteren Exemplaren der New York Public Library gewonnen wurden. Diese Beispiele vertreten die beiden gängigsten kodikologischen Typen von Blockbüchern und zeigen Spuren früher Einbände, die eine Langstichstruktur aufwiesen. Vorschläge werden skizziert, auf welche Weise derartige Belege dokumentiert werden sollten, um so weitere ähnliche Blockbücher zu identiizieren. Blockbooks are a class of book where the evidence of their original assembly and codicological presentation is now largely lost. The paper presents recent research into evidence of early binding methods from three blockbooks at the Bodleian Library Oxford with additional evidence from two blockbooks at the New York Public Library. These examples, from the two most common codicological types of blockbook, all have evidence of early bindings using a longstitch structure. Suggestions for recording types of evidence which will be useful for identifying further blockbooks with evidence of early bindings are outlined. Rahel Bacher: Besonderheiten der Blockbuchherstellung. Vergleichbarkeit unterschiedlicher Drucktechniken und Produktionsphasen innerhalb einzelner Ausgaben Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 111–130. An der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek München wird seit 2009 aus Mitteln der DFG das Projekt ›Digitalisierung und Erschließung der Blockbücher aus bayerischen Sammlungen‹ durchgeführt. Die Studie stellt dar, welche Erkenntnisse dieses Projekt über die bloße Beschreibung der eingeschlossenen Exemplare und Ausgaben hinaus für die gesamte Frühdruckforschung erbringen kann. Exemplarisch dargestellt werden zu diesem Zweck die Ergebnisse, welche sich zur Vergleichbarkeit unterschiedlicher Drucktechniken (Reiber- und Pressendruck) herausarbeiten ließen, und die anhand verschiedener Kriterien fassbaren Produktionszyklen innerhalb einzelner Blockbuchausgaben. With support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the Bavarian State Library has been leading a project for the ›Digitization and Descriptive Cataloguing of blockbooks from Bavarian collections‹ since 2009. The study outlines the kinds of information that were gained both concerning individual copies and editions of blockbooks and the wider ield of research on early printed books. As a speciic area of interest, the article focusses on the analysis of diferent printing methods used (rubbing and use of the printing press) and on the distinction of production cycles within a given edition. Abstracts 3 Oliver Duntze: Die Blockbuchausgaben der ›Ars minor‹ des Aelius Donatus Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 131–159. Der Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die derzeit bekannten Blockbuchausgaben der ›Ars minor‹ des Aelius Donatus. Eine Besonderheit dieser Gruppe von Blockbüchern ist die Tatsache, dass sie häuig als Kopien von typographischen Drucken hergestellt wurden und die Schrift ihrer Vorlagen so exakt nachbilden, dass sich die Drucktypen und damit die Drucker der Vorlagen identiizieren lassen. Ihre Datierung ist damit vergleichsweise spät anzusetzen, z. T. erst in den 1490er Jahren. In diesen Fällen wird untersucht, ob sich die direkten Vorlagen noch nachweisen lassen und inwieweit sie Rückschlüsse auf Entstehungszeit und -ort der Blockbücher zulassen. Zudem ist zu fragen, warum die Blockbuchdrucker den Aufwand in Kauf nahmen, einen in Einzellettern gesetzten Text als Holzschnitt zu kopieren, statt ihn mit deutlich geringerem Aufwand typographisch nachzusetzen und nachzudrucken. The article gives an overview over the currently known blockbook editions of the ›Ars minor‹ by Aelius Donatus. In several cases, blockbooks from this group were copied from typographic editions and reproduce the types of their exemplars so exactly that the types and thus the printers of the exemplars can be identiied. Thus, the blockbooks must have been produced at a comparatively late stage, i. e. in the last decade of the ifteenth century. The study attempts to trace the direct exemplars and draws conclusions as to the date and place of origin of the blockbooks. Furthermore, the question is raised of why the producer of blockbooks chose the time-consuming method of copying a text set in moveable types in woodcuts rather than reprinting it typographically. Richard L. Kremer: Hans Sporer’s Xylographic Practices. A Census of Regiomontanus’s Blockbook Calendar Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 161–187. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der xylographischen Praxis des Hans Sporer, der im Nürnberg der 1470er Jahre als Formschneider und nach 1485 als typographischer Drucker in Bamberg wirkte und einer der wenigen Hersteller von Blockbüchern war, der seine Drucke mittels Kolophonen irmierte bzw. datierte. Drei von Sporers xylographischen Ausgaben sind Nachdrucke älterer Blockbücher. Sein 31-blättriger xylographischer Kalender reproduziert den von Regiomontanus 1474 typographisch gedruckten Kalender. Vierzehn Exemplare des Sporer-Kalenders in drei Zuständen sind bekannt. Anhand der Analyse der Einträge früherer Benutzer, des Papiers, Kolorits, von Abnutzungserscheinungen der Blöcke, ihrer Gestaltung bzw. Umgestaltung und der Lagenstruktur zieht dieser Artikel Schlussfolgerungen in Bezug auf die Herkunft und den Gebrauch dieser Blockbücher, ihre Datierung sowie einige einzigartige Merkmale der xylographischen Praxis Sporers. The paper investigates the xylographic practices of Hans Sporer, woodcutter in Nuremberg in the 1470s and after 1485 typographic printer in Bamberg, who was one of the few early producers of blockbooks to identify and date much of his work in colophons. Three of his xylographic imprints replicate earlier blockbooks; his 31-folio calendar derives from Regiomontanus’s 1474 typographic edition. Fourteen copies of Sporer’s calendar, in three issues, are extant. By analyzing their early user marks, paper, coloration, block deterioration, block design and redesign, and quire structure, the article ofers conclusions about the early provenance and use of these blockbooks, the dates of their printing, and some unique features of Sporer’s xylographic practices. Frank Fürbeth: Der Blockbuch-Druck des ›Buchs von der hand‹. Aspekte der Bild- und Texteinrichtung Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 189–214. Das ›Buch von der hand‹ nimmt unter den Blockbüchern in mehrfacher Hinsicht eine Sonderstellung ein: weil hier von der Entstehung und dem Autor des Textes berichtet wird, weil sich der Drucker, Jörg Schapf in Augsburg, nennt, und weil durch den Vergleich mit den beiden zeitgenössischen handschriftlichen Textzeugen die Bearbeitungstendenzen des Druckes recht genau 4 Abstracts bestimmt werden können. Während die Zuschreibung des ›Buchs von der hand‹ an den Münchener Arzt und Übersetzer Johannes Hartlieb wohl eher aus buchmarkttechnischen Gründen ingiert ist und deshalb nicht weiter behandelt wird, geht es im Aufsatz einerseits um die Einordnung des Blockbuchs in die Augsburger Druckgeschichte um 1488/90, was durch einen Vergleich der Illustrationen und des Papierumschlags mit zeitgleichen Drucken von Anton Sorg, Erhart Ratdolt und Hans Schönsperger geleistet wird. Andererseits wird die Texteinrichtung unter Aspekten der Übersetzung und der Layout-Erfordernisse der Holzschnitt-Technik untersucht. In many respects, the ›Book of chiromancy‹ is an unusual case among ifteenth-century blockbooks: it contains information about the origin and the author of the text; the printer, Jörg Schapf in Augsburg, names himself; and it is possible to determine