The Ink

[admin tim]

Thread for discussion of the ink used to write the Maybrick Diary.

[admin tim]

The late Melvin Harris had quite a bit to say about the ink used to write the Diary, as have numerous others. Naturally, there is disagreement about the age and chemical composition of this ink, and the Diary advocates and detractors have argued extensively about the presence or absence of the compound chloroacetamide. As a chemical engineer who has had extensive past experience with both liquid and gas chromatography, I have long since concluded that more extensive and independent testing is necessary before any meaningful conclusions may be drawn here. Too often have the effects of trace contamination been seen (a definite problem when dealing with an analytical method that may indicate the presence of chemicals in parts per billion), and positive identification of a particular component may be suspect or inaccurate. Some trace compound other than chloroacetamide may have been present and the results misinterpreted, either mistakenly or purposefully. "False positives" are common occurences in chromatography, usually due to inadvertent contamination. However, Mark Hofmann had learned all that he needed to know about duplicating old inks from readily available reference materials, and others may certainly have been able to do the same:

“Among Hofmann's effects taken during a search, Throckmorton and Flynn found a copy of a book by Charles Hamilton called Great Forgers and Famous Fakes. Using the book, Throckmorton and Flynn figured out the recipe and method Hofmann had used for making iron gall ink that had so far defied tests for determining its age. He found that when iron gallotannate ink was used on old paper and aged, there was no way to determine that it was not as old as might be claimed. A chemical reaction on the ink, if on paper of the right time period, shows no difference from ink of that age. Throckmorton realized that was why so many experts had been duped.”

(Excerpted from www.crimelibrary.com)

[Magpie]

I saw a really good documentary on Hoffman over the Halloween weekend.

Recipes for ink shouldn't be that hard to find really--books of commercial and home recipes are formulae were very popular in the LVP and probably can be found in any decent University library.