EXHIBITS
The Book of Secretes: Secretes of Inks and Dyes
Secretes of Inks and Dyes
Dyes during the Renaissance
During the Renaissance there were a lot of old ideas being used again, as well as new ideas coming up. One of these new ideas was “fashion”. Fashion was new as people started wanting to look their best and stand out from others around them. Because of this, many more sumptuary laws came into effect. Sumptuary laws are laws that made to restrict expenses by people and prevent extravagance and luxury [1]. These laws allowed only certain classes to buy certain colors of clothing, as well as limit the amount of money that the wealthy could spend on clothing to limit competitive spending [2]. During this time outfits were highly customizable, with many detachable parts that could be replaced with an article of clothing in a different color by using dyes. The recipes included in this book for dyes are for clothing, bones, leather, and wood. There are recipes for colors of dye such as yellow, blue, green, and purple.
Recipe from the Book of Secretes for dying leather:
“Another waye to dye skinnes of afure coulr and fayre:
Take the skinnes of blacke grapesm and rub welle youre leather, wyth all, untyll it ware sommwhat blewe, and also rubbe it well wyth the poulder of indicum, thenne washe it, drye, and polythe it. Than Diepe the Indicum in theycke red wine: and whan the skynne is washed, annotnte hym wyth it, and you shall bane a fayze skinne allured blewe.”
Inks during the Renaissance
During the renaissance inks were commonly used for writing and printing, and occasionally painting. People would have used ink to write letters, ledgers, as well as books if they didn’t have access to a printing press. At this time however, the printing press was in wide use across Europe, so most books would have been printed using one. The Book of secretes includes a recipe for printing press ink would have been useful to many owners of a printing press. It also includes several recipes for making ink, as well as adding colors to the ink such as green, gold, and silver. The different colors of ink would have been used to illustrate pictures in books as well as letters. Because the use of ink was so prominent during this time it is very useful to have a recipe to remove unwanted ink markings.
Recipe from the Book of Secretes for removing ink:
“To make a poulder to take of blottes of ynke, fallen vpon the paper, orels the letters and vvry-tying from the paper, vvhiche is a rare secrete, but yet profytale.
Take Cerule well brayed, and make there of a bowe with the mylke of a tygge tree, then leete it diye, afterward bray it agayne, and diye it as before, and to leuen tymes: then keepe it so in poilder. And whan you wyll use it to take out blottes, or letters out of paper, take a little lynnen cloth wette in water, psellinge and wryngyng the water out, then spreade it aroade upon he place where you woulde have it, and leave it thereupon until the paper and the ynke be mayste wythall : than take awaye the wette cloth, and upon the blotte or letters that you will have taken awaye, put a little of the said poulder of Cerule, leauynge it so the space of a nyghte. In the mornynge, you wall take a lynnen cloth cleane and dry, wherewith you shall rubbe of softlye and finelye the laied poulder, and the paper will remaine exceeding white for to write upon agayne, as well as before, and better. And if all be not well rubbed of at the fyrste tyme, you may do it once agayne, and you shall not fayle.”
Works Cited
[1.] U. Rublack ( 1,2 ). 2011. "Renaissance fashion: The birth of power dressing." History Today 61, no. 1: Scopus®, EBSCOhost(accessed November 21, 2017).
[2.] The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Sumptuary law." Encyclopædia Britannica. February 06, 2009. Accessed November 12, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/topic/sumptuary-law.
[3.] Ruscelli, Book of Secretes, USU SCA, pgs. 90-101.