596 PAPER, PARCHMENT, INK, BOOKS, ETC. 



these entries is high, 8j. o|<^. the dozen. The article was 

 purchased for service-books, and there was probably a limited 

 demand for it. 



INK. The materials for the manufacture of ink are oc- 

 casionally given in the accounts. In 1418 three pounds of 

 galls at zd., three pounds of copperas at 4^., and a pound and 

 a quarter of gum at i s. $\d. are bought by New College, Oxford. 

 I referred to this entry before (Vol. I, p. 461). In 1493 three 

 pounds of galls are bought at iod., three pounds of copperas at 

 id., and three pounds of gum at i\d. .In 1496 two pounds of 

 galls are bought at 6d., two pounds of copperas at id., and two 

 pounds of gum at ^d. I am at a loss to account for the high 

 price of gum in the first entry, but as may be expected, and as 

 will be seen hereafter, there were great fluctuations in the 

 price of foreign produce, especially when the demand was 

 uncertain 1 . 



In the sixteenth century ink was purchased, but the purchaser 

 is always the Crown. Five entries between 1533 and 1543 are 

 at is. 4^. the gallon, except in the first year, when a small 

 quantity is bought at Windsor at zs. There are four entries 

 between 1561 and 1569, when it is 5.$-. ^d. the gallon, a small 

 quantity having been purchased at Portsmouth in 1563 at^j-. 8d. 

 The rise of four times is the greatest which I have seen in 

 any article. 



In 1560 a standish for ink, and a set of gold weights are 

 bought together for is. ^d. In 1563 two tin standishes are 

 purchased at Deptford for the use of the queen's dockyard at 

 2s. 6d. each. In 1498 four glass ink bottles are purchased at 

 Oxford at a halfpenny each, and one in 1503, at Cambridge, at 

 the same price. 



Ink was constantly dried with white sand, but brass dust was 

 also used. In 1545 this article cost 4^. a pound ; in 1548 it is 

 bought for $d. In 1549 and 1551 it costs 6d. ; in 1552 



1 I should have had more information on these materials had not the purchase of 

 those articles been constantly included in some lump sum. 



