To ascertain how old the use of black lead is for writing might be of
some importance in diplomatics, as the antiquity of manuscripts ruled
or written with this substance, or of drawings made with it, could then
be determined.
I allude here to pencils formed of that mineral called, in common,
_plumbago_ and _molybdæna_, though a distinction is now made between
these names by mineralogists. The mineral used for black-lead pencils
they call _reissbley_, _plumbago_, or _graphites_; but under the term
_wasserbley_ and _molybdæna_ they understand a mineral once considered
to be the same as the former, but which, however like it may be in
appearance, differs from it in being heavier, occurring much seldomer,
and containing a new metal, almost of a steel-grey colour, exceedingly
brittle, and named _molybdænum_. Plumbago, which is the substance here
meant, when exposed to an open fire, is almost entirely consumed,
leaving nothing but a little iron and siliceous earth. It contains
no lead; and the names _reissbley_ and _bleystift_ have no other
foundation than the lead-coloured traces which it leaves upon paper.
The darker, finer, and cleaner the lines it makes are, the fitter it is
for drawing and writing. These lines are durable, and do not readily
fade; but when one chooses, they may be readily rubbed out. Black
lead, therefore, can be used with more convenience and speed than any
coloured earth, charcoal, or even ink.
It is well known that transcribers, more than a thousand years ago,
when they wished their writing to be in a particular manner beautiful
and regular, drew fine parallel lines, which they followed in writing.
These lines may be still clearly distinguished in old manuscripts.
In many instances, they have only been impressed on the parchment by
some hard, sharp body; but they often exhibit a leaden colour; from
which one might suppose that they had been drawn with our plumbago,
and consequently believe that the use of this substance is as old as
we must consider, from certain marks, the oldest ruled manuscripts.
But, on a little reflection, one will be convinced that this would be a
very fallacious conclusion. For lines so like those made with plumbago,
that the eye can scarcely perceive the difference, may be made with
lead[958].
It can be proved that the ancients drew their lines with lead; and this
could be done with more convenience, as this soft metal was easily
rubbed off by the parchment, which, being harder and rougher than our
paper, had therefore more body. It is well known that, formerly, when
people wished to draw lines, a small round plate of lead, which could
not so readily cut the parchment or become bent as a leaden style, was
employed[959].
Old manuscripts, ruled with lead-coloured lines, have been pointed
out by modern diplomatists. Our learned Professor Schönemann, who was
unfortunately hurried off by a premature death, has given a description
of the Codex Berengaris Turonensis, of the eleventh or twelfth century,
and the Codex Theophyli Presbyteri de Temperamento Colorum of the
latter century, both preserved in the library of Wolfenbuttel; and
remarks that lines are drawn on the first partly with a style and
partly in a light manner with lead; but he says of the other, that it
exhibits very fine lines drawn with a black-lead pencil[960]. Le Moine
quotes a document of the year 1387, which is ruled with black lead,
and at the same time says that the custom of ruling ceased about the
year 1421 and 1424. The lines, therefore, after that period, became
crooked and oblique[961].
But the antiquity of black-lead pencils cannot be determined by the
help of diplomatic documents. It might be traced out with more ease
were it known by what mineralogical writer _plumbago_, and the uses of
it, were first mentioned. The following is what I have remarked on this
subject; but I suspect that there must be some older mention of it than
any I have yet been able to find. I do not, however, believe that those
who require more than bare conjecture will discover this mineral in the
works of the Greeks and the Romans; for it cannot possibly be proved
that it is to be understood under the terms _plumbago_, _galena_,
_molybdæna_, and _molybdoides_, as has been confidently asserted by
many, who, were it not superfluous, might easily be refuted. But in
whatever obscurity these names may be involved, one can with certainty
discover that they sometimes denote _galena_, or a real lead ore, or
else some production of lead works.
The first author in whose writings I have as yet found certain mention
of _plumbago_ is Conrad Gesner, whose name I can never pronounce
without respect. In his book on fossils, printed at Zurich in 1565,
he says that people had pencils for writing which consisted of a
wooden handle, with a piece of lead, or, as he believed, an artificial
mixture, called by some _stimmi Anglicanum_. Such pencils must at
that time have been scarce, because he has given a figure of them in
a wood-cut. To judge by this, the pencil seems to have had a wooden
sheath or covering.
Thirty years after, Cæsalpinus gave a more complete account of this
mineral, which he calls _molybdoides_, because he thinks it was so
named by Dioscorides. He says that it was a lead-coloured shining
stone, as smooth as if rubbed over with oil; it gave to the fingers
an ash-grey tint, with a plumbeous lustre, and pointed pencils were
made of it for the use of painters and draftsmen. He adds, that it was
called Flanders’ stone, because it was brought from the Netherlands to
Italy[962].