the tendencies of textual revision rather accurately by collating the texts of the two contemporary manuscripts. While the authorship of the Munich physician and translator Johannes Hartlieb is probably a iction created for reasons of marketing and will not be discussed further, the blockbook can be placed in the context of Augsburg printing around 1488/90 on the basis of a comparison of the woodcut illustrations and the decorated paper wrappers with editions printed by Anton Sorg, Erhart Ratdolt and Hans Schönsperger. In addition, the arrangement of the text is examined with regard to both the translation and the requirements of layout caused by xylographic printing. Susanne Rischpler: Gedruckt und gezeichnet. Das Blockbuch der ›Ars memorandi‹ und seine handschriftlichen Zeugen Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 215–254. Die ›Ars memorandi‹, ein mnemotechnisches Hilfsmittel, das die Evangelien in doppelseitigen TextBild-Kombinationen zum Memorieren aufbereitet, wurde vor allem durch die Blockbuch-Version des 15. Jahrhunderts bekannt. Parallel dazu gab es auch skriptographische Fassungen mit handschriftlichem Text und Federzeichnungen. Im Aufsatz werden drei dieser Fassungen vorgestellt und ihre Beziehungen zur Blockbuch-Version aufgezeigt. Anhand dieser Beispiele lässt sich demonstrieren, dass Blockbücher in der spätmittelalterlichen Buchproduktion kein isoliertes Phänomen darstellen, sondern stets mit der Tradition der handschriftlichen (und typographischen) Werküberlieferung verbunden sind. Dabei ergeben sich Hinweise, dass das Konzept der ›Ars memorandi‹ im monastischen Kontext der benediktinischen Reformbewegungen entstanden sein könnte. The ›Ars memorandi‹, a mnemonic tool for memorizing the Gospels with the help of double-page text-picture combinations, was spread primarily in the ifteenth-century blockbook version. In that period, scriptographic copies existed also, which contained handwritten texts and pen drawings. In this article, three manuscript copies of the work are presented, and their relations with the blockbook version are discussed. These examples demonstrate that blockbooks are not an isolated phenomenon in the book production of the late Middle Ages, but are always connected with the contemporary handwritten (and typographic) tradition. Furthermore, evidence is presented which supports the assumption that the concept of the ›Ars memorandi‹ originated within the monastic context of the Benedictine reform movements. Almut Breitenbach: Text in Bewegung. Die ›Septimania poenalis‹ und ihre handschriftliche Überlieferung Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 255–286. Das Blockbuch ›Septimania poenalis‹ – eine Tugend-, Andachts- und Gebetsübung für jeden Tag der Woche – aus dem Sammelband Cpg 438 der Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg ist von der Forschung bisher kaum beachtet worden. Da Text und Bild nur knappe Anweisungen vermitteln und das Blockbuch zudem fragmentarisch erhalten ist, bietet es auf den ersten Blick wenig Anknüpfungspunkte für eine Einordnung. Zieht man jedoch die mit fünfzehn Textzeugen vergleichsweise breite handschriftliche Vor- und Parallelüberlieferung dieser Übung hinzu, die bisher noch nicht in den Blick der Forschung gerückt ist, bietet sich ein detailreicher, aussagekräftiger Kontext dar, der etwa die Entstehung und Lokalisierung des Blockbuchs, die Gestaltung von Abstracts 5 Text und Bild, die Andachtsübung selbst ebenso wie mögliche Formen ihrer Aneignung durch die Rezipienten zu erhellen vermag. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt das Blockbuch und die bisher bekannte handschriftliche Überlieferung dieser Andachtsübung vor und skizziert erste Ergebnisse und weitere Forschungsmöglichkeiten, die sich aus der Betrachtung der ›Septimania poenalis‹ vor dem Hintergrund der Handschriften gewinnen lassen. The blockbook ›Septimania poenalis‹ (Heidelberg, University Library, Cpg 438), a spiritual exercise for every day of the week, has been largely neglected by scholars so far. As the blockbook survives in a fragmentary copy, and the text and images contain rather short and concise instructions, the book ofers hardly any clues for deeper contextualization. When examining the surprisingly broad transmission of this exercise in at least ifteen manuscripts, which has not yet attracted the attention of scholars, a rich and signiicant context emerges which sheds light on the origin and localization of the blockbook, on the composition of the text and images, on the spiritual exercise itself as well as on possible historical forms of practising and adopting it. The article presents the blockbook and gives an overview over the transmission of the exercise in manuscripts. In addition, irst results and possibilities for further research are outlined, which arise when the blockbook is investigated against the backdrop of the manuscripts. Sabine Griese: Das ›Zeitglöcklein‹-Blockbuch. Strategien der Gebetsandacht im Kontext franziskanischer Gelehrsamkeit Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 287–310. Das sogenannte ›Zeitglöcklein‹-Blockbuch (dessen einziges Exemplar in der Staatsbibliothek Bamberg erhalten ist) entfaltet in Text und Bild ein auf die 24 Stunden des Tages angelegtes Tagzeiten-Gebet in der Volkssprache. Der Bildzyklus ist auf die Passion Christi (Abendmahl bis Grablegung Christi) und auf acht Gebetszeiten hin verteilt (von Komplet bis Non). Die Bilder bieten Meditationsgrundlagen (Vmb … betracht), zu beten ist das Vaterunser. Das Blockbuch ist in einen Sammelband eingebunden, der auf einen franziskanischen Besitzer weist, der den Band um 1500 oder kurz danach reichhaltig handschriftlich annotierte. Das volkssprachige Blockbuch zeigt sich damit in den Händen eines Gelehrten, der es im Umfeld der Latinität rezipiert. The blockbook of the so-called ›Zeitglöcklein‹, which survives in a unique copy in the State Library at Bamberg, contains texts and images for a vernacular prayer for the hours of the day which extends to 24 hours. The cycle of images comprises the passion of Christ (Last Supper to Entombment of Christ) and the eight hours of prayer (Compline until None). The images serve as the basis for meditation while reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The blockbook is part of a composite volume which was used by a Franciscan owner who added copious annotations to the texts in the years around 1500. Thus, the vernacular blockbook was in the hands of a scholar familiar with Latin texts. Joost Robbe: Zur Genese der niederländischen Typoxylographien des ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 46 (2013) S. 311–328. In diesem Artikel wird die Genese der vier typoxylographischen Ausgaben des ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ (je zwei in lateinischer und in mittelniederländischer Sprache) rekonstruiert. Zunächst werden die wesentlichsten literaturhistorischen und buchwissenschaftlichen Daten kurz zusammengefasst. Dann wird eine Synthese der wichtigsten Forschungsergebnisse seit dem 16. Jahrhundert präsentiert, in der vor allem auf die Arbeiten von Junius, Scriverius, Meerman, Guichard, Ottley, Doudelet und Stevenson eingegangen wird. Die verschiedenen Ergebnisse werden miteinander verglichen und mit dem materiellen Befund konfrontiert, sodass sich letztendlich ein kohärentes Gesamtbild der Entstehungsgeschichte der Typoxylographien ergibt. Stevensons Datierung der verschiedenen Editionen wird präzisiert und die These von den beiden Werkstätten weiter konsolidiert. Schließlich wird die These verteidigt, dass für das gedruckte Speculum ursprünglich mehr als 29 Kapitel geplant waren. Ad Stijnman The Colours of Black Printing Inks for Blockbooks »So viel sich auch unsere Frühdruckforscher bemüht haben … ein Gebiet ist bisher so gut wie gar nicht behandelt worden: das der Druckfarbe.