The latin text of the manuscript and its English translation forms a major part of Mary Merrifield's "Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting", published in 1849. The section of this which is reproduced below is chapter 8, on dyeing fabric, coloring leather and making chamois.

I have also included recipes for the pigments indigo, verzino and oricello, all of which are mentioned in the dye recipes.

337. To dye the skins black.--Take the skin prepared with sumach and scrape it on the side of the flesh and rub it well with pumice stone; then take whites of egg, and lay them on the side which you have pumiced, and let it dry. Next take fine black, and lay it with a paintbrush upon the white of egg which you laid upon the skin, and let it dry, and then take the maestra mixed up with oil, and lay it upon the black with a paintbrush, and let it dry in the shade, and then break it with the stecca, and it will be like silk, and its maestra is lime water mixed with common oil.

338. To make a black dye for dyeing skins, that is to say, fine shoemaker's black, without iron. --Take a boiler full of the juice of sumach, and add to it some dust from a wheel [or grindstone] and let it boil until reduced by two fingers' breadths in depth; and when it is cool you may dye the skin with this dye, and every hour it will be a finer dye.

339. To dye kidskins a fine and beautiful black. --Take the skins, and wash them very well in three or four waters; then squeeze them and wring them well in the stroppa until the water is run well out of them. Then stretch them upon a string to dry, and for every dozen of kidskins take 2 oz. of verzino ground, and boil it until it is reduced to one half, and then take it off the fire, and when it is tepid begin to lay the colour on, and squeeze it well with your hands, and each time let the skin dry a little, and do this 3 or 4 times, and the 4th time put a little very clear lime water into the dye with which you dyed the skins, and this is its maestra, and dye them the fourth time, and when they are nearly dry, give them the stroppa until they are dry. Then take a little oil with a sponge, and make them soft. And if you wish the skins to be of a still deeper colour, add for the maestra the yolk of an egg to this solution of verzino and stir them together and the colour will be very fine.

324. To dye kidskins in scarlet.--.-Take kidskins soaked with alum, and wash them well until the alum is washed out of them, and for every dozen of skins take 8 oz. of verzino pounded or rasped with a rasp, and put it over the fire with as much water as you may think sufficient for the skins, hut the usual quantity is 3 bocali of water for every ounce of verzino, and let it boil until the verzino becomes nearly black. Then remove it from the fire, and let it settle for a night, and in the morning there will appear a certain scum on the top of it, which you must remove gently, because it would soil the skins. Pour one half of this dye into a basin, and put the skins into the other half to soak one by one, and manipulate them well, that is, stir them about and squeeze them and then put them on a string to dry without wind or sun, and when they are nearly dry, put them back into this dye or water one by one, take them out gently, and do not squeeze them. Then put them to dry as before, and when they are nearly dry, work them about well in your hands, and for the maestra take two ounces of tartar, and put it into a glazed jar, and make it boil until reduced one half, or more, and this is the maestra. Then take that first quantity of dye which you set apart, and add to it a little of the maestra and mix them well together, and try it upon your hand; if you see that it has not enough colour add a little more to it, and take care not to add too much, because it would make the dye too dark. And when the dye is tepid, apply it with a sponge on both sides of the skins and put them dripping as they are, upon a string to dry without wind or sun, because that would make them too hard, and when they are nearly dry, stretch them well with the hand or with a wooden hammer until they are quite soft, and this is the best and most masterly practice for dyeing.

325. To dye sheepskins scarlet, on the side of the flesh, for shoes. --Take the skins, and wash and wring them, and work them well with three or four waters, and then beat them well with a wooden hammer in order to press out the water, and then take a dyer's horse and spread the skins upon it and scrape them with a knife so as not to cut them, and squeeze them well, and then stretch them out upon a cord, and let them dry a little, and then beat them with the hammer until quite dry, in order that the dye may not penetrate through the skin. And for every dozen of sheepskins take 9 oz. of verzino well ground, and put it on the fire with two metadelle of water for each ounce of verzino, and boil until the water is reduced one half. Then pour it into a glazed earthen vessel, and cover it up so as to confine the vapour, and put back the lees that remain behind, with ten metadelle of water, and make it boil until reduced to less than one half, and then begin to dye the skins with this last water, of which you must give them two coats, and mix up the lees, and after each time let the skins dry, and the third time give them the stroppa and open them well, and when they are well opened, give them a third coat of the first colour, and then give them a second coat of this colour, and when nearly dry, rub them lightly with your band; and then, for the fourth time, put for each dozen of skins one metadella, and one-third of lye into the dye, for its maestra. Some per-sons, in order to make the colour deeper and more brilliant, add two yolks of eggs. When they are dry, dye them with the dye into which you put the maestra, and, when again dry, rub them gently, and they will be done.

326. To dye sheep-skins scarlet on the side of the hair, to make shoes. --Take the skins well washed and cleansed from lime, and 4 oz. of galls well pounded, and boil them [in water?] until reduced one-third, and let them become tepid. Put the skins into this water and gall, and wring them well, and then let them remain in the water for a night; then take them out and let them dry, and when they are nearly dry, give them the stroppa, and then take 1/2 oz. of roche alum to each skin, and make it boil in a vessel with a small quantity of water, and soak the skins in this alum water, and squeeze and wring them so that all the water may run well out. Then take a piece of lime which has not been slaked, put it into a basin, and add to it enough water to cover it by one finger's breadth, and stir it well, so that it may be perfectly dissolved; then let it settle, and when it has settled for one night take off the scum or crust which the lime forms on the top of the water, and then take two bocali of fresh water, and pour them into a pan, and when the water boils put into it 2 oz. of verzino well pounded, and boil it until it is reduced one-half, add to it a little pounded gum arabic, and remove it from the fire, and when it is tepid take away the skins, and sew them up all round so that the side of the flesh may be outside, and leave the neck open, and pour in the dye through the neck, and stir and shake it well 4 or 5 times in the dye, so that the dye may cover the whole of the skin. And if you wish to have a fuller colour, add to it for its maestra as in the last recipe a yolk of egg, well beaten up, adding it a little at a time to the dye until the colour appears full enough. Then pour it into the skin, and shake it all over it, so as to touch every part. When the skins are dry, polish them on a smooth bench with glass, and they are done.

327. To dye dog-collars and couples a good and fine scarlet . --Take the skins, wash them well with fresh water, and let them dry; then take 3 oz. of roche alum to each skin, boil the alum [in water], and when it is dissolved and tepid give each skin two or three coats of lt. Then take for each skin 3 or 4 lbs. of galls well pounded, boil them a little, and let them cool so that you can bear your hand in the liquor, and then put this water and galls into a bucket, and shake the skin well about in this water, and let it remain in it a day and a night that it may become soft. Then put it to dry, and while it is drying, work it about in your hands that it may become soft. When it is well dried, take 3 oz. of verzino well pounded for each skin, and to each ounce of verzino put two bocali of water, and then add two glasses of solution of tartar, and put it into the verzino when it is boiled, and then add 1/2 oz. of gum arabic, and put this dye into a glass vessel, as clean as possible. Then take the grounds of the verzino, and add to it 3 glasses of water, and make it boil until reduced one-half, and with this water, boiled on the grounds, begin to dye the skin with a paintbrush or a sponge, and let the dye be tepid, and so put it on as often as necessary, hut do not put too much tartar (which is its maestra), that it may not be too highly coloured; and when you dye it, let it dry each time, and when it is dry rub it with your hands, and then with the stick on the side of the flesh to make it soft, and it is done.

