“To make three pintes of ink: Take galls and gum, two ounces of each, and three ounces of copperas. Crush the galls and soak them for three days. Then boil them in three quartes of rain water, or water from a still pool. When they have boiled enough and the water is almost half-boiled away (I.e., no more than three pintes are left), take it off the fire, add the copperas and gum, and stir it until it is cold. Then put it in a cold, damp place. After three weeks it spoils.” (Bayard, 1992, p. 139).
You will also need red ink; this is made by grinding red lead into a powder and mixing it with egg white or gum; or use vermilion or minium, which must be ground with water, then put into a vessel filled with water; when the water becomes clear, pour it off, and mix the remainder with egg white (Lindgren-Larkin, 2000).There are of course many other paints and pigments which are used in illuminating manuscripts, but as you are a capable scribe, you no doubt have your own recipes for these and do not require my instruction.