«1 Hermann Klaetsch The study of historic printing ink knows few precedents, as Hermann Klaetsch noted. Nigel Palmer added still more recently that »the constitution of the ink used for woodblock printing … is a question that has not to date been the subject of detailed research«2. The following paper gives an introduction to the research of mediaeval relief printing ink with an emphasis on inks used for blockbooks and their scientiic examination. It summarises what information is available and clears some long-standing queries regarding printing ink in blockbooks. Before continuing, an aside on etymology. The English term ›ink‹ can refer to the oil-based substance used in printing as well as to the liquid used for writing: they are homonyms. We see the same in other languages (encre, inchiostro, inkt, tinta), except for German which makes a diference between printing ink (Farbe) and writing ink (Tinte). The present article discusses both kinds of inks as well as the application of writing ink for relief printing from woodblocks and will therefore mention the particular properties and use of inks. 1 Klaetsch, Hermann: Die Druckfarbe in vergangenen Zeiten. Mainz/Halle-Ammendorf 1940 p. 5. I am grateful to the following persons for discussing the issue of early printing inks and for their support in compiling this article: Jacques Bocquentin, Mark Clarke, Peter Gumbert, Christian Heitzmann, Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Huigen Leelang, Yuriko Miyoshi, Doris Oltrogge, Jos van Heel, Jan van der Stock, Elizabeth Upper, Arie Wallert, Lieve Watteeuw and the staf of the Museum MeermannoHouse of the Book in The Hague. I dedicate this article to Gerard van Thienen, former curator for incunabula at the Royal Library in The Hague, who initially stimulated me to study printing inks in blockbooks. 2 Palmer, Nigel: Woodcuts for reading: the codicology of ifteenth-century blockbooks and woodcut cycles. In: The Woodcut in Fifteenth-Century Europe, ed. by Peter Parshall. Washington, D.C. 2009 pp. 92–117 (Studies in the history of art 75, Symposium papers LII). 60 Ad Stijnman Documentation Historical printing ink can be researched by perusing modern literature, by scientiic examination of the object’s materials, by making reconstructions with modern materials, and by the study of documentary sources. I will irst give an overview of the present state of our knowledge concerning historic printing inks and then discuss some examples. Only a few studies concerning historic relief printing inks are published, they all concern typographic ink3. The same can be said for publications on the scientiic examination of ifteenth-century inks4. Black and red printing inks in a small number of incunabula have been analysed, the last publication dating from 1998. As concerns reconstructions, the publication accompanying the 1991 exhibition ›Blockbücher des Mittelalters‹ in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz also contained a chapter on the cutting and printing of a woodblock for a blockbook5. The process is documented in detail with a series of photos and explained in the text of the chapter. The ink and its manner of application are merely mentioned without any discusson on its constituents and preparation, however. Forerunners of oil-based printing inks can be found in inks for stamping woodblocks on leather or textile and a fair number of ifteenth-century manuscripts with recipes for such 3 Wiborg, Frank B.: Printing Ink, a History (etc.). New York, London 1926; Klaetsch, Druckfarbe (see note 1); V.u.K.: Vom Bronzedruck. In: CIBA-Rundschau (1961) 3 pp. 25–29; Bloy, Colin H.: A History of Printing Ink, Balls and Rollers 1440–1850. London 1967; Gerhardt, Claus W.: Das Drucken mit Metallpigmenten in Geschichte und Gegenwart. In: Der Polygraph 11 (1982) Sondertheil; Carter, Victor et al.: Printing with gold in the ifteenth century. In: The British Library Journal 9 (1983) 1 (Spring) pp. 1–13; Vom Leinölirnis zum Buntdruck (etc.). In: Wolf, Hans-Jürgen: Geschichte der graphischen Verfahren (etc.). Dornstadt 1990 pp. 762–805; Bocquentin, Jacques: Origine et développement des encres d’impression au XVe siècle (thèse). Saint-Cloud 1996; Stijnman, Ad: Zonder inkt geen boeken. In: Groeiboek, ed. by Gerard Post van der Molen. Leiden 1997. 4 Klaetsch, Druckfarbe (see note 1) p. 9 (soot, oil varnish), p. 32 (vermillion); Schwab, Richard N. et al.: Cyclotron analysis of the ink in the 42-line Bible. In: The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 77 (1983) (Sep.) pp. 285–315; Schwab, Richard N. et al.: The proton milliprobe ink analysis of the Harvard B42, volume II. In: The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 81 (1987) (Dec.) pp. 403–432; Zahn, Peter: Printer’s inks and papers in early incunabula under synchrotron light (SYXRF): a project in progress. In: Gazette du livre medieval 21 (1992) (automne) pp. 18–29; Mommsen, H. et al.: X-ray luorescence analysis with synchrotron radiation on the inks and papers of incunabula. In: Archaeometry 38 (1996) 2 pp. 347–357; Rosenberg, Achim et al.: Röntgenluoreszenzanalyse der Druckerschwärzen des Mainzer Catholicon und anderer Frühdrucke mit Synchrotronstrahlung. In: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 73 (1998) pp. 231–255. 5 Dorka, Jürgen und Cornelia Schneider: Vom Block zum Blockbuch: Fotodokumentation zur Entstehung eines Blockbuchs. In: Blockbücher des Mittelalters, Bilderfolgen als Lektüre. Gutenberg-Museum, Mainz, 22. Juni 1991 bis 1. September 1991, ed. by the Gutenberg-Gesellschaft and GutenbergMuseum. Mainz 1991 pp. 19–26. The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 61 inks have survived6. The majority has a German background, with some Dutch, Italian and Swiss texts added. We will pay more attention to these manuscripts, because they may bring us a little closer to the materials and actual working practices used in the printing process of blockbooks. Mediaeval recipes should not be read and interpreted as modern recipes due to the lack of standardisation of measurements and terminology in the period as compared to what we are used to nowadays. Mark Clarke argues on mediaeval recipe collections that »the material has been adapted, abridged and supplemented« from earlier versions, referring to more generally known texts »such as the ›Mappae Clavicula‹, ›Heraclius‹ and the ›Schedula‹ of Theophilus« in particular7. We have no written documentation on blockprinting earlier than from a 1437 copy of Cennino d’Andrea Cennini’s manuscript, the orginal of which probably dates to the very late fourteenth century. The oldest printed objects such as the tapestry of Sitten are dated in the middle of the fourteenth century8. Fifteenth-century recipes on printing and printing ink look quite straightforward and are without any rhetoric or (alchemical) symbolism, as if coming directly from the workshops. Practical tradition therefore was not old and we can understand the contents of the recipes without great diiculties. The earliest recipes for printing cloth are found in the manuscript by Cennini. Quoting Daniel Thompson’s translation: »grind some vine-sprig black, ground very ine with water, 6 Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. Hist. Helv. XII 45 (Colmar 1478). Cennino Cennini, Florence, Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana, ms. 23, p. 78 (1437 copy of the original of c. 1400). Cennino Cennini, Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, ms 2190, fol. […], (16th-century (?) copy of the original of c. 1400). Heidelberg, UB, Cod. Pal. germ. 183, fol. 291. Heidelberg, UB, Cod. Pal. germ. 211, fol. 39v. Heidelberg, UB, Cod. Pal. germ. 558, fol. 148v–149v, 151r. Heidelberg, UB, Cod. Pal. germ. 620, fol. 104r–v. Jerusalem, The Jewish National and University Library, Edelstein Collection, Alchemical Ms. Ger. ›1472‹ (1475–1525), fol. 57v–60r. Leiden, UB, Cod. Vossius Chym. Oct. 6, fol. 143v–145r (east of the Meuse, 1496–98). London, BL, Ms. Sloane 345, fol. 24r–24v. München, BSB, Cgm 720, fol. 228v. Nürnberg, StB, Ms. Cent. VI, 89, fol. 12r–18v. Trier, StB, Ms. SB 1028, fol. 20v, 27r–28r. This information is largely collected from the database on art technological sources compiled by Doris Oltrogge at the Fachhochschule Köln, see: <http://db.re.fh-koeln.de/ICSFH/forschung/ rezepte.aspx>, last accessed 4/7/2013. 