328. To dye scarlet.--Take 1/2 lb. of sandal wood and 1/2 lb. of madder, boil them together with plain water until reduced to one-half, and then add half a fogliecto(1) of lye for its maestra to make the colour deeper, and a piece of quicklime, and boil it until reduced to one-third; then prepare the skins for dyeing as in the other recipes.

329. To dye very fine scarlet. -Take 1 lb. of verzino columbino well ground, and soak it in clear water for the space of two days, and then put it into a boiler containing 3 or 4 bocali, to boil until reduced by one-third, add to it 2 oz. of quicklime and 3 oz. of roche alum; and if the colour is pale add 2 oz. of fenugreek; and if you wish to have it of a fuller colour add a fogliecto of boiled lye and it will be of a fine colour.

330. To dye skins of a very beautiful and good purple colour. --First take the skin prepared like chamois leather, and dip it two or three times in clear water, and shake it and wring it, and then take 2 oz. of roche alum, and put it into two bocali of plain water, and make it boil, and let it cool. Then take the skin, and dip it in the alum water, and wash and wring it well, and let it dry in the shade. Then take 2 oz. of verzino, well pounded, and put it into a boiler with three bocali of water, and make it boil until it is reduced by one third, and take the skin, very dry, and stretch it well, and then take the verzino, which must be tepid, and spread it over the skin with a paintbrush, or with a sponge, and let it dry in the shade, and out of the wind. When it is dry give it two other coats of the verzino, letting it dry between each coat. Then take a lump of quicklime, and put it into a piece of linen, and tie it closely and dip it into what remains of the verzino, and while you are thus wetting it, press out all that you can into the verzino, and then take the skin, and give it another coat, and it will become purple and beautiful. And if you wish to dye more than one skin, take for each skin 2 oz. of alum and 2 oz. of verzino, and as much water as was mentioned above, and make it boil as before.

331. To dye skins red.-.Take the root of knot grass, otherwise called blood wort(2) which children put to their nose or tongue to make it bleed; then take one metadella of strong white wine vinegar, and put into it some of this root very well pounded, and make it boil until reduced one half, and then put this dye into a pan, and when it is tepid dye the skins, and give them so many coats that they may have a good colour. And you may reduce this root to powder, because it is then good for dyeing all the year round. When the skins are dry rub them in your hands to make them soft.

332. To dye kidskins green. -Take of the grains or berries of the plant or shrub called privet, by some called also "fioria," and by others "oriola," which has a leaf like the laurel, and its leaf grows crosswise upon the bough, and at the end of the bough there grow several berries, black like pepper, which resemble ivy berries, and which are ripe in the month of September. Take 1 oz. of these berries for each skin, and then take several tender twigs of a fig tree, and cut them into little bits, and then distemper the said privet berries with two cups of water, and beat it all up well together and let the water boil for a quarter of an hour, and then set it to cool until it becomes tepid, and before you boil it, put into it a glassful of strong vinegar; and when it has become tepid, lay two or three coats of this dye upon the skin, until it is well dyed. And if you wish to have the dye of a deeper colour, add more of the privet berries, and it will be a fine bright green.

333. To dye skins green. --Take ripe buckthorn berries and put them into a boiler, and add an equal quantity of vinegar, that is, an equal weight to that of the berries, and let it boil a little, and then strain it through a piece of linen cloth, and pour it into a glazed vase, and when you wish to use it, take the skins, and spread the colour upon them with the paintbrush, and they will become green, and you can keep this colour or dye for a whole year, if kept well closed.

334. To dye the skins green. --Take some "pero citrino" when ripe, and extract the juice, and then add some good and strong white wine to that juice, that is to say, for every petitto of juice, two of wine, and boil them together until reduced one half; then take a hare's foot or a paintbrush, or a small sponge, and dip it in the juice and dye the skins once or twice with it, until you consider the colour to be sufficiently deep. It must be dried without sun or wind.

335. To make a green dye for dyeing cloth, thread or silk. -- Take roche alum, and dissolve it in a boiler, and let it boil till it is well dissolved; then take it off the fire, and let it cool so that you can bear your hand in it, and then put the cloth, or silk, or thread, into it, and let it remain for a day and a night, and then take it out and let it dry well. Next take a little verdigris and make it boil in the water, and then remove it, and when the water is become tepid, put the cloth into it, and work it well in your hand, and let it dry, and if you give it another wetting with a little roche alum, it will become of a brighter colour. If you wish it to be darker, add more verdigris.

336. To dye skins blue. --Take for each skin 1 oz. of indigo, and grind it well with strong vinegar, and to each ounce of indigo take one foglietta of vinegar, and dip a paintbrush or a hare's foot into it, and lay it upon the skins, and dry them in the shade. Then give them a second coat, and let them dry, and they will be very beautiful. And if you boil the vinegar a little with the indigo, the skin will be of a much brighter and fuller colour.

337. To dye the skins black. --Take the skin prepared with sumach and scrape it on the side of the flesh and rub it well with pumice stone; then take whites of egg, and lay them on the side which you have pumiced, and let it dry. Next take fine black, and lay it with a paintbrush upon the white of egg which you laid upon the skin, and let it dry, and then take the maestra mixed up with oil, and lay it upon the black with a paintbrush, and let it dry in the shade, and then break it with the stecca, and it will be like silk, and its maestra is lime water mixed with common oil.

338. To make a black dye for dyeing skins, that is to say, fine shoemaker's black, without iron. --Take a boiler full of the juice of sumach, and add to it some dust from a wheel [or grindstone] and let it boil until reduced by two fingers' breadths in depth; and when it is cool you may dye the skin with this dye, and every hour it will be a finer dye.

339. To dye kidskins a fine and beautiful black. --Take the skins, and wash them very well in three or four waters; then squeeze them and wring them well in the stroppa until the water is run well out of them. Then stretch them upon a string to dry, and for every dozen of kidskins take 2 oz. of verzino ground, and boil it until it is reduced to one half, and then take it off the fire, and when it is tepid begin to lay the colour on, and squeeze it well with, your hands, and each time let the skin dry a little, and do this 3 or 4 times, and the 4th time put a little very clear lime water into the dye with which you dyed the skins, and this is its maestra, and dye them the fourth time, and when they are nearly dry, give them the stroppa until they are dry. Then take a little oil with a sponge, and lay on the kidskins as much of it as they will take, and then give them the stroppa in order that the oil may penetrate well into the skins. When you have done this, roll up each skin into a lump by itself, and let it stand so for a night, and then give them the stroppa again, and spread them out in the shade, and they are done. And know, that the more you soften them with your hand or with the hammer, the softer they will be.

