Ink Tablets

[orngblsm]

Pards,

I just got some ink tablets as a present. The trouble is that i have never used ink tablets before, so i have no idea how to mix them or with what. I would really appreciate some help.

Respectfully,

[JohnTaylorCW]

The ink tablets that I'm familiar with are used for chinese brush caligraphy. I'm not an expert, but I've seen them dipped in a small amount of water, then ground against a small stone well to produce the ink. The ink doesn't keep more than a day or so. I'm not sure how it will work with a nib pen. But that's a start for you. Depending on your location, you might check with a specialty arts supply store that carries caligraphic or ink brush painting supplies.

John Taylor

[JohnTaylorCW]

Had a chance to think about this a bit. Are ink tablets correct for CW use?

John T

[Pvt Schnapps]

Interesting question -- what are these ink tablets?

As far as what was used, para. 1130 in the Revised Regs tells us that each company, for example, was entitled to a quarterly issue of the following stationery supplies: five quires (120 sheets?) of writing paper; ½ quire of envelope paper (or 50 envelopes); 20 quills (or “steel pens, with one holder to 12 pens”); ½ ounces of wafers (for sealing envelopes); three ounces of sealing wax; one paper of ink powder; and one piece of “office tape.”

In addition, each office table warranted “one inkstand, one stamp, one paper-folder, one sand-box, one wafer-box, and as many lead pencils as may be required, not exceeding four per annum.”

Quartermaster returns also mention ink bottles. I've seen no mention of ink tablets. Not that there weren't any -- I just haven't seen it.

You can obtain black oak gall ink (and sepia walnut hull ink) from John Neal booksellers. Both of these natural inks work very well with a dip pen. I've had mixed, but reasonably satisfactory, results with the much-less-expensive Higgins Eternal, but I recommend whatever works best for you and your pen. India ink and the ink used in oriental brush calligraphy are probably not especially good choices, as they're thick and would tend to clot up your pen.

But I'm interested in hearing from others on this.

[Spinster]

I was always taught to mix ink powder (or lamp black for that matter) with red wine--its works admirably with a dip pen and keeps well--it does need a good shaking before use.

I'm clueless though, as to the origin of the practice, and whether or not its a reenactorism, as I learned it from a great uncle who started doing Rev War back in the 1960's.

[JohnTaylorCW]

The ink tablets that I'm familiar with are Asiatic in origin. Very useful for travelling, but I think the powder form is actually correct for the period. I'm familiar with tablets through the Korean and Chinese communities. (Only problem with studying a wide-range of time periods and cultures, I occaisionally get mixed up what's correct for a specific time and place.)

I realized that they most likely weren't correct for CW use when I was looking at 19th C travelling inkwells and realized that none had a place to grind the ink tablets.

Ink and Red wine, hmmm? That would explain a lot about 18th and 19th C poets.

John T