7 Clarke, Mark: Reworking and reuse: adaptation and use in workshop texts. In: The Artist’s Process: Technology and Interpretation (etc.), ed. by Sigrid Eyb-Green et al. London 2012 pp. 27–31. 8 Schneider, Jenny: Textilien, Katalog der Sammlung des Schweizerischen Landesmuseums Zürich. Zürich 1975 pp. 53, 56–57. 62 Ad Stijnman then thoroughly dried either by sun or ire, then ground again, dry; and mix it with as much liquid varnish as may be required [possibly, ›varnish enough to make it workable‹]«9. The liquid varnish is linseed oil boiled and burned to a viscous liquid10. The vine-sprig black is made by charring the curly tendrils of the vine and next grinding the chars to a ine powder11. Another recipe probably uses lampblack, made from the soot of charred linseed oil12. »Furthermore, for executing this work it is good to burn linseed oil, as I have shown you before; and temper some of that black, which is very ine [= lampblack?], with liquid varnish; and it is a very perfect and ine black; but it is more expensive«13. Vineblack was made from the waste of the vineyard and will therefore have been inexpensive, while for lampblack the raw materials themselves were already valuable and had a variety of purposes. The soot also needed to be treated further, charring and washing it a number of times before it gained the ine structure and deep black hue of nearly pure carbon. In comparison, the opacity of vine black is not as strong as lampblack, because the percentage of carbon, the colouring element in the charcoal, is not so high. Also the average grain size of the inest pigment particles (an estimated 1–5 micron) is coarser than that of lampblack particles (an estimated 0.2–1 micron). As a consequence an impression of a woodcut printed thinly with a charcoal ink is more greyish than an impression of the same block printed with a lampblack ink. The thin layer cannot contain enough charcoal particles for complete coverage, something lampblack is capable of even with very thin layers. Cennini mentions other colours, too, such as yellow from safron, red from brasilwood, green from verdigris, red from red lead or vermilion, blue from indigo and white from white lead. Apparently colour printing (or rather stamping) was not a technical issue for him and neither for other ifteenth-century compilers of ink recipes. It is therefore odd that inks in other colours than black and red are so rarely found in early book printing. Further information on printing inks is found in inventories, administrative documents, and oicial reports. An interesting reference to equipment used in printing woodblocks is found in the inventory of Jacoba van Heinsberg-Loon, prioress (?) of the nunnery Bethanien near Malines since March 1455, made up after her death on 3 March 146614. Quoting from the inventory: »in cellula eiusdem domicelle Jacobe testatricis super istam cameram … novem printe lignee ad imprimendas ymagines cum quatuordecim aliis lapideis printis … unum ferrum ad coquendas grasas … [in] nigram cameram superius … primo unum 9 Thompson, Daniel V.: Cennino d’Andrea Cennini: The Craftsman’s Handbook, the Italian ›Il libro dell’arte‹, repr. of the ed. 1933. New York 1960 p. 116. 10 Ibid. pp. 58–59. 11 Ibid. p. 22. 12 Ibid. pp. 22–23. 13 Ibid. p. 117. 14 Enschedé, Johan Willem: Een drukkerij buiten Mechelen voor 1466. In: Het Boek, tweede reeks van het tijdschrift voor boek- en bibliotheekwezen 7 (1918) pp. 286–292. The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 63 instrumentum ad imprimandas scripturas et ymagines cum diversis modici valoris asseribus, una lactica sine lecto, unus tripes, unus parvus liber et unus lapis ad frangendos colores«15. Translated: ›in the cel of the same testator (or rather testatrix) mistress Jacoba above her room (are found) nine woodblocks for printing images with fourteen other stone printing (beds?) … an iron (kettle) for cooking the oil … in the black room upstairs … irst an instrument for printing text and images with several pieces of type of little value, a trestle without cover, a stool (tripod), a small book and one stone for grinding colours‹. It would go too far to see in this description a fully ledged printshop, but at least it was equipped well enough to show that she was involved in the making of printing ink by cooking oil in an iron kettle, grinding ink on a stone, and printing blocks and type with some kind of instrument. The term ›colores‹ should best be interpreted as ›inks‹, more particular black inks, because only one grinding stone was present. If used for black any other colour next ground upon this stone would likely turn dirty because of even minor remains of black left in its pores. A true typographic printshop was active in Florence in the Dominican monastery S. Iacopo di Bagno at Ripoli from 1474 on16. Vincenzio Fineschi published about it in 1781, including a section on the administration of materials bought for the printshop17. Italian original Olio di Lino Trementina Peca Greca Pece Nera Marcassita Cinabro Ragia Vernice soda Vernice liquida Galla Vetriolo Lacca costs in lira 3 .10. – il Bar – . 4 . – la lib – . 4 . – la lib – .1.8.– la lib 3 . – . – la lib – . 5 . – la lib – . 3 . – la lib – . 8 . – la lib – .12. – la lib – . 4 . – la lib – . 4 . – la lib – . 3 . 4 la lib English translation linseed oil turpentine resin Greek pitch (= resin) black pitch (= resin) bismuth (Sb) or ›marchesita librariorum‹ (type metal) vermillion resin strong varnish liquid varnish gall nuts vitriol (= iron(II) sulphate) lake (= [red?] dyestuf) Table taken from Fineschi, Vincenzio: Notizie storiche sopra la stamperia di Ripoli (etc.). Florence 1781 p. 49, with modern English translations. The linseed oil, varnishes and various kinds of resin were used for making oil-based printing ink. The term ›marcassita‹ either means ›bismuth‹ and was used in the making 15 Ibid. pp. 286–287. With thanks to Mark Clarke for discussing this passage. 16 <http://www.sinopiarte.com/Stamperia_Convento_San_Jacopo_a_Ripoli.html>, last accessed 4/7/2013. 17 Fineschi, Vincenzio: Notizie storiche sopra la stamperia di Ripoli (etc.). Florence 1781 p. 49. 