In connection with our study of some of the earliest Latin manuscripts on papyrus and parchment, we took a class to try our hands at two different hands: rustic capitals and old Roman cursive. The night before, our ink-making team got to work, mixing lamp black, gum arabic, and water in mortars and pestles, and preparing a small jar of ink for each student in the class.
![](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5766-5fcba73aa5d660e0-edited-768x1024.jpeg)
![A student holding a bag of ground gum arabic mixes lamp black, water, and gum arabic in a bowl using a pestle](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5762-00be5118ea760c02-768x1024.jpeg)
![A group of four students mix lamp black, water, and gum arabic in a bowl using a pestle](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5761-cdc095bcfe915277-1024x768.jpeg)
![A student mixes lamp black, water, and gum arabic with a marble mortar and pestle](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5759-3853024ba139dfec-768x1024.jpeg)
![A student mixes lamp black, water, and gum arabic in a bowl using a pestle](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5764-ad4137c0fbfa30b6-768x1024.jpeg)
![A student mixes lamp black, water, and gum arabic in a bowl using a pestle](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5766-5fcba73aa5d660e0-768x1024.jpeg)
During class, each student used our new ink, reed pens, and papyrus to make a copy either of a 1st-century BCE fragment of the poetry of Gallus written in rustic capitals, P. Qaṣr Ibrîm 78-3-11/1, or a second-century fragment on Servius Tullius written in old roman cursive, P. Oxy. 2088.
![A student in the book arts workshop writes on papyrus using reed pens and lamp black ink](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5774-11f55e54b043a5fd-1024x1024.jpeg)
![Students in the book arts workshop write on papyrus using reed pens and lamp black ink](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5777-107b0458ff0cfc3f-1024x1024.jpeg)
![A student in the book arts workshop writes on papyrus using reed pens and lamp black ink](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5776-5044bdf5312053ee-1024x1024.jpeg)
![Students in the book arts workshop write on papyrus using reed pens and lamp black ink](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5780-1629636be8cfe980-1024x1024.jpeg)
![Students in the book arts workshop write on papyrus using reed pens and lamp black ink](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5772-5abbd5a72a6f981f-1024x1024.jpeg)
![Students in the book arts workshop write on papyrus using reed pens and lamp black ink](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5778-0ac88b40cf7a5d8c-1024x1024.jpeg)
The results were impressive:
![Student copies of fragments of Roman literature on papyrus](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5786-330013c5e3a1dddb-1024x1024.jpeg)
![A student's copy of a fragment of Roman poetry onpapyrus](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5783-0e0a594b8cfca5fd-1024x1024.jpeg)
![Student copies of fragments of Roman literature on papyrus](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5787-a872e1f33ea777cc-1024x1024.jpeg)
We came away with a new respect for the skills of ancient scribes…now the old Roman cursive of P. Oxy. 2088 looks a lot better to us than it did when we were trying to read it earlier in the week. We also came away with a new appreciation for Kremer Pigmente, who supplied us with lamp black powder; just as a experiment, we tried to produce our own, and discovered that it’s a slow process….
![Roman oil lamps positioned under sheets of metal on which they are depositing lamp black](https://sites.dartmouth.edu/jkl/files/2024/04/IMG_5767-4777df8c5ad83274-1024x1024.jpeg)