340. To dye sheep or kidskins a fine and good black. --Take the kidskin or sheepskin, and wash it and wring it till the water comes off it clear; then take galls well pounded, which you have proved to be strong by trying them in your mouth,, and put them into a pipkin, let them boil, and then let them cool so as to become tepid. Then take the skin and gall it well; afterwards wash it with, fresh water, and squeeze the water well out. Then take shoemaker's dye, that is, atramentum; steep the skin in it and let it soak for the space of 4 hours; then wash it well, until the water comes off clear and clean. Then take lye and a little oil, and wet the skin with this mixture, and it will become as soft as silk.

341. A way of preparing skins with the hair on, or without the hair, that is to say, deerskin or wolfskin, or badgerskin, or other skin, or kidskin, or goatskin, or the skin of other animals. And it is a well tried preparation. --Take skins which have been taken off the animal in proper time, and not from unhealthy beasts, and let them be dried without sun, or let them be a little salted, and put them into a tub of water, and let them remain there for the space of 5 natural days, in order that the fiesh may be well macerated, and in the course of these 5 days renew the water 2 or 3 times on account of the unpleasant smell which arises from them. Then take them out, and let them drain, and when they are drained, put one upon the other on the bench for cleaning the skins from flesh, those that are fleshy, 1 mean, and then strip the flesh from the skins just as you think proper, and so lay one upon another in order that you may not out them with your knife, and when you have stripped the flesh off, remove them from the bench and let them drain well; then take a barrel of water, and make it boil, and put into it 4 lbs. of salt, and when the salt is quite dissolved, let it cool until it becomes tepid, and into this tepid water put half a wheaten loaf, and move it about with your hands until it is well dissolved. Then add to it some flour made from corn (barley flour is best), and put as much as you think sufficient, so that the water may be tolerably thick, and know that the flour must not be bolted or sifted, but must be mixed with the bran just as it comes from the mill. Having done this, and having mixed the tepid water with the meal, put in the skins one by one, stirring them well with your hands without stretching them, and let the flesh, be underneath, stretching out one skin nicely over another. Let them remain in this way for the space of 2 days, then take them out and let them drain well for the space of half a day, and in the evening put them back into the water, and let them remain in it 3 days, and stir them well, and at the end of three other days repeat the process, and put the skins back again into the water, and let them remain for the space of 6 days in all, besides the other two days before mentioned; and this is done in order that the hair may adhere more firmly. Then take them out of the preparation and put them to dry in the shade for the space of one night; then arrange them in order, one upon another, upon planks or boards to remove the flesh from them, which you must remove just as you think proper. And when you have done so, scrape them well, and take roche alum in crystals, and not in powder, for it is better, and put for 12 wolfskins, or deerskins, or similar skins 12 lbs. of roche alum, so that each skin may have a pound of alum, and 24 petitti of water, which will make two petitti for each skin, and let the alum dissolve well in the water over the fire, and do not let the alum and water boil. Then put into the water 4 lbs. of salt, and when it is perfectly dissolved, let the water cool until it is tepid; then soak the skins in it, allowing for each, hide one petitto of the solution of alum and salt, stirring the skin well with your hands in the tepid water for the space of one miserere, stretching and turning them about well one by one in the water.

Then roll the skin up, and put it in the composition, and lay it aside; do the same to all the rest of the skins, and pour the remainder of the water or composition upon the skins, and let the skins be stretched out in the tub one upon another and so let them remain for the space of a day and a night, and know that if the skins are small, such as kidskins, two skins require but 1 lb. of alum. Then take them out, and let them drain for the space of half a day, and collect what runs off them, together with the other water that was heft from the skins, and set it aside. And then, in order perfectly to clean the skins, take corn flour, (but barley flour is the best,) that has been bolted, that is to say, as much flour as you may think sufficient, and wet it with the alum water which you reserved, and let the flour be mixed up well with the water like paste for making fritters. Then put into this paste 16 eggs, as well the shell as the white and yolk, with a glass of oil, rather less than more, and mix them up well together. Let the water be rather warm before you add these ingredients, and mix the whole well together. Then take the skins one by one, and fold them in the middle, that is, so that the hair may come on the inner side, and not be soiled by the preparation. Then put the skins one by one into the preparation or mixture, which must be tolerably liquid, and let them be thoroughly wetted by the mixture; then pile them one upon another, and if you have any of the mixture remaining, throw it upon the skins. Let them remain for a day and a night, and then take them out, and put them to dry in the sun, or, which is still better, in the shade, and take good care not to stretch them in the least until they are dry; and when they are dry rub them down well upon a sharp piece of wood made expressly for this purpose, in order that the flour may fall off. Then out off the flesh with a very sharp knife, and scrape them with an osier wand, and afterwards rub them well with the hand, that they may become soft.

And know that this preparation is better in April and May, and also in September and October, than all the rest of the year. Know also that the small skins, such as foxskins and lambskins, must be prepared with the maestra for the large skins, with all the before-mentioned operations. And in the preparation of skins without the hair, the above directions must all be observed, except that the hairs must be taken off with lime, and then the preparation must be applied in the same manner as for those with, the hair, except that they must be rubbed much more with, the hand, to give them a finer surface.

342. The preparation of a skin. --Take of roche alum in powder 2 oz., and 2 eggs well beaten, a good handful of flour, as much salt as is sufficient to salt down a pound of flesh, as much oil as would warm a dish of soup, and a large foglietta of warm water. Put into the water, first the alum in fine powder, then the flour, and then the salt, and mix these ingredients ; then add the eggs and the oil, and stir the whole together while the water is hot, put in the skin from which the hairs have been removed, and stir and manipulate it well, taking it out, and putting it back into the water; then let it stand for a night or for 4 hours at the least. Take it out without stretching it ,and you may then dry it, and beat it well with the hammer; afterwards rub it down on both sides with pumice stone and it is done.

343. To make chamois-leather. --Take skins that have had the hair taken off by lime, and wash them well in water; then take warm water, and put into it 5 oz. of roche alum to each skin, and an equal quantity of dough made with, wheaten flour, and make a sort of gruel, into which put the skins, and then stir them about for a considerable time with your hands. Let them stand for a night, then take them out and dry them in the shade, and press them.

344. To make chamois-leather, dressed on both sides. --Take a round piece of wood, as thick as the thigh, and as long as a man is high, and place it up against the wall as the fellmongers do. And if you wish to prepare a kidskin quickly in one day, take the skin, which must be fresh, and lay it upon this piece of wood, and with the blade of a knife take off the hair and the scarf-skin. And if it is a large skin, let it remain in lime as the fellmongers do when they wish to make leather of it, and then rest it upon the before-mentioned beam, and with the knife-blade take off the sinews, and wash the lime well off. Then take 3 fogliette of water, into which put 1/2 oz. of roche alum and half a handful of common salt, set the water over the fire in order to dissolve these ingredients. Then add a little oil, and remove it away from the fire; and while the water is tepid, add to it an egg well beaten up, and mix it well in the water; then dip the skin into it 3 or 4 times, and each time let it dry a little, and the last time let it dry well, and then beat it with the wooden hammer.

345. To make chamois-leather without fat. --Take milk, fine flour, and oil washed with ley, that the skins may not be soiled, mix the whole together with hot water, and put the skins into this water for three days; then turn them over on to the other side for 3 days more; afterwards let them dry, and do not stretch them. When they are dry beat them with the hammer.

