Thread: questions

Yes, people etched before laser. Or electricity. Funny thing, really, quite the coincidence this thread coming up now. Just yesterday I handed in my MA thesis on an early 16th century Middle English commonplace-book (i.e. collection of various useful texts) and in it were two recipes for etching, or engraving.

The first:

To wrytt appon
a Sord

Take powder of ablon glas and
Salt gomme and Temp yt vpp
wth old vryn and wrytt ther wth

Edited translation:

To write upon
a sword

Take powder of glass (no idea what ‘ablon’ refers to, poss. even 'a blown glass')
Salt gum (prob. sodium alginate) and temper it
with old urine and write with it


The second:

To graue
Take a quanty of 4 benes of
gryne Coppar and half ʃo moch
of verdegrecc and bay ʃalt
The quantyty of 2 benes bray
all theʃʃe to gether and then put
Them in a yerthen pott wth
4 ʃpoonfull of ʃharpp vynagar
and Stopp the pott Cloʃʃe &
wth in 2 dayes ffollowyng you may graue ther wth.

Edited translation:

To engrave

Take a quantity of 4 cups (bin, a food receptacle) of
Green copper (i.e. copper corbonate) and haf as much
Of verdigris (prob. copper acetate) and bay-salt (prob. sea-salt crystals)
The quantity of two cups; crush them together into a powder and then
put them in clay pot with
4 spoonfuls of sharp vinegar
and close the pot tightly and in two days you can engrave with it.

So yes, a form of acid, mixed with salt in some shape or form. Not quite sure why anyone would have a stash of old urine, though. But I guess it's just one of those things that you never know when you need it.