Iron gall ink (also known as iron gall nut ink or oak gall ink) is a purple-black or brown-black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources. It was the standard writing and drawing ink in Europe, from about the 12th century to the 19th century, and remained in use well into the 20th century.
Read more about Iron Gall Ink: Preparation and Use, Chemistry, Demise, Fountain Pens
Famous quotes containing the words iron, gall and/or ink:
“By the flow of the inland river,
Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead:—”
—Francis Miles Finch (1827–1907)
“No might nor greatness in mortality
Can censure scape; back-wounding calumny
The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Traveling takes the ink out of one’s pen as well as the cash out of one’s purse.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)