346. To make good chamois-leather. --Take for each skin 3 oz. of flour, one tumbler of milk, 1 oz. of butter, and a little wheaten bread, and wet the whole well together with a little ley, in order that the ingredients may be well incorporated; and if it is not sufficiently wet, add to it nothing but clear ley, and let it remain for 5 natural days, and then put it to dry, and beat it with the hammer.

347. To make chamois-leather quickly. --Take 1 oz. of white soap and distemper it with ley, and then put the skins into the lye for the space of 4 days; them dry them, and stretch them on a stick, and they will be white and soft.

348. To make chamois-leather as white and soft as silk. -- Melt pork-fat in a pipkin, and then take warm water, and wet up flour with it, and add to it the pork-fat, and mix all well together; then take another pan, and spread out the skins in it, and take a bocale of milk, and pour it upon the skins, and then put in the above-mentioned preparation,, and let the skins be well covered by it, and let them remain there for 5 days, and they will be white and soft.

349. To make chamois-leather which will always remain soft. --Take milk, barley meal, and oil, washed with lye to soften the skins, and mix it all together with warm water; then dip the skins in the mixture several times, and let them nearly dry each time. Afterwards leave them to dry in the shade, and beat them with the hammer.

350. To make chamois-leather water-proof.--Take for each skin 4 eggs, and a good quantity, that is, a good glassful of milk for each skin, and a little oil; beat it all up well together, then let the skins soak in the mixture for 7 days, and turn them over once a day. Let them dry, and beat them with the hammer.

351. To make chamois-leather. --Take the skins and soak them in water for 5 or 6 days, and then in warm water for one night; then remove them from the water, and take off the hair with a horse's rib, and sprinkle them well with clear water and let them drain a little. Next take roche alum in fine powder, and 2 eggs to each skin, and flour well bolted, with a little wheat, and mix all these ingredients well with hot water, like paste for fritters, and then put the skins into the mixture for 3 days. Then take them out, and let them nearly dry; then mix some brass well with warm water, into which put the skins for 3 days more. Then dry them well without stretching them, and beat them with the hammer, and they are done.

352. To make chamois-leather from parchment. --Take parchment and anoint it with olive oil, and rub it well with your hands, and afterwards mix soap with warm caustic ley, and dip the parchment in it, and rub it well in your hands until it is finished, and then press it.

353. To make chamois-leather from parchment. --Take the parchment and soak it in water for 3 natural days, then take it out and let it half dry, and do not stretch it at all. Then soak it in a pan of warm water, with a handful of bran in it, mix all well together, and let the mixture stand so for 2 days; then take it out and wash it in 2 or 6 waters, or until it is washed enough, and squeeze it well. Then take a vase, and fill it more than half full with water, and add to it as much alum as you think necessary, according to the quantity you wish to make, and one or two eggs beaten up; and do it all in order: first putting the water into a pipkin, and heating it over the fire; then adding the alum, and when the alum is dissolved let it cool until it is tepid, and then put it into a clean shell, adding to it a little wheat flour and an egg or two, and mix the alum-water well with the other ingredients; then put the said parchment into it, and stir it well in the liquor. Then let it remain for 3 days, and let the said parchment be well covered with the preparation, and keep it free from dust or other dirt. Then take out the parchment and squeeze it well, and repeat the process; then put it to dry in the shade, hut do not stretch it at all, and then beat it with the hammer, and it is done.

354. To make chamois leather with sheep or kidskin parchment that has been written on. --Take the parchment that has been written on, and soak it in a pan of water, so as to be well covered. Next take a piece or two of quicklime, according to the quantity of the parchment, and put it into the water and let it dissolve and remain in it one natural day, and then rub it well with the water, using your hand for this purpose, or rub down the written side with a piece of hard quicklime, and when the letters have disappeared put them into the liquor previously directed for preparing parchment that has not been written on.

355. To make excellent chamois leather. --Take the skin from which, the flesh has been stripped inside and outside, and then daub it all over with flour and water mixed like paste for wafers, and let it remain some days, that is, for three days or more; then wash it well, and put it into a pan; then take a new glazed pipkin, fill it with water, and put it over the fire, that is, put for each skin one metadella of water, and one ounce and a-half of roche alum. Let the alum dissolve in the pipkin, then put an equal quantity of common salt, and when they are well dissolved remove the pipkin from the fire, and pour the water in which the alum and salt were dissolved into a pan, and when it is just tepid add for each skin 3 or 4 eggs well beaten. Mix them well with the water, to which add a little flour well beaten with the other ingredients, and a little oil, less than the fourth part of a foglietta to each skin, and mix all well together; then put the skin into the liquor and stir them well in the preparation; let them remain in it covered closely for 3 days. Then take out the skins, and squeeze them well one by one, and then rub them in your hands one at a time in order, and put them to dry sheltered from sun, wind, or smoke; then beat them with the hammer.

356. To make a preparation for chamois leather, good, and true, and tried(3)--Take dry skins well seasoned and from healthy beasts, and put them into a tank of water to soak for 3 days, and then wash them well in the tank from all dirt that may hang about them, and when they are well washed throw away the water. Then take fresh, quicklime, and put it into the tank, and mix it well with water, and when the quicklime is well slaked and dissolved so that it is very thin and liquid, put the skins into it one by one, continually stirring the lime water, and let them remain in soak for three or four days, more or less, according to the state of the skins, and until the hair comes well off. Once every other day, or every day at the most, take them out of the lime water, and hang them over the tank for an hour to drain; then put them back into the tank, and when the hair comes well off, lay them to drain well in a trough for two hours. Then take a beam supported on two feet, and lay the skins upon it in order, one upon another, and then take a crooked stick of the shape of a horse's rib, and scrape the hair with the stick from each skin, and when the hair is all stripped off, put them back to soak in the tank containing the lime and water for 16 or 20 days, and every other day stir them about well in the lime water; after 16 or 20 days take them out, and carry them to a running stream, and wash them and squeeze them well, to remove the lime from them. And when they are well washed and clean, throw away the lime and water from the tank, wash it very clean, and pour into it as much lime water as you think will just soak the skins, and then put into it sufficient bran to make the warm water pretty thick. Put the skins, when well washed, one by one into the bran and water, and let them remain so for 3 days; then take them out and wash them in a running stream to remove the bran, and afterwards carry the skins well washed to a ladder or a trough, and then take the skins one by one and wring and squeeze them well so that there may not remain any water in them, and the better they are squeezed and pressed the whiter they will become. And if in pressing the skins any bladders should form, prick them with a needle in order that the water may drain out; and when the skins have well drained, and have been all squeezed separately, smooth the skins one at a time by pressing the hand all over them, and lay them one upon another well stretched at the neck, at the shoulders, and all over the skin, and then make the tank very clean, and put into it as much tepid water as you think the skins will well bear, and rather more than less. Then take an ounce of roche alum well pounded, and an equal quantity by weight and not by measure of pounded salt, and 1/2 oz. of gum arabic well pounded; put the powders into the tank with the tepid water, and mix them well in order to dissolve them; then take the skins one by one well stretched out, and dip them into the water in which the powders are dissolved, pressing them and dipping them, and stirring them well, that they may soak up more of the alum water, and do this to each skin separately, and when the skins are well stirred and soaked put them to drain for an hour, and let the drippings fall into the water in which the skins were dipped. Then take as much flour as you think sufficient for the skins, and wet the flour with the drippings of the skins which you reserved, and distemper it so that it may be like paste for making fritters. Add to the paste an ounce of oil, or one egg for each skin, and know that when you mix the flour, the drainings must be tepid and not hot. Mix them well together, then take the skins one by one and put them into the paste or composition, and let them remain for three natural days at the most; then take tl,e skins just as they come, without stretching them at all, and put them to dry upon a string in the shade, and as they dry you must stretch them, and then beat them with, the hammer, and rub them well with your hand that they may have a finer surface, and the work is done. And know that each kidskin, and skin of the same size, requires the alum and the other things of the weight above given. And if the skins are those of sheep, or goats, or such like, they require 3 oz. of alum and 3 oz. of oil, or 3 eggs and 11/2 oz. of gum arabic for each skin. Follow the recipe as above directed.

