I. GENESIS OF INK II. ANTIQUITY OF INK III. CLASSICAL INK AND ITS EXODUS IV. CLASSICAL INK AND ITS EXODUS (Continued) V. REVIVAL OF INK VI. INK OF THE WEST VII. EARLY MEDIAEVAL INK VIII. MEDIAEVAL INK IX. END OF MEDIAEVAL INK X. RENAISSANCE INK XI. ANCIENT INK TREATISES XII. STUDY OF INK XIII. STUDY OF INK XIV. CLASSIFICATIONS OF INK XV. OFFICIAL AND LEGAL INK XVI. ENDURING INK XVII. INK PHENOMENA XVIII. INK CHEMISTRY XIX. FRAUDULENT INK BACKGROUNDS XX. FUGITIVE INK. XXI. ANCIENT AND MODERN INK RECEIPTS XXII. INK INDUSTRY. XXIII. CHEMICO-LEGAL INK XXIV. CHEMICO-LEGAL INK (Continued) XXV. INK UTENSILS OF ANTIQUITY XXVI. INK UTENSILS (Quill PEN v. Steel Pen) XXVII. SUBSTITUTES FOR INK UTENSILS ("Lead" and other Pencils) XXVIII. ANCIENT INK BACKGROUNDS (The Origin of Papyrus) XXIX. ANCIENT INK BACKGROUNDS (Parchment and Vellum) XXX. MODERN INK BACKGROUNDS (True Paper) XXXI. MODERN INK BACKGROUNDS (Wood Paper and Safety Paper) XXXII. CURIOSA (Ink and other Writing Materials) FORTY CENTURIES OF INK CHAPTER I. GENESIS OF INK. THE ORIGIN OF INK--COMPOSITION OF THE COLORED INKS OF ANTIQUITY--ANCIENT NAMES FOR BLACK INKS--METHODS OF THEIR MANUFACTURE--THE INVENTION OF "INDIAN" INK--THE ART OF DYEING HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED--THE SYMBOLIC ESTIMATION OF COLORS--THE EMPLOYMENT OF TINCTURES AS INKS--CONSIDERATION OF THE ANTIQUITY OF ARTIFICIAL INKS AND THE BLACK INKS OF INTERMEDIATE TIMES--ORIGIN OF THE COLORED PIGMENTS OF ANTIQUITY-CITATIONS FROM HERODOTUS, PLINY AND ARBUTHNOT--PRICES CURRENT, OF ANCIENT INKS AND COLORS--WHY THE NATURAL INKS FORMERLY EMPLOYED ARE NOT STILL EXTANT--THE KIND OF INK EMPLOYED BY THE PRIESTS IN THE TIME OF MOSES--ILLUSTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS IN ITS RELATIONSHIP TO WRITING IMPLEMENTS--THE USE OF BOTH RED AND BLACK INK IN JOSEPH'S TIME--ITS OTHER HISTORY PRECEDING THE DEPARTURE OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPT--THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALL BUT A FEW KINDS OF INK--INK TRADITIONS AND THEIR VALUE--STORY ABOUT THE ORACLES OF THE SIBYLS--HOW THE ANCIENT HISTORIANS SOUGHT TO BE MISLEADING--ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTE BY RICHARDSON: THE origin of Ink belongs to an era following the invention of writing. When the development of that art had advanced beyond the age of stone inscription or clay tablet, some material for marking with the reed and the brush was necessary. It was not difficult to obtain black or colored mixtures for this purpose. With their advent, forty centuries or more ago, begins the genesis of ink. The colored inks of antiquity included the use of a variety of dyes and pigmentary colors, typical of those employed in the ancient art of dyeing, in which the Egyptians excelled and still thought by many to be one of the lost arts. The Bible and alleged contemporary and later literature make frequent mention of black and many colors of brilliant hues. In tracing the arts of handwriting and dyeing, some definite facts are to be predicated as to the most remote history of ink.