Synth-DIY Yahoo! Groups Archives

Carbon longevity

2004-05-22 by hlewis9952

Here is an excerpt from a short article that mentions a type of 
carbon fading that wouldn't be detected by Wilhelm-type 
longevity testing:

"Sometime in the 1440's or 1450's Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden, 
better known as Johannes Gutenberg, invented a method of printing 
from movable metal type. One component of this technological leap 
was an oil-based ink that, unlike earlier water-based preparations, 
would adhere to metal. Historians have long assumed that Gutenberg's 
ink was a mixture of linseed oil and lampblack, or soot, a formula 
known to have been common in the 16th century.

Richard N. Schwab and Thomas A. Cahill of the University of 
California, Davis have now shown the assumption to be wrong. 
Gutenberg employed a superior formula consisting largely of 
copper and lead. The workers made that discovery by analyzing 
most of the pages in one copy of Gutenberg's masterpiece, the 
42-line Bible. The analysis involved exposing the pages to a 
proton beam in a cyclotron. Energetic protons excite molecules 
in the ink, causing them to fluoresce in the X-ray range; each 
element emits a characteristic spectrum, and the intensity of the 
radiation is a measure of the abundance of the element.

The use of metals instead of soot as a pigment was probably 
inspired by oil painting. It helps to explain why Gutenberg's 
print is still glossy and black after five centuries, whereas many 
later works have faded badly. Copper and lead oxides are stable, but 
the carbon in lampblack oxidizes to carbon monoxide and so tends 
to evanesce."

Scientific American, February 1985, page 63.

See also: Schwab 1983 Schwab, Richard et al. "Cyclotron Analysis 
of the Ink in the 42-line Bible". /Papers of the Bibliographical 
Society of America/..Vol.77, No.2 (1983). pp. 285-315.

RE: [Digital BW] Carbon longevity

2004-05-23 by Paul Roark

The history of inks can be interesting, but it's not necessarily consistent.

My understanding is that lampblack was dominant very early on, but in the
middle ages gall-iron took over due to its better adhesion to parchment,
which is goat skin, I believe.  The gall-iron, however, was acidic, which
has left many old documents in bad shape.  Many seem to have thought that
the carbon was more stable than the gall-iron.

So, it may be that the comparison of Gutenberg's inks to others at the time
was not to carbon but to gall-iron.

One of the sources that is interesting to read is at
http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/preservation/conservation/writinginks.pdf.  
This rather official looking British document starts with the recipe to make
ink -- in the original old English.  It's quite fun to read.

As to the oxidation of carbon, recall that lamp black is the carbon that
didn't burn in the flame.  Carbon can be in forms that are relatively inert.
Consider, for example, the trouble the transportation industry is having
trying to get rid of the carbon particles that come out of diesel engines.
These little particles of soot are rather tough survivors.

From what I can tell, carbon remains one of the most lightfast and stable
pigments we have.  There are some very interesting metallic pigments also.
Unfortunately, they virtually all have high specific gravities and would
sink like little rocks in our inks.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 
__________________________

Show quoted textHide quoted text

-----Original Message-----
From: hlewis9952 [mailto:hlewis9952@...] 
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 2:19 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Carbon longevity

Here is an excerpt from a short article that mentions a type of 
carbon fading that wouldn't be detected by Wilhelm-type 
longevity testing:

"Sometime in the 1440's or 1450's Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden, 
better known as Johannes Gutenberg, invented a method of printing 
from movable metal type. One component of this technological leap 
was an oil-based ink that, unlike earlier water-based preparations, 
would adhere to metal. Historians have long assumed that Gutenberg's 
ink was a mixture of linseed oil and lampblack, or soot, a formula 
known to have been common in the 16th century.

Richard N. Schwab and Thomas A. Cahill of the University of 
California, Davis have now shown the assumption to be wrong. 
Gutenberg employed a superior formula consisting largely of 
copper and lead. The workers made that discovery by analyzing 
most of the pages in one copy of Gutenberg's masterpiece, the 
42-line Bible. The analysis involved exposing the pages to a 
proton beam in a cyclotron. Energetic protons excite molecules 
in the ink, causing them to fluoresce in the X-ray range; each 
element emits a characteristic spectrum, and the intensity of the 
radiation is a measure of the abundance of the element.

The use of metals instead of soot as a pigment was probably 
inspired by oil painting. It helps to explain why Gutenberg's 
print is still glossy and black after five centuries, whereas many 
later works have faded badly. Copper and lead oxides are stable, but 
the carbon in lampblack oxidizes to carbon monoxide and so tends 
to evanesce."

Scientific American, February 1985, page 63.

See also: Schwab 1983 Schwab, Richard et al. "Cyclotron Analysis 
of the Ink in the 42-line Bible". /Papers of the Bibliographical 
Society of America/..Vol.77, No.2 (1983). pp. 285-315.

Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
they are often being updated.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
page.

Please follow these basic guidelines:
- As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
membership without notice.
- Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from
the membership.
- By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner and
Moderators. See "Group Topic, Rules and Guidelines" in the Files section:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/files/

BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE "OWNER" AND
"MODERATORS" OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY
DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS,
GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF THE  "OWNER" AND
"MODERATORS" OF DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY
TO USE THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; (ii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR
ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iii) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY
THIRD PARTY ON THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP; OR (iv) ANY OTHER
MATTER RELATING TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT YAHOO GROUP.

Yahoo! Groups Links

Digital BW, The Print

Carbon longevity

Carbon longevity

RE: [Digital BW] Carbon longevity

Move to quarantaine