357. To dye silk or cloth red. --Take 1 lb. of silk, and 4 oz. of soap, and put them into a cauldron with water, and let it boil until you see the silk appear starred. Then take it out, and wash it well in clear water until the silk becomes white; drain it well, and wring it with your hands, and then spread it out, and this is done when the silk is not boiled. Then take 4 oz. of alum in another small vase and boil it, and dissolve it in clear water, and when it is dissolved take another larger vase, and fill it with fresh water, and put the alum into it, and then put in the silk, and let it remain 3 days and 3 nights, and then wash it and stir it about well in fresh water, wringing it well with your hand until the alum is washed out. Then take a kettle of fresh water, and 3 oz. of powdered verzino, and let it boil until reduced one third; then fill it up with fresh water, and boil it again till reduced one finger's breadth. Then take it off the fire and divide the water into two portions, and into one of these put the silk and let it stand till it is cold. Then wring it with your hand, and put it back into the other water which you reserved, and let it be as hot as you can bear your hand in it. Then drain it and wring it well, and spread it out in the sun and it will be fine.

358. To dye silk or thread saffron coloured or yellow. --Take1 lb. of silk and 4 oz. of soap, and boil it until it gives the before mentioned sign of little stars, and then distemper it with 4 oz. of alum as before and put the silk into it, and let it remain in soak for 1 natural day. Then draw it out, and do not let it be stirred or washed in the water, but take it out and dry it in the sun so as not to crease it. Then take 2 lbs. of "herba roccia," called also "panicella," and put it to boil in a cauldron until it is well boiled and prepared, and then take a vase, and put fresh water into it, and an equal quantity of the decoction of this herb, and let both these waters be so hot that you can but just bear your hand in them. Then put in the silk and let it soak for 3 or 4 hours; then wring and put it back two or three times into the decoction, which must be tolerably hot, and without any other mixture, and then spread it out to dry.

359. To dye silk or thread purple. --Take 4 oz. of soap and boil [the silk] as before directed, until it appears starred, and let it be washed in clear water, and then be spread out; then take a vase with clear water, and put into it 2 lbs. of oricello to every pound of silk, if the oricello is good; if the oricello is not very good, put 3 lbs of it into a cauldron for 2 hours, and let the fire be moderate; then let it cool, and wring it well, and put it into a very clean woollen cloth and squeeze it well, and let it remain so for 3 days, and then wash it well in clear water, wring it, and then stretch it out in the shade, and when it is dry roll it up in a white linen cloth tolerably tight.

360. To dye silk or thread violet--Take 2 or 3 lbs. of oricello and divide it into two portions, and put one part of it into water to boil with the silk, and let it boil for an hour; then draw out the silk and stretch it out, and fold it up; afterwards put the other half of the oricello to boil together with the former portion until there remains but a very little water. Then take it away from the fire, and let the silk remain in that water to cool for one natural day. Then wring it and wash it with clear water and let it dry in the shade, and then put it into a linen cloth rolled up tolerably tight as before.

361. To dye silk and thread black. --Take 1/2 lb. of galls well crushed, and boil them in a cauldron with water, until they are well boiled, and then put in the silk to boil in the decoction of galls for half an hour. Then take it out and let it dry in the sun or in the wind, and then take 3 pitchers of shoemaker's blacking, and 1 pitcher of the decoction of galls, and two petitti of dust from a grindstone, and mix the whole together and make it boil for an hour. Then let it cool and clear very well, and then separate that clear water from the lees in another vase, and add an ounce and a half of well pounded vitriol and set it to boil, and when it has boiled for the fifth part of an hour, add to it half a glass of common oil, and then put in the silk to boil for half an hour. Then remove it from the fire and let it remain so for a day and a half, and then take it out and wash it in clear water and wring it well, and spread it out in the sun, and this dye as long as it lasts is good for dyeing. And know that the silk must be always boiled, and if it has not been boiled it cannot be dyed; and it must be boiled in the before-mentioned manner with soap. And the silk that has not been boiled is distinguished in the following manner from the silk that has been boiled. Put the silk into your mouth and chew it a little, and let it be wet with the saliva, then rub it with your fingers; if it rustles while it is wet it is not boiled.

362. To dye silk or thread green. --First make the silk yellow with "panicella" as was before directed for yellow silk, and then take 1 lb. of silk and 4 oz. of indigo, and put it into a saucepan with a little water to boil for half an hour or less, and then take it away from the fire, and cover it for half a day with a cloth, and if the indigo is not dissolved, rub it up with your fingers in the water, and let it clear itself; then separate the water from the lees, and put the water into a vase that is fit for dyeing. And when you wish to dye it, take the solution of indigo and put it to warm, and when it is hot, take a lump of quicklime as big as an egg, and half a pound of honey, to every pound of indigo. Then put one-third part of the lime into the water, and when it is hotter, put in another third part, and when it is nearly boiling, add what remains, and then remove the water from the fire, because if it were to boil, it would boil over the saucepan. Then pour the decoction into a vase, and let it be well covered over like a stew, and when it is cool enough to bear your hand in, put in gently the yellow silk, which must have first been dipped in fresh water and well wrung. Then put it into the solution of indigo, and warm it gently, and if it is hut slightly coloured put it back again into the dye, and you may repeat this several times with the dye as long as any of it remains, if you preserve it; and when you wish to dye anything, put in fresh indigo and honey, but not in such quantity as before.

363. To dye silk a dark green. --Take the silk dyed with, a purple or violet colour; and when you have taken it out, dip it in alum, and then dye it with "panicella," as was before directed for a yellow dye; and when it is so dyed, you will do as before directed for a green colour, and you will have a dark green.

364. To dye silk or thread blue. --Take the silk boiled and washed as before directed for boiling silk white and without alum, put it into the indigo-dye, and you will have a fine light blue.