64 Ad Stijnman of type metal, or it stands for the type metal itself18. The vermillion was likely used for making red printing ink, but could also be used for red writing ink when mixed with a gum Arabic solution. The function of the ›lacca‹ is not understood here. The gall nuts and vitriol are the essential components for making an iron-gall writing ink, while the third ingredient – gum Arabic – is missing in this list19. All three are dissolved in water (or wine or beer). The tannin extracted from the gall nuts and the iron(II) sulphate solution from the vitriol together form a chemical complex that appears as a deep blue-black liquid. The gum Arabic keeps all particles in suspension, preventing them from sinking to the bottom to form a sediment. References to printers of woodcuts are not uncommon in the administration of ifteenthcentury guilds and sometimes we also learn about their activities. For example, the mentioning of the woodblock printer Adriaan van Liesvelt, in Antwerp on 30 January 1495, is interesting to us, because he printed woodblocks with an aqueous ink20. The Antwerp St Luke’s guild sued Adriaan van Liesvelt, because they thought he printed his blocks with a black not made of luid ink (›vluedighen incte‹ = writing ink) but made with oil and varnish (›olie ende vernys‹), which materials the members of the guild used. Oil and varnish were part of their business of making paintings and thus they wanted Van Liesvelt to become a member of their guild. Van Liesvelt, however, dismissed their claim stating that the material he used was: »der printers inct dien sy altijt gheplogen hadden te gebruken, dien oic gemaect is vand(er) stofen dair men ande(re)n vluedeghen inct af mact, hoewel datt(er) meer co(n)sten toe ghebesicht wort«. Translated: ›the printer’s ink that they always used to use, that is also made of the constituents with which one makes other luid ink [= writing ink], although it takes something more [to prepare the printing ink]‹.In other words, he does not use an oil-based ink for his printing woodblocks, but the aqueous ink that printers of his discipline were common to use, although their ink is more viscous than plain writing ink. If he is referring to iron-gall ink, the most common 18 It probably means bismuth, because Fineschi lists tin and lead separately further down the page. Apparently the earliest type metal consisted mainly of tin with some additional lead and bismuth as hardener, while the type metal based on lead with some additional tin and antimony as hardener is from a later date. The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio, ed. by Derek J. Price. Reissue of 1943. New York 1959 pp. 374–375; Fialova, Vlasta: Ein Letternfund aus dem XVI. Jahrhundert in Kralice nad Oslavou. In: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (1959) pp. 85–91; Giesecke, Albert: Das Schriftmetall Gutenbergs. In: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (1944–1949) pp. 53–65; Partington, James Riddick: A History of Chemistry. Vol. 2. London/New York 1961 pp. 13, 51, 59, 63, 91; Quad von Kinkelbach, Matthis: Teutscher Nation Herligkeitt (etc.). Cölln 1609 p. 437; A History of Technology, ed. by Charles Singer et al. Vol. 3. Oxford 1957 pp. 29, 42–44. 19 Stijnman, Ad: Iron gall inks in history: ingredients and production. In: Iron Gall Inks: on Manufacture, Characterisation, Degradation and Stabilisation, ed. by Jana Kolar and Matija Strlič. Ljubljana 2006 pp. 25–68. 20 Van der Stock, Jan: Printing Images in Antwerp. The Introduction of Printmaking in a City. Fifteenth Century to 1585. Rotterdam 1998 pp. 310–311. The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 65 writing ink then, this would mean that extra gum Arabic (or another kind of gum) was added to the writing ink recipe in order to create a more viscous substance better suited for printing. The court agreed with Van Liesvelt and he won the case. Continuing on actual printing ink recipes, a Dutch manuscript from the region east of the Meuse dated to 1496–1498 contains the earliest recipe for an oil-based ink for printing on paper or parchment found thus far21: »[fol. 144v] Item mer wiltu yncke dar uyt maken dar men bucke mede prenten mach te weten [fol. 145r] op papir op percament so saltu nemen i quarte van de vurs[.] roucke en i quarte lyn olie ende sal die te samen puntlicken sieden dat dicachtich werde ende als du dar mede prenten wilt so salte die prenten of dien in wel wer[m/w?]en etc.« In translation: ›Item, but if you want to make ink from it with which to print books [or beech wood blocks] on paper or parchment so you will take 1 quarter of the aforesaid smoke [= lampblack] and 1 quarter of linseed oil and you shall boil it together accurately until it gets thickish and if you want to print with it you shall warm [?] the prints [= printing blocks?] or these in well [?] etc.‹ Or alternatively ›you shall paint the printing blocks or dies/stamps well [with the ink]‹. This would it better, because inking the woodblocks makes more sense then warming them. However, the individual letters of ›dien‹ – the term possibly to be connected with ›in‹ to mean dies or stamps – and ›wer[m/w]en‹ (to paint?) are diicult to read and their meaning, and thus the meaning of this phrase is therefore not well understood. Little more can be concluded from the recipe than what it says. Lampblack is boiled together with linseed oil, which is rare for typographic printing ink for which the pigment is commonly added to the varnish only after the boiling, i. e. in grinding the ink. Compared to the expression ›printe lignee‹ (woodblocks for printing) in the inventory of Jacoba van Heinsberg-Loon given above, the last term ›prenten‹ could indicate woodblocks here but I am not too sure about this. Many kinds of black pigments were produced and they were used for all kinds of purposes22. Lampblack is a black typical for typographic printing ink. It was the inest and blackest pigment available and an ink made with lampblack printed a thin but still deep black layer, as the texts in so many incunabula show. The irst published recipe for a typographic printing ink we ind in Alessio Piemontese’s book of secrets (›Secreti‹, Venice 1555): »L’Inchiostro poi da stampar lettere, si fa di solo fume di ragia, come di sopra s’ è detto, & si stempera con vernice liquida, & si cuoce un poco, fa cendolo piu liquido & piu duro secondo il bisogno, & il verno bisogna piu liquido & la state piu duro, & sempre il piu duro fa piu bella lettera, piu negra, piu netta, & piu lustra. Ma in qualunque modo vuol benissimo mescolato sempre. Et per far lo liquido, come 21 Leyden, UB, Cod. Vossius Chym. Oct. 6, fol. 144v–145r, middle-east Netherlandish 1496–1498. 22 Stijnman, Ad: Artiicial black pigment (etc.). In: Fatto d’archimia, los pigmentos artiiciales en las técnicas pictóricas, ed. by Marián del Egido and Stefanos Kroustallis. Madrid 2012 pp. 293–306. 