Ink production

We’ll have to agree to verdigris

Staff #MedievalMonday August 7, 2017March 3, 2021Codicology, Ink production, Medieval manuscripts

Two weeks ago we talked about lapis lazuli and its use in blue inks, although it was not used in the coat of arms in 10a 189 (see the post here). This week we’ll be looking at the green ink used in 10a 233 – Galen’s De crisibus libri III, in the translation of Gerard of Cremona.

The Library’s copy of De crisibus was written in first half of the 13^th century (1200 – 1250) in France. We will learn more about Galen (129 – circa 200/216) in subsequent posts, but he was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire.

Puzzle initial, folio 1r. Galen, *De crisibus libri III*, France. circa 1200 – 1250. Call no. 10a 233.

To be (lapis lazuli) or not to be?

Staff #MedievalMonday July 24, 2017March 3, 2021Illuminations, Ink production, Medieval manuscripts

Two weeks ago we examined the lovely dentelle initial on folio 1r of 10a 189. On that same page are the Duke of Ferrara’s coat of arms, also painted. The coat of arms consists of a dark red carnation and green leaves on either side, inside a gold-leafed ring set with a blue stone.