Logwood Writing Inks: History, Production, Forensics, and Use
-
Han Neevel
Abstract
In the 16th century, the Spanish brought logwood from Mexico to Europe. Its extract was used for textile dyeing. The French introduced the logwood tree to Western Hispaniola, which became Haiti in 1804. Around 1880, Haiti exported most of its logwood to France. In 1847, Runge introduced the black chrome-logwood ink as an alternative for iron-gall ink, because the latter attacked the steel writing nibs. The most important constituents of logwood are hematoxylin and hematein. Due to the profitable import conditions from Haiti, chrome-logwood ink became the cheapest and most commonly used black writing ink in France. This could explain why Vincent van Gogh, during his French period, used it for writing and drawing and why most of the French postcards from the first half of the 20th century, studied in this publication, were written with chrome-logwood ink, while most of the Dutch postcards were written with an iron gall ink.
Zusammenfassung
Im 16. Jahrhundert brachten die Spanier Blauholz aus Mexiko nach Europa. Sein Extrakt wurde zum Färben von Textilien verwendet. Die Franzosen brachten den Blauholzbaum nach West-Hispaniola, das 1804 zu Haiti wurde. Um 1880 exportierte Haiti den größten Teil seines Blauholzes nach Frankreich. 1847 führte Runge die schwarze Chrom-Blauholztinte als Alternative zur Eisengallustinte ein, da letztere die Stahlschreibfedern angriff. Die wichtigsten Inhaltsstoffe des Blauholzes sind Hämatoxylin und Hämatein. Aufgrund der günstigen Importkonditionen aus Haiti wurde die Chrom-Blauholz-Tinte zur billigsten und am weitesten verbreiteten schwarzen Schreibtinte in Frankreich. Dies könnte erklären, warum Vincent van Gogh während seiner Zeit in Frankreich damit schrieb und zeichnete und warum die meisten französischen Postkarten aus der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, die in dieser Publikation untersucht werden, mit Chrom-Blauholz-Tinte geschrieben wurden, während die meisten niederländischen Postkarten mit einer Eisengallustinte geschrieben wurden.
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the support from Nico Lingbeek, Marije Vellekoop, Roelie Zwikker, and Teio Meedendorp of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (The Netherlands); Bernadette van Beek, formerly of the Kröller Müller Museum (Otterlo, The Netherlands); Bruno Revelle of the ‘Bibliothèque Forney’ in Paris (France), and my colleagues of the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE): Art Proãno Gaibor, Frank Ligterink, and Birgit Reissland.
References
Anon. 1882. “Herstellung von Schreibtinte.” Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal 245: 475–6.Search in Google Scholar
Anon. 1883. Klasse 32 op de Tentoonstelling/Fransche Afdeeling, Exposition Universelle d‘Amsterdam, 1883. The Hague. Nieuwe Amsterdamsche Courant – Algemeen Handelsblad, Friday 29 June; newspaper articles, accessed through Delpher, search engine of the Royal Library of the Netherlands.Search in Google Scholar
Anon. 1887. Advertisement H.C. van Blommestein Powalky te Apeldoorn, Erica, Adres- en Jaarboekje voor de Gemeente Apeldoorn, Vol. 3, 251. Apeldoorn: T.D.H. Pull.Search in Google Scholar
Anon. 1997. “Manufacture d’Encres N. Antoine and Fils.” Au Fil de la Plume – Le magazine du club des collectionneurs d‘objets d‘écriture, Salome: Club des Collectionneurs d’Objets d'Écriture. 70: 4–10 (reprint from the 1893 pricelist).Search in Google Scholar
Anon. 2004–2009. http://www.colorantshistory.org/DyewoodHistory.html (accessed July 13, 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Anon. 2007. ‘Encres Antoine’, Au Fil de la Plume – Le magazine du club des collectionneurs d‘objets d‘écriture, Vol. 105, 1–68 (includes reprint of 1900 catalogue) Salome: Club des Collectionnaires d’Objets d'criture.Search in Google Scholar
Berends, R. 2007. Deventer Als Industriestad 1907, 138–41. Deventer: Corps Publishers (reprint from 1907 publication).Search in Google Scholar
Bellande, A. 2016. “Haïti dans le marché mondial du bois aux 19ème et 20ème siècles : Commerce et environnement.” Journal of Haitian Studies 22: 130–46 https://doi.org/10.1353/jhs.2016.0030.Search in Google Scholar
Bulmer-Thomas, V. 2012. The Economic History of the Caribbean Since the Napoleonic Wars, Cambridge University Press, New York, (export data for Haiti: Table B2, export data for Belize 1820–1870 and Jamaica 1820–1850: Table A10), 496 table, showing exchange rates between U.S. dollars, British Pounds Sterling, French Francs and Dutch Guilders, 1820–1900.10.1017/CBO9781139031264Search in Google Scholar