66 Ad Stijnman è detto, si mette piu oglio di seme di lino ò ancor di noce nella vernice. Per farlo duro si metto manco oglio, & piu fume, & si cuoce piu«23. Alessio’s ›Secreti‹ became extremely popular with well over two hundred and ifty reissued, translated and reworked versions, many of them reiterating the printing ink recipe24. Here is the translation of the London 1558 edition: »Printers Incke is made onelye with the smoke of Rosine [= lampblack] as is abovesaid, and is tempered with moist Vernish, you muste seeth it a little, to make it liquide or thicke, as you shall neede. But in Winter moister then in Somer: and alwaies the thicker maketh the letter fayrer, blacker, clearer, and brighter. But in what maner so ever it be, it muste be ever well mixed with the smoke. Ant to make it liquide, as is saied, you must put to it more oyle of line, or of Walnuttes to the vernythe. If you will make it thicker, put less Oyle, and more smoke, lettinge it seeth more«25. The recipe emphasises the use of lampblack only (›solo fume di ragio‹) for black typographic ink. This does not mean that we should see the 1496 text as a recipe for an incunable printer. It looks more like being used for block printing, but it comes closer to typographic ink than Van Liesveldt’s water-based ink that is suited for printing woodcuts only and not for metal type. A water-based ink would reticulate on metal instead of forming a homogeneous layer as oil-based ink does. A much later example for printing woodblocks, published by Garnier in 1869, similarly shows the use of lampblack for a waterbased ink26. Woodblocks were still printed manually by ›dominotiers‹ in the nineteenth century, probably in the manner common over the centuries since the Middle Ages. They made their ink by mixing ›noir de fumée et de colle de peau‹ (= lampblack and gelatine glue extracted from a skin). The ink was applied to the woodblock with a brush, a sheet of paper was laid on top and the back of the sheet was rubbed with a ›frotton‹ made of horse hair kneaded with glue. This ›frotton‹ sounds not unlike a comparable rubbing tool made by mixing black human hair and glue used in Korean woodcut printing I once tried out. The object was rather inlexible and it took some practice before gaining any decent results. Because the tool was that hard the impressions were little embossed. This is diferent from woodcuts in European blockbooks, which show a clear relief and thus were printed by rubbing or tapping with a softer tool. 23 Piemontese, Alessio: Secreti. Venetia 1555 p. 189. 24 Stijnman, Ad: A short-title bibliography of the Secreti by Alessio Piemontese. In: The Artist’s Process: Technology and Interpretation (etc.), ed. by Sigrid Eyb-Green et al. London 2012 pp. 32–47. 25 The Secretes of the Reverende Maister Alexis of Piemount. London 1558 fol. 100v. 26 Garnier, J.-M.: Histoire de l’imagerie populaire et des cartes à jouer à Chartres. Chartres 1869 p. 151. The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 67 Scientiic examination For better understanding of possible recipes for the printing of blockbooks we take a look at mediaeval recipes for writing inks. The many such surviving recipes can be divided into three groups. The irst are the carbon inks, which are simple mixtures of lampblack and gum Arabic in water, with an emulsiier such as ox gall added to avoid the fatty lampblack from separating out. These mixtures are stable, once the inks have dried they stay black and do not change anymore. The second group contains the already mentioned iron-gall inks. The main constituents in the many varieties of this kind of ink are always the same: vitriol27; gall nuts or other vegetable materials containing tannin; gum Arabic or rarely another kind of gum; and all is dissolved in water, wine or beer. The manners of producing such an ink are diverse. The ingredients can be dissolved in a cold luid; they can be boiled together; solutions of the diferent ingredients can be prepared separately before being mixed or all are mixed together. These preparation methods all work more or less well, but in all cases they form an unstable chemical complex with the original black ink turning into a brown substance sooner or later. The hue of brown may difer from a pale yellowish brown, to a reddish brown, to a darker greyish brown. This depends on the ink formula, its preparation method, reactions between the ink and its support, and storage conditions of the object. The chemical complex is instable, the ink’s organic components disintegrate and its metal elements may form new compounds. The third group consists of iron-gall ink with some lampblack added, which has the advantage that the ink stays dark to the eye for a longer period before the browning of the iron-gall ink becomes more clearly visible. All the above information brings us to four possible ink recipes for printing woodblocks: – pigment ground with oil-varnish – pigment mixed with an aqueous binding medium, such as a solution of gum Arabic or gelatine in water – iron-gall ink with extra gum Arabic to make the liquid more viscous – the same with some additional lampblack. Looking at the hues and colours of inks in blockbooks we can descern the following: – dark grey for text and imagery (ig. 1) – brown for text and imagery (ig. 2) – black for text and imagery (ig. 3) 27 Vitriol is iron(II) sulphate (FeSO4) with possible contaminations of other sulphates, such as from copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn). 68 Ad Stijnman – black for text and brown for imagery (only for copies of the ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹, Netherlands, c. 1466–1467 to c. 1479–1481; see ig. 9) – dark grey for text and imagery and red for text (only for Russian blockbook psalters of the sixteenth and seventeenth century) (ig. 4). A sheet of an ›Apocalypse‹ was examined scientiically for the purpose of this paper at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (ig. 5)28. First the printing ink was measured29. The principal components (elements) in the printing ink were iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), with sulphur (S) (ig. 6). These elements are consistent with iron-gall ink prepared with an impure vitriol as mentioned above which means an iron-gall ink was mixed with extra binding medium, probably gum Arabic30. Additional analyses of the binding medium would conirm the ink’s composition. Above, I already mentioned that a freshly prepared iron-gall ink is deep blue-black. Over the years the chemical complex of iron(II) sulphate and tannine gradually falls apart and the black turns into a brown. It means that what we see now is a ›browned‹ ink. In a second examination the surface of the print was scanned by means of infrared relectography (ig. 7)31. The infrared image showed that the parts of the print coloured with black paint are a hundred percent opaque, because the paint is made of a carbon black pigment – probably lampblack seeing its density – which absorbs infrared light. The browned printing ink should be completely transparent, because the infrared radiation goes right through it and is relected by the white paper underneath. The infrared ilter absorbs all wavelengths that relect on reddish colours, while showing pigments such as carbon-based blacks as dark areas. The photograph depicts the printed lines as grey, however. Browned iron gall ink in itself does not contain materials that absorb infrared light and the conclusion must thus be that some lampblack may have been added to the printing ink. 28 ›Apocalypse‹, p. 9, Rev. 7:1–3 and 7:9–14, RMA, inv. RP-P-2009-24. I am grateful to Arie Wallert for carrying out this research and to Huigen Leelang for giving permission to analyse this object. 29 ARTAX μ-XRF spectrometer, 50 kV, 300 μA, Mo-anode, 0.060 μm capillary lens, He-lush 1.7 L/m, 120 sec. The instrument allows non-invasive measurements to be taken on very small areas (0.060 μm). 30 This article derives from a paper I gave on 16 February 2012 during the conference ›Eine Experimentierphase im frühen Buchdruck: Blockbücher des 15. Jahrhunderts‹. Two months before Jan van der Stock and Lieve Watteeuw had demonstrated similar results in their paper on a SouthNetherlandish ifteenth-century single leaf woodcut in browned ink. They read their paper at the conference ›Impressions of Colour: Rediscovering Colour in early Modern Printmaking, ca 1400–1700‹ at CRASSH, Cambridge, on 8 and 9 December 2011. An article on their results is in preparation. 