Three years after Cæsalpinus, a still better description was given by
Imperato. The latter calls the black lead _grafio piombino_, and says
that it is much more convenient for drawing than pen and ink, because
the marks made with it appear not only on a white ground, but, in
consequence of their brightness, show themselves also on black; because
they can be preserved or rubbed out at pleasure; and because one can
retrace them with a pen, which drawings made with lead or charcoal will
not admit[963]. This mineral is smooth; appears greasy to the touch,
and has a leaden colour, which it communicates with a sort of metallic
lustre. It can resist for a long time the strongest fire; it even
acquires in it more hardness, and therefore has been considered as a
kind of talc. Sometimes it is foliaceous, and may be crumbled to pieces
in scales; but it is frequently found denser and stronger, and in this
case writing-pencils are made of it. The first kind was mixed with that
clay called _rubrica_, and manufactured into crucibles, which were
exceedingly durable in the fire. It is here seen that these Italians,
at that time, were well acquainted with this mineral. It has been
reckoned a species of talc by Justi, by Wallerius in the first edition
of his mineralogy, and also by others. Its durability in resisting heat
is certainly manifested, when it is kept in a close fire and between
coals. But it is proved by the experiments of modern mineralogists,
that in an open, strong, and long-continued fire, it becomes almost
entirely consumed.
Bartholomew Ambrosinus, in the continuation of Aldrovandi’s Musæum
Metallicum, printed at Bologna in 1648, uses the name _lapis
plumbarius_. The short account which he gives of it has been borrowed
from the two Italians last mentioned; but it deserves to be remarked,
that even then he thought it worth his while to give Gesner’s figure
enlarged.
In the works of Albertus Magnus, George Agricola, Encelius, Cæsius,
Kircher, and many other old mineralogists, I have found no mention of
black lead. But as the advantageous use of it for crucibles was known
to Imperato, and as the crucibles made at Ips, which till very lately
were employed by all the mints in Europe, and even in other parts,
derived their superiority from plumbago being mixed with the blue
clay, and as these crucibles are introduced more than once by Agricola
without any mention of the addition, it must either at that time have
not been usual, or it must have escaped the notice of this diligent
man. How old then are the pits at Leizersdorf, which furnish plumbago
for the crucibles of Ips or Passau? I know of one mineralogist only who
has described that district, but on this subject he has given us no
information.
I am equally unacquainted with the time when the pits in Cumberland,
which, as is well known, produce the best plumbago, were discovered.
They are situated on the Borrowdale mountains, about ten miles from the
town of Keswick. The families to whom these pits belong, according to
an established regulation, can open them only once every seven years,
and take out but a certain quantity of the mineral, in order to keep
up the price, and prevent the pits from being exhausted[964]. This
production is called there _black lead_, _kellow_ or _killow_, _wad_
or _wadt_, which words properly mean black[965]. I have found no older
information in regard to these pits than that of Merret, who wrote in
the year 1667, and who calls this mineral _nigrica fabrilis_, because
it had then no Latin name[966]. Pettus remarked, in his Fleta Minor,
published 1683, that the pencils made from it were inclosed in fir or
cedar. It is related by Robinson[967] and others, that at first the
country-people around Keswick marked their sheep with it. Afterwards
the art was discovered of employing it for earthenware, and for
preserving iron from rust. The last-mentioned author says also, that it
is used by the Dutch in dyeing, in order to render black more durable,
and that it is bought up by them in large quantities for that purpose.
But this is only a pretence. I am inclined to think that they prepare
from it black-lead pencils.
The greater part of the plumbago at present used in commerce, but
which, as far as I know, is fit only for iron-black, comes from Spain,
where it is dug up in the neighbourhood of Ronda, a town in Grenada,
a few miles distant from the sea; but, in regard to the antiquity of
these pits, I have found no information. In commerce, it is called
_potloth_; and the mills, such as those at Bremen, where it is
ground fine, are named _potloth_ mills, an appellation which in all
probability has been borrowed from the Dutch, among whom _potloot_
signifies as much as potters’ lead. From this word the French have made
_potelot_, which however in many dictionaries is omitted. If I am not
mistaken, this mineral was first found in France at a very late period
in Upper Provence, near Curban, and not far from the river Durance,
between Sisteron and Gap, from which it is sent to Marseilles.
It appears to me probable, that in the sixteenth century the use of
plumbago was first introduced into Italy, a country which abounds with
draftsmen and drawing-schools; where other minerals had been long used
for drawing, and where the best kinds had been carefully sought out.
It is likely, therefore, that some one may have made a trial with
plumbago, induced by its appearance; and indeed nothing but a trial
was necessary to show its superiority to charcoal, and to black and
red chalk. I am inclined to think also, that the earliest mention of
it will be found in the oldest Italian works on drawing, rather than
in those on mineralogy, to the authors of which this substance first
became known by its use. For a long time, all the black-lead pencils
employed in Germany and in the neighbouring countries were made at
Nuremberg. I shall here observe, that the very convenient method of
wiping out writing made with a black-lead pencil, by means of Indian
rubber, was discovered about twenty or thirty years ago, and, as I
believe, first in England.