CABI. 2019. Datasheet on logwood, provided by CABI, the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, last update: 2019. Also available at www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/26332#92332AAF-FEB3-491F-AB84-CF19D5D4B6FC.Search in Google Scholar
Camara, L. M. 1984. “Logwood and Archaeology in Campeche.” Journal of Anthropological Research 40 (2): 324–8, https://doi.org/10.1086/jar.40.2.3629579.Search in Google Scholar
Camille, M. A., and R. Espejo-Saavedra. 1996. “Historical Geography of the Belizean Logwood Trade.” In Yearbook (Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers), Vol. 22, 77–85. Also available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/25765830.Search in Google Scholar
Cardon, D. 2007. Natural Dyes – Sources, Tradition, Technology and Science, 263–74. London: Archetype Publications Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
Carvalho, D. N. 1904. Forty Centuries of Ink, 1st ed., 205–16. New York: The Banks Law Publishing Co.Search in Google Scholar
Centro de Investigación Cientifica de Yucatán –CICY. Also available at www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/palo-de-campeche-tinte-prehispanico.html .Search in Google Scholar
Colour Index. 1971. Society of Dyers and Colourists, 3rd ed., Vol. 4, 4628.Search in Google Scholar
Cron, C. (not dated). https://latourrobinson.pagesperso-orange.fr/indexduboscusine.html (accessed July 13, 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Cumper, G. E. 1957. “Estimates of Jamaican Commodity Trade.” Social & Economic Studies 6: 425–31 (export data for Jamaica 1850–1920).Search in Google Scholar
Davies, B. H. 2008. “Logwood under the Microscope.” Dyes in History and Archaeology 27: 180–8.Search in Google Scholar
Den Besten, L. 2015. Gimborn/Pelikan – Een Wereldspeler in Zevenaar, (a Book about the history of the Gimborn factory in Zevenaar), 11. Zevenaar: Cultuurhistorische Vereniging Zevenaar.Search in Google Scholar
Desmarest, L. 1912. Encyclopédie Scientifique des Aide-Mémoire, edited by F. Margival, 30–46. Paris: Gauthiers-Villars & Masson et Cie. Search in Google Scholar
Eng, C. 2013. “Examination of an Ink Drawing by Vincent Van Gogh.” Journal of Paper Conservation 14: 19–25.Search in Google Scholar
Gouillon, A. F. 1906. Traité méthodique de la fabrication des encres et cirages, colles de bureau, cires à cacheter, 80–118. Paris: Garnier Frères, Libraires-Éditeurs.Search in Google Scholar
Graig, A. K. 1969. “Logwood as a Factor in the Settlement of British Honduras.” Caribbean Studies 9: 53–62.Search in Google Scholar
Grison, T. 1908. La Teinture au Dix-Neuvième Siècle – Tome 2, Nouveau tirage, Vol. 2, 298–315. Paris: H. Dunod et E. Pinat, Éditeurs.Search in Google Scholar
Hahn, C. M. 2002. The Topic Is Ink. U.S. Philatelics Classics Society, New York. Also available at http://www.nystamp.org/postal-history-articles/the-topic-is-ink/.Search in Google Scholar
Henochsberg, S. 2016. “Public Debt and Slavery: The Case of Haiti (1760–1915).” B.Sc. thesis. Paris: School of Economics.Search in Google Scholar
Institute for the History of Pharmacy. Philipps Universität Marburg. Also available at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Friedlieb_Ferdinand_Runge_portrait_from_the_picture_collection_of_the_Institute_for_the_History_of_Pharmacy%2C_Marburg.jpg .Search in Google Scholar
International Mission Photography Archive, c. 1860–c. 1960. Edinburgh: Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh.Search in Google Scholar
Joseph, G. M. 1974. “British Loggers and Spanish Governors: The Logwood Trade and its Settlements in the Yucatan Peninsula – Part I.” Caribbean Studies 14: 7–37, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/14.3.262.Search in Google Scholar
Kahr, B., S. Lovell, and J. A. Subramony. 1998. “The Progress of Logwood Extract.” Chirality 10: 66–77.10.1002/chir.12Search in Google Scholar
Kränzlein, G. 1935. “Zum 100 Jährigen Gedächtnis der Arbeiten von F.F. Runge.” Angewandte Chemie 48–1: 1–3, https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.19350480103.Search in Google Scholar
Le Collen, E. 1999. Feder, Tinte und Papiere. Die Geschichte schönen Schreibgeräts, 115. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg.Search in Google Scholar
Lehner, S. 1909. Die Tinten-Fabrikation, 97–8. Vienna and Leipzig: A. Hartlebens Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Lutecien. 2016. Also available at www.kapricorn8.blogspot.com/2016/01/la-manufacture-des-encres-antoine-fils.html .Search in Google Scholar
Mayet, L. 1894. “Les Grandes Industries: La Maison E. Dubosc du Havre.” Bulletin Officiel de l’Exposition de Lyon, Universelle, Internationale et Coloniale – Journal Hebdomaire 2 (16): 6–7.Search in Google Scholar