31 Osiris 512 × 512 infrared camera, equipped with a Hamamatsu (G11135-512DE), InGaAs linear image sensor with 25 × 25 μm pixel size. Sensitivity in the NIR region to approximately 1700 nm, visible light iltered of at 875 nm. Visible light is from 380 nm (ultraviolet) to 780 nm (infrared). The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 69 Thirdly, details of the print were digitally magniied32. An area with an impression of the woodblock shows paper ibres stained with iron gall ink, but also some particular dark granular matter was present (ig. 8). In combination with the infrared scan and mediaeval recipes in which lampblack is added to iron gall ink, the dark objects presumably are larger particles of lampblack pigment. Again, this must have been an additive to the iron-gall ink. Summarising, the brown ink we observe in blockbooks originally was a deep blue-black iron-gall writing ink with extra gum added to make it more paste-like. This made the substance better suited for printing from woodblocks, because the thicker ink would stay put were applied. The black ink turned brown over time, because the chemical complex of tannine and iron(II) sulphate that constituted the black fell apart again. We should therefore speak of ›browned‹ ink when describing the hue of ink in such impressions. ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ The ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹, produced in The Netherlands with four editions in Latin and Dutch between c. 1466–1467 and c. 1479–1481, has drawn the attention of book historians already from early on, as it was seen as one of the oldest forms of the printed book and because of its unusual appearance (ig. 9)33. Still quite a number of copies and fragments of the book are found in collections around the world. Copies or fragments of all four editions of the book were gathered by Willem Hendrik Jacob Baron van Westreenen van Tiellandt (1783–1848) and are presently kept in the Museum Meermanno-Huis van het Boek (formerly Meermanno-Westreenianum, MMW) in The Hague: – irst Latin edition: woodcut images in browned ink, metal type text in black ink; minor wear of the woodblocks is visible (MMW, 36 A 1)34 32 Light microscopy done with HIROX KH-7700 digital microscope with 2.11 megapixel CCD sensor, resolution maximum 10.000 × 10.000 pixel, magniications 35×–2000×. 33 Junius, Hadrianus: Batavia. Leiden 1588 pp. 255–256; Quad von Kinkelbach, Herligkeitt ( see note 18) p. 437; Scriverius, Petrus: Lavre-crans voor Lavrens Coster Van Haerlem, Eerste Vinder Vande Boeck-Drvckery. Haarlem 1628 pp. 8, 21, 101–107. The single leaf impression of MMW 80 A 2 (fol. 47r) carries the following manuscript note in a late sixteenth or early seventeenth-century Dutch hand at the top of the page: »dit is van de eerste drucken die in Hollant gedruct sijn. [en?] ra[.]e van Laurens coster te Haerlem.« Translated: ›this is from the irst books printed in Holland … by Laurens sexton at Haarlem‹. See further: Zur Genese der niederländischen Typoxylographien des ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ by Joost Robbe in this volume on pp. 311–328. 34 GW M43002, ISTC is00656000; irst Latin edition, the Netherlands, about 1466–1467, hand-written date of ›1471‹ in the copy of the Universitätsbibliothek, München. With many thanks to Jos van Heel, curator of Museum Meermanno for his support. 70 Ad Stijnman – irst Dutch edition: woodcut images in browned ink, metal type text in black ink; the woodblocks show more signs of wear (MMW, 36 A 2)35 – second Latin edition: woodcut images in browned ink, metal type text in black ink, and fol. 52r and 61v with replacement woodcut text in browned ink; increasing wear visible (MMW, 35 A 4, fragment of fol. 37–64)36 – second Dutch edition: woodcut images in browned ink, metal type text (MMW, 80 A 2, fragment of fol. 47, (a) Semei curses David; (b) King Ammon dealt dishonestly with the messengers of David).37 The further discussion is based on these objects. The woodcut images in all editions are printed in the now browned ink discussed above and produced by means of rubbing or tapping the back of the sheets with a fairly soft object. Again, the ink used for printing the blocks with the images and the replacement text blocks in the second Latin edition was nearly as black as the black of the text columns when freshly printed. The irst reader looked at white pages with black texts and images; only over years of time the ink for the woodcuts turned to the brown we see presently. All typographic texts are printed with an oil-based black ink in a book printing press. The use of two diferent inks and two diferent printing processes consequently means that two craftsmen active in two diferent disciplines combined their activities in the production of the books. To complicate matters, this manner of working was followed for all four editions between c. 1466–1467 and c. 1479–1481. Other typical aspects common in all four editions also show the combination of two different printing processes carried out independent from each other. The images often stand more or less askew from the text columns, and distances between images and text columns difer throughout the editions. The typographic text for the second Latin edition is reset with slight changes compared to the irst Latin edition, as is the text of the second Dutch edition compared to the irst Dutch edition. Conspicuous in the second Latin edition are the twenty pages that are exact woodcut copies after the typographic Latin text of the irst edition – 35 A 4, being a fragment, has only two such pages. The typographic text is printed on a press, as we can see from the spaces for the two text columns cut out of the press’s frisket; the strip of paper of the frisket separating the two columns is always visible as an embossment in all editions. Typical also is the occasional appearance of ›raised white‹. Blind embossed supportive text lines masked with extra strips of paper during printing are omnipresent at the bottoms of the columns. It means that 35 GW M43052, ISTC is00658900; irst Dutch edition, before 1470. 36 GW M43001, ISTC is00657000; second Latin edition, the Netherlands, about 1473. The typographic text is replaced by woodcut texts on fol. 52r and 61v of this copy, complete copies have the text replaced on fol. 7, 8, 10–17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 33, 52, 61. 37 GW M43053, ISTC is00659000, second Dutch edition; the Netherlands, about 1479. The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 71 openings in the one frisket used were cut to it the longest text column and with shorter columns an extra strip of paper was inserted38. The woodcut texts on fol. 52r and 61v of 35 A 4 do not show any embossment of a frisket mask nor raised white or blind embossments, which suggests they were produced without a press. Note also that these texts are on conjugated folia, i. e. they were printed on one side of a bifolium or complete sheet; the other side of the sheet was left unprinted. We could consider whether it would be more practical to irst print the two woodblocks at the top of the sheet and next print the four text columns underneath, or the other way around. In the irst case the organiser of the project had the blocks printed at the top of the sheet and next the book printer had to position the text columns in the available space left. He could see where to print his type in that manner. Had he to print on blank sheets the organiser had to tell him to leave a particular amount of space above the columns open for the blocks to be printed. A book printing press had the