Page 129 - Manual of Roman Everyday Writing Volume 2: Writing Equipment

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class kind, but being entirely second class, has retained its Pliny, Natural History 28.235:
position. In ambustis ursinus adips cum lilii radicibus, aprunum aut suillum
Roughness is smoothed out with a piece of ivory or a shell, but fimum inveteratum, saetarum ex his e penicillis tectoriis cinis cum
this makes the lettering apt to fade, as owing to the polish so adipe tritus (…).
given the paper does not take the ink so well, but has a shinier For burns bear’s grease with lily roots, dried dung of wild boar
surface. The damping process if carelessly applied often causes or of pig, the ash of pig’s bristles from plasterers’ brushes
difficulty in writing at first, and it can be detected by a blow beaten up with pig fat (…).
with the mallet, or even by the musty smell if the process has (Transl. W. H. S. Jones, Loeb)
been rather carelessly carried out. Spottiness also may be Pliny, Natural History 34.139:
detected by the eye, but a bad porous strip found inserted in the In foedere, quod expulsis regibus populo Romano dedit Porsina
middle of the pasted joins, owing to the sponginess of the nominatim comprehensum invenimus, ne ferro nisi in agri cultu
papyrus, sucks up the ink and so can scarcely be detected except uteretur. et tum stilo osseo scribere institutum vetustissimi auctores
when the ink of a letter runs: so much opportunity is there for prodiderunt.
cheating. The consequence is that another task is added to the We find it an express provision included in the treaty granted
process of paper-weaving. by Porsena to the Roman nation after the expulsion of the kings
The common kind of paste for paper is made of fine flour of the that they should only use iron for purposes of agriculture;
best quality mixed with boiling water, with a very small sprinkle and our oldest authors have recorded that in those days it was
of vinegar; for carpenter’s paste and gum make too brittle a customary to write with a bone pen.
compound. But a more careful process is to strain the crumb of (Transl. H. Rackham, Loeb)
leavened bread in boiling water; this method requires the
smallest amount of paste at the seams, and produces a paper Pliny, Natural History 35.41–43:
softer than even linen. But all the paste used ought to be exactly Atramentum quoque inter facticios erit, quamquam est et terrae,
a day old—not more nor yet less. Afterwards the paper is beaten geminae originis. aut enim salsuginis modo emanat, aut terra ipsa
thin with a mallet and run over with a layer of paste, and then sulpurei coloris ad hoc probatur. inventi sunt pictores, qui carbones
again has its creases removed by pressure and is flattened out infestatis sepulchris effoderent. inportuna haec omnia ac novicia.
with the mallet. fit enim e fuligine pluribus modis, resina vel pice exustis, propter
(Transl. H. Rackham, Loeb) quod etiam officinas aedificavere fumum eum non emittentes.
laudatissimum eodem modo fit e taedis. adulteratur fornacium
Pliny, Natural History 16.229: balinearumque fuligine quo ad volumina scribenda utuntur. (42) sunt
Facilis et fagus, quamquam fragilis et tenera. eadem sectilibus lamnis qui et vini faecem siccatam excoquant adfirmentque, si ex bono vino
in tenui flexilis capsisque ac scrineis sola utilis. faex ea fuerit, Indici speciem id atramentum praebere. Polygnotus
Beech also is easily worked, although brittle and soft; also cut in et Micon, celeberrimi pictores, Athenis e vinaceis fecere, tryginon
thin layers of veneer it is flexible, and is the only wood suitable appellantes. Apelles commentus est ex ebore combusto facere, quod
for boxes and book-buckets. elephantinum vocatur. (43) adportatur et Indicum ex India inexploratae
(Transl. after H. Rackham, Loeb)
adhuc inventionis mihi. fit etiam aput infectores ex flore nigro, qui
adhaerescit aereis cortinis. fit et ligno e taedis combusto tritisque in