McJunkin, D. M. 1991. “Logwood: An Inquiry into the Historical Biogeography of Haematoxylum Campechianum, and Related Dyewoods of the Neotropics.” PhD thesis. University of California (export data for Mexico and Haiti).Search in Google Scholar
Mell, C. D. 1929. “An Historical Sketch of the Logwood Industry.” Textile Colorist 51: 254–7.Search in Google Scholar
Mitchell, C. A. 1937. Inks, Their Composition and Manufacture Including Methods of Examination and a Full List of British Patents, Vol. 1937. 136–47, 151–71. London: Charles Griffin and Cy, Ltd.Search in Google Scholar
Neevel, H. 2006. Iron Gall Inks – on Manufacture, Characterisation, Degradation and Stabilisation, edited by J. Kolar, and M. Strlič, 147–72. Ljubljana: National and University Library.Search in Google Scholar
Neevel, J. G. 2013. Van Gogh’s Studio Practice, edited by M. Vellekoop, L. Jansen, M. Geldof, E. Hendriks, and A. de Tagle, 420–33. Brussels: Mercatorfonds; New Haven & London: Yale University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Neevel, J. G., and B. Reissland. 2005. “Bathophenanthroline Indicator Paper – Development of a New Test for Iron Ions.” Papierrestaurierung 6 (1): 28–36.Search in Google Scholar
Nicholls, D. 1985. Haiti in Caribbean Context – Ethnicity, Economy and Revolt, 83–120. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.10.1007/978-1-349-17786-8_6Search in Google Scholar
Rapp, P. 1912. “Du rôle du Campêche dans la teinture des marchandises de laine.” Revue Textile et des Arts Industriels 10: 227–35.Search in Google Scholar
Reissland, B., A. Ness Proaño Gaibor, F. Ligterink, and J. G. Neevel. 2017. “Exploring the Late 19th Century Landscape of Ink Manufacturing via a Collection of 90 Bottles.” In ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference Preprints, Copenhagen, 4–8 September 2017, edited by J. Bridgland, 1–10. Paris: ICOM - International Council of Museums.Search in Google Scholar
Ribeaucourt. 1792. “Dissertation sur l'encre ordinaire.” Annales de Chimie 15: 15, 113.Search in Google Scholar
Runge, F. F. 1847. Grundriss der Chemie, II. Theil, 206–7.Search in Google Scholar
Runge, F. F. 1848. “Über die Bereitung schwarzer Schreibdinte, insbesondere für Stahlfedern.” Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal 109/XLI: 225–8.Search in Google Scholar
Sannié, C. H., and L. Amy. 1938. Sur l’Analyse de l’Encre des Documents Manuscrits, Vol. XVIII, 401–19. Tome: Médecine Légale.Search in Google Scholar
Schaefer, G. 1937. “Das Blauholz, Zur Geschichte der Blauholzverwendung und des Blauholzhandels.” CIBA-Rundschau 10: 326–39.Search in Google Scholar
Shelley, M., and S. Centeno. 2005. Vincent Van Gogh – The Drawings, edited by C. Ives, S. A. Stein, S. van Heugten, and M. Vellekoop, 348–59. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Tippenhauer, L. G. 1893. Die Insel Haiti, 208–12. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus.Search in Google Scholar
Titford, M. 2005. “The Long History of Hematoxylin.” Biotechnic & Histochemistry 80 (2): 73–8, https://doi.org/10.1080/10520290500138372.Search in Google Scholar
Van Ledden Hulsebosch, M. L. Q. 1899. “Een en ander over schrijfinkten met betrekking tot het gerechtelijk onderzoek naar valschheid in geschriften.” Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor Pharmacie, Chemie en oxicologie 11: 267–80.Search in Google Scholar
Van Son, P. 1890. “Iets over Inkt, Zijne Samenstelling en Behandeling.” Nieuwsblad voor den Boekhandel 57 (86): 618–20.Search in Google Scholar
Viedt, C. H. 1875. “Ueber Schwarze Schreibtinten.” Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal 216: 453456.Search in Google Scholar
Villegas, P., and R. Torras. 2014. “La Extracción y Exportación del Palo de Tinte a Manos de Colonos Extranjeros. El caso de la B. Anizan y Cía.” Secuencia 90: 79–93, https://doi.org/10.18234/secuencia.v0i90.1238.Search in Google Scholar
Wizinger, R. 1973. “Gerbstoff- und Blauholzschwarz.” Rundschau CIBA-Geigy 26: 4–13.Search in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- 10.1515/res-2022-frontmatter4
- Original Work
- Logwood Writing Inks: History, Production, Forensics, and Use
- Technical Note
- Cyclopentasiloxane (D5) as a Non-Polar Masking Agent for Water-Sensitive Substrates During Polar Solvent Treatment
- Original Work
- Using a Multi-Methods Approach to Investigate Disaster Preparedness of Community Libraries in the North West Province of South Africa
Articles in the same Issue
- 10.1515/res-2022-frontmatter4
- Original Work
- Logwood Writing Inks: History, Production, Forensics, and Use
- Technical Note
- Cyclopentasiloxane (D5) as a Non-Polar Masking Agent for Water-Sensitive Substrates During Polar Solvent Treatment
- Original Work
- Using a Multi-Methods Approach to Investigate Disaster Preparedness of Community Libraries in the North West Province of South Africa