possibility of printing in register by means of the points at the sides of the tympan thereby positioning the text columns on the sheet neatly. The block printer evidently did not have such a facility. He seems to have more or less aimed at where to place the paper on the blocks, because images and text columns are often askew from each other and distances between them are irregular throughout. The copy of the irst Dutch edition in Meermanno (36 A 2) shows text printed with black ink over browned ink, or vice versa browned ink over black, on fol. 24r, 27v, 47v, 54r and 58r. I hesitate to decide on either of the two on the basis of observation with a magnifying glass only, however. It can be seen that impressions with the two inks are intermingled, but not whether layers of brown are on top of black or the other way around. Embossments of one forme into the other are also not clearly visibile. It calls for examination by digital microscopy to answer this case. Summarising our observations: – two diferent kinds of printing formes – woodblocks and metal type – printed in two diferent processes were used to produce all four editions – these formes were printed with inks of two diferent formulae respectively, one now browned water-based ink for the woodblocks and one black oil-based ink for the metal type – the printing of the woodblocks was carried out manually by means of rubbing or tapping, the printing of the metal type was performed by means of a book printing press – missing typographic text was replaced by exactly cut woodblock replicas after the irst Latin edition for the second Latin edition. 38 Fol. 46r of 36 A 2 shows how the strip of paper at the bottom of this page has moved and obliquely covered part of the last line of the column. 72 Ad Stijnman Conclusions are that: – two printers cooperated independently from each other in producing four editions of the ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹ over a period of some ifteen years – one was a block printer, the other was a typographic printer – each printer used his own kinds of formes, inks and manners of printing. This raises a number of questions: – Why were the woodcuts and typographic texts not printed together in one run? – Why were the woodcuts and the typographic texts printed with two diferent kinds of inks? – Why did the typographic printer not have the woodblocks at his disposal? – Did the typographic printer forget to print pages or was he unable to print them? – Which of the two printers took the lead in the project, or was another person in charge? To answer these we may ask ourselves: – What documentary information is needed for this? – What information could scientiic examination of the objects supply? – What further sources of information could support research of the ›Speculum‹? The division of activities spread over more workshops has already been under discussion in earlier literature and is emphasised here once more from the aspect of the printing inks. The article by Joost Robbe in the present volume (pp. 311–328) reiterates arguments concerning this division between workshops and gives further suggestions. At irst thought these books seem to be produced rather primitively or even clumsily seeing images and text standing askew from each other, and inks of diferent colours. At second thought their production probably involved two workshops in two diferent towns, contacting a number of persons and activities: a designer for the imagery; a block cutter or better a workshop with several employees seeing the many blocks to be cut; two printshops each with their own stafs, including text editors who made changes from the irst to the second editions; two kinds of printing ink to be prepared in at least four diferent batches each; paper to be ordered for the irst printshop four times; batches of impressions of the woodcuts to be shipped from one printshop to the other (and back?) four times. The organisation behind the production of editions of the ›Speculum‹ thus was complex and the combination of two inks of very diferent formulae clearly testiies of this. Workshops for the printing of woodblocks may still have been more common in the Netherlands than typographic printshops at the time of production. Another issue is the inluence of the guilds and whether printers wanted to stay free or not. As we see in the case of Van Liesvelt mentioned above it was his particular printing ink recipe, i. e. the constituents of the ink that made him win his case when charged by the Antwerp St Luke’s The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 73 guild. The circumstances must have been challenging to the creativity of the organiser of the ›Speculum‹ project, but on the other hand it must have been lucrative enough to continue working in the same manner to publish four editions. For the rest the ›Speculum‹ is the only text we know to have been produced in this intricate manner. In all other cases images and texts were printed from the same woodcuts with the same type of ink thereby creating either blockbooks, or woodcut illustrations that were printed together with the typographic text. It makes the ›Speculum‹ a hybrid form of a book with elements of both manners of printing. We therefore should be looking for someone who thought the book relevant enough to push eforts for its production in four editions in two languages over a period of some ifteen years. 74 Ad Stijnman Fig. 1: ›Calendarium‹, fol. [6]r, detail of the Month of August, middle-German, 1457–58, woodcut, grey printing ink and hand-colouring. (Wolfenbüttel, HAB, 1189 Helmst., fol. 185r.) Fig. 2: Detail of a ›Septem vitia mortalia‹ single-leaf print, 1475–1500, woodcut, browned printing ink. (Wolfenbüttel, HAB, Ältere Einblattdrucke 24 (1).) The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 75 Fig. 3: Detail of a Letter of Indulgence (Rosary), single-leaf print, Cologne, c. 1500, woodcut, black printing ink. (Wolfenbüttel, HAB, Ältere Einblattdrucke 25 (1).) Fig. 4: ›Psalterium‹, Russian, 1550–1575, detail of a fol. [1]r, woodcut, dark grey and red printing ink. (Wolfenbüttel, HAB, Cod. Guelf. 81.27 Aug. 2°.) 76 Ad Stijnman Fig. 5: ›Apocalypse‹, p. [9], Rev. 7:1–3 and 7:9–14, woodcut, browned printing ink with hand-colouring. (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. RP-P-2009-24.) The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 77 Fig. 6: Elements in the printing ink: Signal for Fe, Cu and Zn + S: the elements are consistent with iron gall ink prepared with impure vitriol, which is used for printing the woodblock. (Analysis by Arie Wallert, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.) 78 Ad Stijnman Fig. 7: Infrared relectography of a detail of ig. 5. The black watercolour is 100 % opaque, because it contains lampblack. The browned printing ink should be completely transparent, which here it is not because the iron-gall ink was mixed with some lampblack. (Photograph by Arie Wallert, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.) The Colours of Black. Printing Inks for Blockbooks 79 Fig. 8: Digital enlargement. The paper ibres are stained brown by the browned printing ink and the larger particles are grains of lampblack pigment. (Photograph by Arie Wallert, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.) 80 Ad Stijnman Fig. 9: ›Speculum humanae salvationis‹, irst Latin edition, The Netherlands (Louvaine and Utrecht?), c. 1466–1467, fol. 50r, woodcut and typography printed with browned and black ink respectively. (The Hague, Museum Meermanno-Huis van het Boek, 36 A 1.)