"Today I looked at a handwritten account book from 1717. It listed a series of expenses paid by the city of Leiden (the Dutch city where I live) to various suppliers - of books, papers, pens. Being a medieval book historian, any source made after 1500 is alien. Because I am used to handling parchment books, it was odd to handle a book that was made out of paper - and a lot of it, for that matter. Also new to me was the fact that related materials were held together by needles and to see dozens of rare actual receipts, small slips that were crossed out when paid. The biggest surprise, however, was the material that came falling out of the account book: sand..."Some readers here will already know the explanation for the sand; others can find the answer at Erik Kwakkel.
Reposted from 2015 because I encountered it while searching for something else. Sadly, the Erik Swakkel link is dormant now (but the link is still accessible). The site is a treasure trove for those interested in medieval books.
It's how people dried their ink, or sopped up the excess...
ReplyDeletethe sand does not soak up ink.
ReplyDeletethe sand was placed between two sheets only to separate them while ink was still wet on the lower one
Good point.
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