Gogashvili D. - From the History of Ink (According to Old Georgian Manuscripts). - Transactions of International Symposium on Problems of Development of Natural Sciences and Engineering. - Tbilisi - 2000.
Georgia, the country of ancient alphabet, has been using ink in the handwritten manuscripts since 5th-6th centuries. Georgian written sources do not provide substantial information on the preparation and use of the writing ink. Nevertheless, there exist some ascriptions that allow us to put forward the supposition on the consistency of ink and the errors that were made during its manufacturing.
This research is based on the ascriptions kept in the manuscripts kept in K. Kekelidze Institute of Manuscripts, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Library in Jerusalem and Kutaisi State Museum. It becomes evident from the ascriptions that scribes used to complain concerning the bad quality of the ink. It becomes watery when the plant extract containing tannin solution (gall-nuts) is of low quality and contains dissolvable organic alloys.
In the course of preparing ink, the violation of rules or incorrect consistency of the ingredients is bound to cause the dispersion of the ink or else it may not penetrate into pores and remain on the surface as a thick layer.
The iron-gall consistency ink has been used in the cases represented in the article. We consider that the ink was made by use of gall-nut extract received from plants, the iron and gum arabic. The quality of ink greatly depended on the purity of the initial components, its concentration and the maintenance of proper conditions for its preparation.
Gogashvili D. - The Way of Processing Parchment. - Mravaltavi. - Tbilisi, 2001 - N 19 - in Georgian.
The article gives the way of processing parchment in Georgia. Based on the detailed analysis of ethnographical data, some evidences in Georgian written monuments (colophons, ascriptions) and physical state of parchments it becomes clear that in Georgia parchments were prepared in the following way: animal skin (mainly sheep's, goat's or calf's skins) were washed, processed with ash, a mixture of ash and lime or lime solution. That grain and flash layer were removed, and then the skin was washed once again and stretched on e wooden frame for drying. Meanwhile the skin was processed with a Knife and pumice until the surface was smooth. We suppose that final processing of the parchment was done with chalk, albumen and linseed oil.
Gogashvili D. - Ways of Receiving of red ink - Cinnabar. - Mravaltavi. - Tbilisi, 1999 - N 18 - in Georgian.
The texts of the handwritten manuscripts were mainly done in dark ink either black or brown, but in order to single out some specific parts of the text was used red ink, the so called cinnabar. It was used ever since the 9th century in almost every manuscript to mark the initial letters and sometimes when writing ascriptions on the margins.
The article deals with the 18th century manuscripts (S-3721 and A-627) which provide the recipes and some evidences of preparing and using the red ink. Detailed analysis shows that there are three ways of getting the preparation of cinnabar, according to them the first and foremost thing was to prepare the necessary pure pigment and then to blended it with gum arabic. Pigments necessary for ink can be obtained from both artificially made and natural type of cinnabar.