Inks - History
 

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What is the history of ink?

Advertising propaganda notwithstanding, the fountain pen inks sold today are substantially the same as those sold 75 or more years ago. In fact the trade names of Quink (Parker) and Skrip (Sheaffer),  two of the most popular inks on the market, date back to the 1920s.d

The use of liquid inks with reeds and brushes appears to have started in Egypt and China about 45 or 50 centuries ago. These early inks were probably mainly carbon in the form of soot or lamp black, suspended in vegetable oils or animal glue. About 1700 years ago, the Chinese made a further improvement by developing solid ink, in the form of sticks or cakes, from which bits could be shaved and mixed with water whenever the occasion for writing presented itself. These inks are still used for traditional calligraphy with brushes or bamboo pens throughout East Asia. Later, in the 11th Century, the Chinese developed block printing with heavier, more gelatinous inks, predating Gutenberg's movable type by some 400 years.

Medieval European scribes preferred parchment (processed sheepskin) for archival writings, but carbon inks worked very poorly on parchment's greasy surface, so iron gall inks came into use around the 9th Century. These were made from a mixture of tannic acid with an iron salt, commonly ferrous sulphate. These inks were transparent, but once applied to the parchment, the slow chemical reaction between acid and salt left a suitable dark residue that penetrates the paper, leaving permanent markings. Gum Arabic, a water-soluble thickener, was added to help the ink flow better and remain in place on the paper. Unfortunately, if the mix was wrong, the ink would contain too much free acid which could eat up quills, but far worse could leave holes in the manuscript.

In the mid 19th century, right on time for the emerging fountain pen industry, inks based on new ammonia based aniline dye technology began to appear.  These are the ancestors of modern ink. These inks could be made in an unprecedented array of colours, and were much less corrosive to pens and paper. They were, and still are, prone to fade and light and will smear if moistened, and the colours are less strong or saturated than printers' or artists' inks.

dMost modern fountain pen inks use aniline dye colours, with various other substances added, notably ethylene glycol to give the correct viscosity for flow through the pen, and phenols to prevent mould and bacterial growth. Other additives may be used to help the wetting and stability of the ink, or to prevent the accumulation of solid dyes on the inside of the pen.

The customary colours for fountain pen inks are, black and blue-black which are often called 'permanent' because the addition of lamp-black keeps them from fading as rapidly in light, blue, red, turquoise, and brown. Some manufacturers offer greys, purples, oranges, and other colour variations. Fountain pens will naturally have a peculiar but not especially pungent ammoniac or camphoric smell in the bottle. Some manufacturers add perfumes to 'tart up' their inks.

It did not take long after the development of the offset printing press for printers' inks to become the most significant segment of the industry. These inks are more greasy and gelatinous than writing inks, and are carefully calibrated to provide the best mechanical performance in specific kinds of printing equipment. In general, these inks bear no relation to writing inks. In fact some of them contain toxic resins and solvents, and the most recent developments in the ink industry have focused on water-based and vegetable-based inks that pose far fewer environmental problems.

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Sunday August 08, 2004 17:52 +0200