Monday, February 3, 2014

How to Make White-Out, 1563

"For to make a water that will take out incontinent letters from the Paper. Ye shall take a pound of blewe vitrioll, three pound of salt peter, and four unces of Vermillion and fyve pounde of Alome, and stampe them all together, and make thereof a pouder, & stille it in some vessell of glasse with a small fire, & there will come out two manner of waters the first white, & the second greene. If you take a little of the first & laie it upon the lefe of Paper written, rubbing it with a greene clothe somewhat course or roughe, it will take away the letters from the Paper, & leave it as white as yf there had never bene incke upon it." 
The Second Part of the Secretes of Maister Alexis of Piemont (1563)
The secret that celebrity scribes don't want you to know! This scribal error correction fluid will make your manuscript appear effortlessly flawless even after an episode of literary incontinence.

2 comments:

  1. starting with over 9 pounds of powder - how much correction fluid do you get for that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not so much "Wite-Out" as a liquid eraser, seeing as how one needs to apply it and then rub with a coarse cloth. Still, very cool to know.

    ReplyDelete

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