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== History == [[File:Ganesha ink.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Ink drawing of [[Ganesha]] under an umbrella (early 19th century). Ink, called [[Masi (india ink)|''masi'']], an admixture of several chemical components, has been used in India since at least the 4th century{{nbsp}}BC.<ref name="Banerji, page 673">Banerji, page 673</ref> The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in early [[South India]].<ref name="Sircar, page 62">Sircar, page 62</ref> Several [[Jain]] sutras in India were compiled in ink.<ref name="Sircar, page 67">Sircar, page 67</ref>]] Many ancient cultures around the world have independently discovered and formulated inks due to the need to write and draw. The recipes and techniques for the production of ink are derived from archaeological analyses or from written texts itself. The earliest inks from all civilizations are believed to have been made with ''[[lampblack]]'', a kind of [[soot]], easily collected as a by-product of fire.<ref name="NeedhamTsuen-Hsuin1985-5">{{cite book|author1=Joseph Needham|author2=Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin|title=Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1, Paper and Printing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC|date=11 July 1985|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-08690-5|page=5}}</ref> Ink was used in [[Ancient Egypt]] for writing and drawing on [[papyrus]] from at least the 26th century BC.<ref name=BritishMuseum>{{cite journal|title=Ayn Sukhna and Wadi el-Jarf: Two newly discovered pharaonic harbours on the Suez Gulf|journal=British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan|last=Tallet|first=Pierre|volume=18|year=2012|pages=147β68|issn=2049-5021|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/Tallet.pdf|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref> Egyptian red and black inks included [[iron]] and [[ocher]] as pigments, in addition to [[phosphate]], [[sulfate]], [[chloride]], and [[carboxylate]] ions, with [[lead]] also used as a drier.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Christiansen |first1=Thomas |last2=Cotte |first2=Marine |last3=de Nolf |first3=Wout |last4=Mouro |first4=Elouan |last5=Reyes-Herrera |first5=Juan |last6=de Meyer |first6=Steven |last7=Vanmeert |first7=Frederik |last8=SalvadΓ³ |first8=Nati |last9=Gonzalez |first9=Victor |last10=Lindelof |first10=Poul Erik |last11=Mortensen |first11=Kell |last12=Ryholt |first12=Kim |last13=Janssens |first13=Koen |last14=Larsen |first14=Sine |title=Insights into the composition of ancient Egyptian red and black inks on papyri achieved by synchrotron-based microanalyses |journal=PNAS |year=2020 |volume=117 |issue=45 |pages=27825β27835 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2004534117 |pmid=33106396 |pmc=7668004 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11727825C |doi-access=free }}</ref> The earliest Chinese inks may date to<ref name="NeedhamTsuen-Hsuin1985-234">{{cite book|author1=Joseph Needham|author2=Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin|title=Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1, Paper and Printing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-9mS6Aa4wC|date=11 July 1985|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-08690-5|page=234}}</ref> four millennia ago,<ref>* Woods, Michael; Woods, Mary (2000). ''Ancient Communication: Form Grunts to Graffiti''.pp 51β52. Minneapolis: Runestone Press; an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group.....</ref> to the [[List of Neolithic cultures of China|Chinese Neolithic Period]]. These included plant, animal, and mineral inks, based on such materials as [[graphite]]; these were ground with water and applied with [[ink brush]]es. Direct evidence for the earliest Chinese inks, similar to modern [[inkstick]]s, is found around 256 BC, in the end of the [[Warring States period]]; being produced from soot and [[animal glue]].<ref>{{citation |last=θ‘ |first=η«θ¬ |title=δΊγε’¨ηηΌε±ε² |url=http://www.chcsec.gov.tw/pcsec/research/four_treasure/books/ink/index_ink.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041126130717/http://www.chcsec.gov.tw/pcsec/research/four_treasure/books/ink/index_ink.htm |url-status=dead |publisher=National Chang-Hua Hall of Social Education |archive-date=2004-11-26}}</ref> The preferred inks for drawing or painting on paper or silk are produced from the resin of the pine trees between 50 and 100 years old. The Chinese inkstick is produced with a fish glue, whereas Japanese glue (θ ''nikawa'') is from cow or stag.