365. To dye red. --Take for every pound of thread 3 oz. of roche alum well ground, and put the alum into a vase with water over the fire; and when it has boiled a little, put the thread into it, take it off the fire, and let the thread remain soaking in it until it is cool. Then take it out and wash it well until the water comes off clear; and take 1 oz. of verzino in powder, either scraped or rasped, and pour water upon it, and boil it for an hour and a half. Then remove it away from the fire, and strain it through a linen cloth; then first set the strained liquor to boil, and when it is nearly boiling put the thread into it, and let it boil for an hour, and then take out the thread and put it upon a stick to dry. Next add to the liquor which remains one glassful of very strong lye for each pound of thread, and stir the liquor well, in order for it to unite with the ley, and then return the thread into it and boil it for a quarter of an hour; afterwards stretch it out to dry in the shade, and it will be fine.

366. To dye thread with verzino. --Take verzino, and boil it in water as long as you think sufficient, and then take the thread and gall it well; afterwards wash it in fresh water, and then alum it, and let it nearly dry; warm the verzino, and dip the thread several times into the dye to colour it, and dry it well in the shade.

367. To dye thread red. --Take some madder well pounded, and put it into a little lye made from vine ashes, and let it boil, and put the thread to boil in the lye for some time; then remove it from the fire, and let it dry; when it is dry alum it, and then boil it in a little verzino well boiled with water and lye mixed together; then dry it in the wind without sun, and it will be fine.

368. To dye silk black. --Take soot, and scrapings of boilers, and well rusted iron, and boil these ingredients in red wine till reduced more than one-half, and when it has become tepid, put in the thread well dipped and dried several times in the dye, and it will become fine black thread.

369. To dye cotton or silk black. --Take 1 lb. of iron filings, 2 oz. of galls well pounded, 11/2 oz. of Roman vitriol, rinds of pomegranates, bark of the roots of walnut-trees, 2 oz. of verzino well ground, and strong vinegar; boil all together until reduced to one-fourth, and let the decoction cool, and put it in the sun for 3 or 4 days, stirring it 8 or 10 times every day. Then strain it, and when you wish to dye silk or cotton set the decoction to boil, and boil the silk or cloth in it for a quarter of an hour; then dry it in the shade, and the more you dip it, the finer and more beautiful it will be.

370. To dye cotton cloth. --Take 5 lbs. of galls well pounded, and put them into hot water with 10 lbs. of "pignolato,"(4) and then add 5 lbs. of Roman vitriol well pounded, and mix the whole well together, and let it stand a night, and it will be good.

371. To dye bones green. --Mix finely powdered verdigris with the very strong vinegar, and put white bones into a vase closely covered, warm them a little, and they will become green.

372. To dye bones red. --Take verzino scraped, and put it into a glazed jar, and pour urine, and lye upon it; then dip bones into it, and they will be red.

373. To dye skins a light grey. --Take 12 bocali of water and 3 oz. of galls well pounded, boil until reduced one-third, and then strain the liquor, and add 6 oz. of Roman vitriol to the decoction of galls, and dye the skins. And if you wish to have a dark grey add to it a bocale of ley, one glass of oil, and boil it, but the vitriol must not be boiled.

374. To make good writing ink. --Take a bocale of good and strong white wine, 4 oz. of galls well crushed, one handful of dried rinds of pomegranates, one handful of the fresh bark of mountain ash scraped with, a knife, and one handful of fresh bark of roots of walnut trees, and 21/2 oz. of gum arabic; mix the whole together with the wine, and let the mixture remain for 6 or 8 days in the sun, stirring it well 4 or 6 times every day. Then add 21/2 oz. of Roman vitriol, and mix it frequently, and let it remain so for several days; then put it over the fire to boil for the space of one miserere, let it cool, and then strain it and leave it for 2 days in the sun. If you then put in it a little roche alum it will make it much brighter, and it will be a good and perfect writing ink.

375. To dye bones of oxen, buffaloes, and goats, of all colours inside and out. --Put the bones into strong vinegar, and let them remain for 7 days; then boil them with that vinegar until reduced to one-half. Add to them the colour with which you wish to dye them, and boil it with them; then put in a little sal-ammoniac with the bones, and let them boil until they are coloured inside and out.

376. To dye box wood black. --Take box wood, and leave it for a night in oil and sulphur, then boil it for an hour, and it will be as black as coal.

377. To dye bones green. --Put bones well cleaned into a vase full of ley, with goat's milk and verdigris very finely powdered; cover the vase closely, and bury it in dung for the space of 10 days, and the bones will become green inside and outside.

378. To make a cement which will resist water and oil. -- Take liquid varnish 1/2 oz., raw ceruse, very white quicklime, and white of egg. each 1/2 oz., and incorporate them together, and cement what you please.

379. A wonderful cement for crystal and gems, and for stone and wood. --Take ceruse and grind it up well with, varnish, cement what you please, and dry it in the sun.

380. To make a cement to fasten on gems. --Take two parts of powdered vitriol, 1 part of mastic, 4 parts of pitch, and melt them together, and they will form a very strong cement.

381. To make a cement for vases. --Take the yellow earth of the apothecaries, a little orpiment in powder, a little quicklime, and a little liquid varnish, and put all into a pipkin, mixing the ingredients together over the fire, and, while hot, cement what you please.

382. To make a cement for vases in another way. --Take liquid varnish, ceruse, and a little Armenian bole, to make the cement more tenacious, grind the whole together, and cement what you please.

383. To make a cement for wood work--Take of Greek pitch 2 parts, pounded bricks, and a little mastic, and grind the whole up well, and then with a hot iron cement whatever you like.

384. To soften bones. --Take common salt and Roman vitriol in equal quantities, and grind them very well together; then distil them through an alembic, and keep the distilled water in a vessel well closed. When you wish to soften bones or horn or ivory, put them into the said water for the space of 5 hours, and it will soften so that you may impress on them what you like, and they will afterwards become hard as before.

385. To make fish-glue. --Take the bones of a pike or of any other large fish, dry them, and reduce them to powder in a bronze mortar; then put the powder into a new pipkin, with as much water as you think sufficient for the bones or dust, and make the water boil until the bones are liquefied; then touch the water with your fingers, and if they stick together it is good and perfect. Then take it from the fire, and strain it through a linen cloth, let it cool, then out it into pieces, and dry it in the wind without dust.

386. To prime panels for painting on. --Take the panels and give them 3 or 4 coats of very hot glue; after each coat let them dry tolerably, hut let the last coat dry perfectly. Then take gesso in fine powder and well ground, so as to be very fine; distemper it with warm water, and lay it upon the panel with a stick, and let it dry; then scrape it, that is, scrape off the rough parts with a knife blade. Then take gesso sottile, with very clear size, not too strong, and lay it ten times, if necessary, with a paintbrush upon the first coat of gesso; and, when it is dry, rasp it very thin, and draw upon it if you like with soft charcoal of willow or vine; and if you do not like that, take a goose quill and put the charcoal into it so as not to soil your hands. And if you wish to gild it, take Armenian hole ground very fine with white of egg, which is to be diluted with one cupful of pure water, and beaten for one hour; grind the Armenian hole very fine, and lay it on wherever you wish to gild, not twice only, hut even so many as eight times, continually adding Armenian hole, until the priming is very thick; and so you will have what you want. Wet the part you wish to gild twice with clean water, lay on the gold, and remember to let it remain for one hour, and then burnish it.

