Forty Centuries of Ink / Or, A chronological narrative concerning ink and its backgrounds, introducing incidental observations and deductions, parallels of time and color phenomena, bibliography, chemistry, poetical effusions, citations, anecdotes and curiosa together with some evidence respecting the evanescent character of most inks of to-day and an epitome of chemico-legal ink.

by David Nunes Carvalho

3. Charta fannia—from Fannius, the manufacturer.

4. Charta saitica—from Sais in Egypt. This appears to have been a coarser kind.

5. Charta toeniotica—from the place where made, now Damietta. This was also of a less fine quality.

6. Charta claudia. This was an improvement of the charta hieratica, which was too fine.

7. Charta emporitica. A coarse paper for parcels.

There was also a paper called macrocollum, which was of a very large size.

Of all these, he says, the charta claudia was the best.

The ink-written rolls of papyrus were placed vertically in a cylindrical box called capsula. It is very evident that a great number of such volumes might be comprised in this way within a small space, and this may tend to explain the smallness of the rooms which are considered to have been used for containing the ancient libraries.

At Mentz, in Upper Germany, is a leaf of parchment on which are fairly written twelve different kinds of handwritings in six different inks also a variety of miniatures and drawings curiously done with a pen by one Theodore Schubiker, who was born without hands and performed the work with his feet.

In Rome the very plate of brass on which the laws of the ten tables are written is still to be seen.