<ref>Yuuko Suzuki, Introduction to Japanese calligraphy, Search Press 2005, Calligraphie japonaise, 2003, Γ©d. Fleurus, Paris</ref> [[India ink]] was invented in China,<ref name="gottsegen 30"/><ref name=smith>Smith, Joseph A. (1992). ''The Pen and Ink Book: Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist''. p. 23. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. {{ISBN|0-8230-3986-2}}.</ref> though materials were often traded from India, hence the name.<ref name="gottsegen 30">Gottsegen, Mark D. (2006). ''The Painter's Handbook: A Complete Reference''.Page 30, New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. {{ISBN|0-8230-3496-8}}.</ref><ref name=smith/> The traditional Chinese method of making the ink was to grind a mixture of hide glue, [[carbon black]], lampblack, and [[bone char|bone black]] pigment with a [[pestle and mortar]], then pour it into a ceramic dish to dry.<ref name="gottsegen 30"/> To use the dry mixture, a wet brush would be applied until it reliquified.<ref name="gottsegen 30"/> The manufacture of India ink was well-established by the [[Cao Wei]] dynasty (220β265 AD).<ref>Sung, Sun & Sun, page 286β288.</ref> Indian documents written in [[Kharosthi]] with ink have been unearthed in [[Xinjiang]].<ref>Sircar, page 206</ref> The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle was common in early South India.<ref name="Sircar, page 62"/> Several [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.<ref name="Sircar, page 67"/> [[Cephalopod ink]], known as [[sepia (color)|sepia]], turns from dark blue-black to brown on drying, and was used as an ink in the Graeco-Roman period and subsequently. Black [[atramentum]] was also used in [[ancient Rome]]; in an article for ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', Sharon J. Huntington describes these other historical inks: [[File:Oak galls and iron(II) sulfate - California State Archives.jpg|200px|thumb|Oak galls and iron(II) sulfate]] <blockquote>About 1,600 years ago, a popular ink recipe was created. The recipe was used for centuries. Iron salts, such as ferrous sulfate (made by treating iron with sulfuric acid), were mixed with tannin from [[gall]]nuts (they grow on trees) and a thickener. When first put to paper, this ink is bluish-black. Over time it fades to a dull brown.</blockquote> <blockquote>Scribes in [[medieval]] Europe (about AD 800 to 1500) wrote principally on [[parchment]] or [[vellum]]. One 12th century ink recipe called for hawthorn branches to be cut in the spring and left to dry. Then the bark was pounded from the branches and soaked in water for eight days. The water was boiled until it thickened and turned black. Wine was added during boiling. The ink was poured into special bags and hung in the sun. Once dried, the mixture was mixed with wine and iron salt over a fire to make the final ink.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p18s02-hfks.html "Think Ink!"] by Sharon J. Huntington, ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', September 21, 2004, retrieved January 17, 2006.</ref></blockquote> The reservoir pen, which may have been the first [[fountain pen]], dates back to 953, when [[Al Muizz|Ma'Δd al-Mu'izz]], the [[caliph]] of Egypt, demanded a pen that would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen that held ink in a reservoir.<ref>CE Bosworth, ''A Mediaeval Islamic Prototype of the Fountain Pen?'' Journal of Semitic Studies, 26(2):229β234, 1981</ref> In the 15th century, a new type of ink had to be developed in Europe for the [[printing press]] by [[Johannes Gutenberg]].<ref name="StClair">{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=9781473630819|location=London|pages=271β273|oclc=936144129}}</ref> According to Martyn Lyons in his book ''Books: A Living History'', Gutenberg's dye was indelible, oil-based, and made from the soot of lamps (lamp-black) mixed with [[varnish]] and egg white.<ref>Lyons, M. (2011). ''Books: A living history''. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.</ref> Two types of ink were prevalent at the time: the Greek and Roman writing ink (soot, glue, and water) and the 12th century variety composed of ferrous sulfate, gall, gum, and water.<ref>Many recipes for [[iron gall ink]]s are featured in A booke of secrets: shewing diuers waies to make and prepare all sorts of inke... tr. out of Dutch into Englishe by W.P. [i.e. William Philip], London, 1596.</ref> Neither of these handwriting inks could adhere to printing surfaces without creating blurs. Eventually an oily, [[varnish]]-like ink made of soot, [[turpentine]], and walnut oil was created specifically for the printing press.
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