387. To soften bones. --Put the bones into lye made with quicklime and baked ashes in equal quantities. and let them remain for 9 days, and the bones will become as pliant as you wish. And if you wish to colour them, put in any colour you like, and having formed them into shape, anoint them with linseed-oil, and let them dry in horse-dung for 7 days.

388. To dye skins green. --Take the sloes which grow upon the blackthorn in the month of September, put them into a kettle, and pound them well; let them boil, and ferment like wine in the sun for 3 days. Then separate the clear liquor from the lees; then take roche alum and a little urine, and twice as much strong white wine vinegar as urine, and dissolve the alum in the vinegar and urine; and when it is cold, alum the skins with the solution; and when they are nearly dry, wash them with that wine made from the sloes, and dry them in the shade. And the more coats you give them, the finer colour will he; and you will thus have a fine colour for dyeing chamois leather.

389. To know good galls. -- Good galls are known by their being small and wrinkled, and being hard within and appearing powdery without.

390. To know good vitriol. --Good vitriol is known by its being blue within and very granular without.

391. To make cheese glue. --Take cheese of any sort, tolerably old, and scrape it as thin as paper, or slice it very fine; and then take the scrapings and put them to soak in fresh water for a day. Strain off the water carefully, and then take warm water, as much or rather less than what you threw away, and put the scrapings into the warm water. Knead the whole well with your hands, just as dough is kneaded for bread, in the warm water until all the fat is extracted from the cheese. Continue changing the water, then make the cheese into a cake, and put it into a vase of fresh water, so that it may always be covered with water. And when you wish to use it, take whatever quantity you want of the cake, and mix it with a little quicklime upon a very smooth hoard, kneading it well with a wooden stick; then add to it a little sifted gesso, and mix the whole up again for a considerable time, and it will become cheese-glue for cementing wood-work and vases, and it must be used as fresh as possible, because then it takes a better hold.

392. To make a green and red and purple dye for dyeing bones, cloth, thread, and whatever you like, &c. --Take as much as you like of strong white vinegar, and put it in a glazed vase, and add to it scales of copper and copper-filings of a good red colour, Roman vitriol, roche alum, and a little verdigris; let everything be well ground and mixed with the vinegar, and let it remain so for 7 or 8 days and nights, and this vinegar becomes a good green tint for dyeing silk, bones, linen cloth, and other things as well as for painting. And if in this liquor you put bones raw or boiled, and boil them and let them remain in the liquor for the space of a month, they will become green for ever. And note that scales of copper make the best tint when fresh beaten. In the same manner things may be dyed red and crimson, using vermilion or minium or verzino, and put whatever you wish to dye into the liquor, and it will dye it well. The same can be done in yellow, using orpiment and proceeding as before directed; and, if you like, you may put urine instead of vinegar.

Appendix 1: Recipes for pigments referenced in the dye recipes

Indigo

An alkaline additive is also specified in most recipes, most likely as a ground for the dye color. This is gesso sotile in some cases, and in others "the white earth which the fellmongers use", which the translator of the manuscript states is definitely lime. Starch is called for in one recipe.

73. To make indigo. --Take the herb woad and pound it very fine, and make it into little balls like apples; then take for every pound of woad two ounces of common salt, three ounces of sulphur vivum, and one ounce of roche alum; grind all these things with the herb, and afterwards put them into a copper vessel of clear water, and mix them to the consistence of sauce not too thin, then put the vessel over a clear fire, and let it remain until it becomes like dough; next put it on a table, and spread it out rather thin, and afterwards cut it with a knife in any manner you please and let it dry, and you will have good indigo.

74. To make indigo. --Take two ounces of "gesso sottile," and grind it with 10 oz. of dried woad, that is to say, the flower (or froth), and grind it weIl; then mix a little albumen of eggs, that is to say, prepared white of eggs, with it, and incorporate the whole well together, and dry it in the sun, and when it is dry cut it into pieces just as you like. And note, when you grind it, mix with it a little roche alum dissolved in water, and it will be good and fine indigo.

75. To make fine indigo. --Take one part of flower of woad, which flower is collected in the dyers' vat when they arc boiling woad; bake it well in an earthenware shovel, until it is well burnt; then grind it fine, and take 5 parts of the white earth which the fellmongers use(7), pound it and mix it well with the powder of the woad; afterwards grind the whole with clear water upon a stone, like paint, then spread it on a smooth table, and let it dry a little in the sun; afterwards break it into small pieces, and let it dry again in the sun. Then take some of the first composition, and make it of the consistence of a rather thin soup, and put the pieces into it to soak; then take them out and dry them in the sun or at the fire, and if the colour is not sufficiently deep, renew the process as often as you think proper; afterwards dry it, and keep what you have made.

76. To make indigo. --Take gesso, ground very fine, three parts, and flower of woad six parts; mix and grind them well together until they become like paste of a good colour. Then take alum water made with roche alum, and again wet up this gesso and flower, add more fresh flower of woad until it is as thick as porridge; and before you put in the alum water you must spread the mixture of gesso and woad on marble or hard stone until it is very dry. It must then be wetted up again with the alum water; afterwards spread it out, and let it become very dry, and preserve it.

77. To make indigo another way. --Take flower of woad, and make it up into a paste with urine and strong vinegar; make a cake of it, and dry it in the sun, and if it is pale add more flower of woad to it, until it becomes of a fine colour; then cut it into pieces, and finish drying it, and it will be done.

78. To make indigo. --First you must know that the various sorts of this colour are made of a certain herb which is called woad, and this herb is boiled down in a jar until no part of it remains; it is then dried, and is called by different names; it is made in various places, and is nearly perfect azure.

79. To make indigo. --Take prepared gesso, ground fine, and mix it with flower of woad, and grind it until it becomes like soft and watery paste, and has a good colour. Then take roche alum, and distemper it with hot water; then wet up afresh the gesso and flower with the said alum water, so as to be like a thin porridge; let it remain so until it begins to shrink, then spread it out, and let it dry; afterwards wet it up again with the alum water and flower of woad, and spread it out again on a plank or table of polished walnut wood, or well-polished marble or stone. When nearly dry, cut it into pieces just as you like, and let it finish drying, and it will be good indigo.

80. To make indigo in another way. --Take flower of woad and very white starch, knead them together with urine prepared and strained through a filter, and strong white vinegar, equal parts of each. Make the whole into a cake, and dry it in the sun; and if it is not sufficiently coloured, add to it more flower of woad, and put so much of it that it may be of a lively colour, and it will be done.

81. To make indigo by another method. --Take woad in the herb, and pound it well, and put it in the sun in a vase, and let the sun always shine upon it, and let it stand so for several days, and every day wet it with urine until it breeds worms, and it will produce large worms of a blue colour. Then take these worms and pound them, and extract the juice of them by means of a linen cloth, not too tight; then let the mass remain by itself, and when it begins to shrink make it into a cake like dough, not too thick, and put it to dry; and when it is nearly dry, so that the juice can be pressed out well, cut it in pieces just as you like, and let it finish drying, and it is done.