After I had completed this article, Professor Fiorillo, who as an
artist has studied the master-pieces, and as a man of letters the
writings of the Italians, communicated to me, at my request, the
following information, which at any rate will form an additional
fragment towards the history of drawing. The pencils first used in
Italy for drawing were composed of a mixture of lead and tin fused
together, and the proportion was two parts of the former and one of the
latter[968]. To obliterate a drawing or piece of writing, it was rubbed
over with crumbs of bread. A pencil of this kind was called _stile_.
Petrarch has immortalized a painter named Simone Memmi by a couple of
sonnets, out of gratitude for a picture of his beloved Laura[969].
In these he says that the artist made the drawing with a _stile in
carte_. The author here evidently alludes to a drawing-pencil, and not
to a graver, as some have supposed. Boccacio, a scholar of Petrarch,
celebrates an artist who was equally expert at drawing with the
_stile_, the pen, and the pencil. Michael Angelo also, who died in
1564, says, in a sonnet on Vasari, quoted by Fiorillo, “Se con lo stile
e co’ colori avete.” Such pencils were long used also in Germany; and
formerly they were found at the most common writing-desks.
The use of red and black chalk seems to be more modern. The former
is called by the Italians _matita rossa_, and the latter _matita
nera_. This name is derived from _hæmatites_. Vasari celebrates Baccio
Bondinelli, who died in the middle of the sixteenth century, because
he could handle equally well _lo stile, e la penna, e la matita rossa
e nera_. Baldinucci says, that the best red chalk comes from Germany;
good black chalk from France; but the very best from Spain, whence that
of the first quality is obtained at present.
I can, however, point out no mention of our plumbago in the works
of the old Italian artists. Armenini, who wrote at the end of the
sixteenth century, relates how pupils were taught to draw a hundred
years before his time[970]. He says that they made the first sketches
with _piombo over cannella col lapis nero_, and afterwards filled them
up with a pen. But when his whole description is read, there can remain
no doubt that the substance here meant is black chalk. Baldinucci,
who did not write till 1681, has introduced particularly into his
dictionary _matita rossa_, _nera_, and also _lapis piombino_; and says
that the last-mentioned is an artificial production, which gives a
leaden colour, and is employed for drawing. It is evident therefore
that the author here alludes to plumbago, which was then very common.
But when Bottari says[971] that artists first began to use red and
black chalk in the time of Vasari, whereas _lapis piombino_ only was
employed before that period, he has named _plumbago_, commonly used in
his time, instead of the metallic pencil which was called _stile_. If
I am not mistaken, the Italians have no proper appellation for black
lead, but call it sometimes _matita_ and sometimes _piombino_.
[Great difficulty was formerly experienced in protecting the Borrowdale
black-lead mine from robbery. At present, the treasure is protected by
a strong building, consisting of four rooms upon the ground floor; and
immediately under one of them is the opening, secured by a trap-door,
through which workmen alone can enter the interior of the mountain.
In this apartment, called the dressing-room, the miners change their
ordinary clothes for their working-dress as they come in; and after
their six hours, post or journey, they again change their dress, under
the superintendence of the steward, before they are allowed to go out.
In the innermost of the four rooms two men are seated at a large table,
sorting and dressing the plumbago, who are locked in while at work, and
watched by the steward from an adjoining room, who is armed with two
loaded blunderbusses. In some years the net produce of the _six weeks’_
annual working of the mine has, it is said, amounted to from 30,000_l._
to 40,000_l._
An inferior kind of plumbago is imported from Mexico and Ceylon; and a
composition with which more common pencils are manufactured is made of
a mixture of plumbago-powder, lamp black and clay.
A useful and convenient application of the black lead in the form of
minute cylinders which slightly projected from a cylindrical cone, and
which was fitted to a pencil-case, was patented in 1822 by Mr. Mordan,
and has come into general use: the cylindrical form of the plumbago
is produced by passing square strips of it through holes in a ruby,
somewhat in the manner of wire-drawing. It is stated that the supply
of plumbago from the Cumberland mine is almost exhausted; fortunately,
a process has been devised by which the same firmness and equality
may be communicated to the powder by compression. This is effected by
carefully washing and grinding the dust obtained in sawing plumbago
into thin plates, sifting it through spaces less than the 1/50000th
part of an inch, and placing it under a powerful press, on a strong die
or bed of steel, with air-tight fittings. The air is then pumped from
the dust, and while thus freed from air, a plunger descends upon it and
it becomes solidified. The power employed to perform this operation is
estimated at 1000 tons, several blows having been given, each of this
power. This process was invented by Mr. W. Brockedon, the talented
draftsman of Alpine and Italian scenery.]