Jump to content

Lord Byron's Ink - Brown Ink Suggestions


sandy101

Recommended Posts

Here is a link to a letter Lord Byron wrote, whilst in Italy.

 

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/letter-from-lord-byron-to-douglas-kinnaird-about-other-poets

 

He's using dark brown ink. Could anyone suggest a brown ink that would look similar in colour to this?

 

I'm thinking Waterman's Havana Brown is probably too light - and Platinum's ink cartridges is close, bust still not quite dark enough.

 

Does anyone have a suggestion? It's difficult to get an idea looking at ink samples on the screen.

 

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 20
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Honeybadgers

    3

  • sandy101

    2

  • sidthecat

    2

  • JakobS

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

I think Lord Byron did not use a brown ink really...It should be black...Nevertheless, a kind of vintage ink formula with Campeche (a kind of tree) turns brown when ages..interesting letter. Regards. :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 for Smoky Quartz or Yama guri. You might also consider R&K Sepia, or Birmingham Pens Winkys Hamburgers Root Beer (which has some water resistance and writes like silk). Another to look at might be the FPN ink GalileoManuscript Brown.

Edited by Herrjaeger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking that it might be some sort of iron gall ink that's oxidized. But if you're looking for a modern replica, Smoky Quartz could very well be a close substitute.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking that it might be some sort of iron gall ink that's oxidized. But if you're looking for a modern replica, Smoky Quartz could very well be a close substitute.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

Came here to say this, that's almost 100% certainly iron gall.

 

I think pelikan smoky quartz doesn't have the right washed out feel. I'm thinking maybe noodlers or rohrer & klinger sepia?

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like a Sepia to me.

There is a wide color spectrum in sepia inks from gray to brown....in some are made traditionally from cuttlefish.

 

MB Toffee is about that shade....give or take.

As suggested Pelikan Smoky Quartz is not quite a match....but an ink one 'needs', and Herbin Lie de Thee is even lighter but again an ink one should have. Both are very good shading inks, if you are using 90g or + papers.

 

I've got R&K sepia, not yet used, but that is a different color from my reading more grayish, to grayish- brown....and is an ink that requires getting a pen very clean, in that ink don't mix at all. The company warns about that.....more than likely why I've not tried it.

I might needle load an empty cartridge, in using a rubber bulb syringe cleans out a C/C pen clean quickly.

 

My 'go to' sepia is the discontinued MB Sepia.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

 

I thought it might be oxidised black ink - John Keat's writing is a similar colour now.

 

I was thinkin ghtis spidery dark brown would probably look good on a nice cream paper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks like a Sepia to me.

There is a wide color spectrum in sepia inks from gray to brown....in some are made traditionally from cuttlefish.

 

MB Toffee is about that shade....give or take.

As suggested Pelikan Smoky Quartz is not quite a match....but an ink one 'needs', and Herbin Lie de Thee is even lighter but again an ink one should have. Both are very good shading inks, if you are using 90g or + papers.

 

I've got R&K sepia, not yet used, but that is a different color from my reading more grayish, to grayish- brown....and is an ink that requires getting a pen very clean, in that ink don't mix at all. The company warns about that.....more than likely why I've not tried it.

I might needle load an empty cartridge, in using a rubber bulb syringe cleans out a C/C pen clean quickly.

 

My 'go to' sepia is the discontinued MB Sepia.

 

 

R&K sepia probably needs some dilution but I think it's pretty close, looking at my swab.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh, I searched for a very similar colour having visited The British Library and seen some of Leonardo De Vincci's incredible sketches and notes.

This fella "Sailor School Brown" came pretty close.

Then, I went a step further and had a go at mixing my own. Having become obsessed and succesfully mixing & matching

1.5 Douou
5 helianthus

3 Ancient Copper

1 Zhivago
1 PR American Blue
3 Infinity Grey
3 Kiowa Pecan

5 R&K Sepia
and 10 Cacao de Brazil :rolleyes: :blush:

I went back to the drawing board and simply mixed 1:1 KWZ Hunter Green with Kiowa Pecan. Pow. B)

I ended up deciding that the warm paper colour played a significant role.

Best of luck.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Came here to say this, that's almost 100% certainly iron gall.

...

 

Hi.

 

Yes, iron gall would be the authentic choice here!

Gutenberg Urkundentinte G10, our german IG registrar's ink, has that color and should be historically as correct as possible. It looks like this:

 

post-142150-0-50208500-1566810962.jpg

 

It is made for fps, any pen that works well with other strong IG inks like ESSRI is fine with it.

 

Best

Jens

Edited by SchaumburgSwan

.....................................................................................................

https://www.flickr.com/photos/136145166@N02/albums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most definitely iron gall, you can clearly see that it has completely eaten through the page in some places and there is also very visible ghosting due to the same effect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The brown color is because the ink was an iron gall ink that had an excess of iron left over after it oxidized and thus is degraded with a brown haloing of the letters as hydrogen (increasing acidity) and peroxides (strong oxidizing compounds) are created from the iron's interaction with the paper and other acids and pre acid pollutants in the air (Fenton Reaction). All but one of the modern "fountain pen friendly" IG inks are chemically balanced to avoid excess iron from occurring (Organic Studio's Aristotle's first version at least being the exception), so a sepia ink would be the best bet for a similar effect. There are a number of traditional iron gall inks being sold for use with a dip pen, which because they are using natural, or raw materials may not be able to create a chemically balanced ink, but depending on how pure their materials are may also not degrade to this degree over time as they would with inks made during Bryon's time.....

Edited by JakobS

FP Ink Orphanage-Is an ink not working with your pens, not the color you're looking for, is never to see the light of day again?!! If this is you, and the ink is in fine condition otherwise, don't dump it down the sink, or throw it into the trash, send it to me (payment can be negotiated), and I will provide it a nice safe home with love, and a decent meal of paper! Please PM me!<span style='color: #000080'>For Sale:</span> TBA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another plus one for the Smoky Quartz: I use it to duplicate the look of that ancient ink.

 

Love those ascenders...I wonder if he was using a deliberately antique writing style?

Edited by sidthecat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or you could go fully old school and use a dip pen with inexpensive Walnut Ink (just don't use in a fountain pen).

 

fpn_1557237114__2018_12_20_example_of_wr

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The British Library is a DANDY resource! Here's an excerpt of a letter written by Captain Soame Jenyns, describing the Charge of the Light Brigade:

fpn_1566850644__soame_three_c13587_38.jp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The British Library is a DANDY resource! Here's an excerpt of a letter written by Captain Soame Jenyns, describing the Charge of the Light Brigade:

fpn_1566850644__soame_three_c13587_38.jp

Wow love this

 

Great color and history

 

Thanks for posting

The prizes of life are never to be had without trouble - Horace
Kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much - Pascal

You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream - C.S. Lewis

 Favorite shop:https://www.fountainpenhospital.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...