Verzino

114. For the same, another way. --Take quicklime and put it to soak in a vase with sufficient water to cover the lime three fingers deep, stir it well with a stick until you see that it is well slaked; then let it settle for two days, and take the clear water and some scrapings of verzino, and put the verzino to soak in the water for the space of three days. Then put the whole on the fire and boil it down to one-half or less; then add some pounded alum and a little gum arabic, take it off the fire, and let it settle; when cool strain it through a piece of linen cloth and it will be fine verzino.

115. To make verzino, another way. --Take verzino, scrape it fine, and put it into a glazed vase to soak with a sufficient quantity of cold and purified urine to cover the verzino; then add 2 parts of alum zucharino, one of white-lead, and a little pounded gum. Let the whole stand to soak for two days, then strain it through a linen cloth, and put it to dry; afterwards distemper it with gum water, and it will be good verzino.

116. To make verzino and to preserve it in powder. --Take verzino, scrape it fine, put it into a cup, and pour upon it a quantity of prepared white of egg sufficient to cover the verzino, add a little roche alum so as not to make it froth; then add a drop or two of honey, and let it stand for one natural day. On the second day, add a little whipped white of egg, and scrape into it some of the before mentioned alum, as you did before, so that it may not froth, and do this for three or four days; afterwards strain it through a clean piece of linen, put it into a shell and let it dry in the sun; then scrape it out of the shell and preserve the powder. When you wish to use it, put the powder into a shell with some lye in it, to soften, and do as you please with it.

117. To make pavonazzo with the juice of herbs. --Take thick pieces of linen cloth, not new and white, hut such as pieces of old towelling and sheeting; then take roche alum and dissolve it in boiling water and then let it cool. Soak the rags in this water, wet them well, and dry them in the shade; then take the juice of a plant which is called "gilosia,"(18) and wet the linen rags many times in this juice, and between each time let them dry well in the shade. Keep them in a place open to the air, such as a saucer; and when you wish to use the colour take a little of that linen, and put it to soak in a shell with gum water, and let it stand for the space of an hour; then press it out and paint with it.

118. To make the colour brasilium. --Take verzino or brasilium, scrape it and put it into sufficient gum water to cover the verzino, in a glazed vase for a day and a night, and then boil it until the third part is consumed; then add some roche alum to it and boil it a little, and then pour into it one-third part of strong white vinegar, and let it boil a short time, afterwards strain it and keep it excluded from the air.

119. To make verzino another way. --Take scraped verzino, steep it in prepared white of egg for two days; afterwards strain it through a piece of white linen drop by drop on a new brick, and let the verzino remain until dry; then take it off carefully with a knife, and put it away, and when you wish to use it, soften it with water, and write whatever you like.

120. To make a colour like grana with verzino. --Take verzino scraped fine, and soak it in lye as strong as you think proper for the space of 3 days; then let it boil over a slow fire in a glazed vessel until the fourth part of it is consumed; then add to it immediately a little alum zucarino, and a little roche alum in powder, and mix it well with a stick; then let it cool, pass it through a filter, wrap it up closely, and put it away, and you will have a good colour like grana.

121. To make verzino over the fire. --Take half an ounce of verzino scraped fine, and a sufficient quantity of white wine to cover the verzino; then put these ingredients into a new glazed pipkin, and let them soak for the space of one natural day. Then add to them one-eighth part of roche alum, and the same quantity of gum arabic in powder, and let the whole stand another day. Boil until the liquor is reduced one-half, let it cool, then strain it through a piece of linen, and keep it in a well closed glass bottle, and it will be good;

122. To make good verzino, proved excellent. --Take verzino collombino(9 scraped fine, and put it to soak in very strong and clear ley, and let the lye be 3 fingers deep over the verzino. Let it soak in a glazed pipkin two natural days, and then put in a good pinch of the clippings of cloth dyed with grana, and let them soak well. Then put the liquor over the fire to boil until reduced one-half, add a little roche alum, a little gum arabic in powder, and a little assafoetida, and let it boil slowly for the space of two misereres, so that it may not boil over, as it makes much, froth; let it cool, and strain it through a piece of linen, and keep it in a well closed flask.

123. To make verzino in the sun. --Take the verzino, scrape it fine, and then put it into a large fish shell, or in a glass vase, with sufficient red wine to cover the verzino; let it soak for a day and a night in the shade, not exposed to the night air; put it in the heat of the sun, and let it stand for 3 or 4 hours; and take roche alum and a little gum, pound them both fine, and add them to the verzino; and let the verzino stand in the sun for 3 or 4 days, hut do not expose it to the night air. Then strain it, and keep it in a well closed jar, in order that it may not change its colour, and it will be good.

124. To make verzino in another way. --Take verzino, and scrape it with glass, and then put the rasped wood into a shell half full of water, and let it stand for a day and a night; and having done this, strain it through a cloth, and press it into another saucer, and put into it a piece of alumen scabis,' the size of a bean, and afterwards set the hake in the sun, and let it dry, and preserve it. When you wish to use it take a little drain water, and distemper it with that water, and use it.

125. To make a pavonazzo colour. --Take blue flowers which grow m the corn when it blooms, and extract the juice, and then do as before directed for the other purple made with the pieces of linen, and it is done.

127. To make a very durable and beautiful verzino. --Take calcined tartar and make as clear a lye with it as you can; and if you make the lye with white wine, it is hetter than making it with plain water, hut either will do. Then take verzino scraped very fine, as much as you like, and put it to soak in the lye so that the verzino may be just covered by the ley, and no more, and let it remain so for a day and a night. Then put it into a glazed jar, and let it boil down one-third, that is to say, let it be reduced by one-third; then add gum arabic in fine powder, as much as you think will suffice, and let it hoil a very little. Add a little roche alum, in fine powder, and immediately take it off the fire and let it cool and settle; then strain it through a linen cloth, and keep it in a wellchosed phial, and throw away the lees.

128. To make a light and brilliant pavonazzo for using on paper, that is to say, for boxes, and on parchments. --First give the parchment or boxes, or other similar things, a coat of vermilion distempered with gum water, and let it dry; then take scraped verzino and put it to soak in white of egg well broken and beaten up, clear and without froth, that the verzino may be covered with the white of egg, and let it stand for two natural days. Then separate the verzino from the white of egg, and with that coloured white of egg, give 3 or 4 coats over the vermilion, each time letting it dry in the shade, and you will have a bright and beautiful pavonazzo; and know that you must not put any gesso whatever upon the parchment, but only give a coat of vermilion on the bare paper, just as it is.

132.--Take of verzino, scraped with glass or with a rasp, whatever quantity you like. And if you have a drinking-glass full of scrapings, reserve half of the verzino, and put the other half to soak in so much lye as just to cover the verzino; let it soak for the space of one night. Then put it to boil slowly over the fire, and when it has boiled while you can say one ave maria, take some of the verzino which you reserved, and put a small quantity, little by little, upon that which is boiling, and continue to do this as long as you have any left, always waiting a little after each time; and when you have no more left, and the verzino is reduced to one-half, stir in as much roche alum (and it must be well powdered) as you think sufficient, and immediately take it away from the fire and let it rest and cool. Then strain through a thin piece of linen that part only which comes away of itself, without pressing out the dregs. Put it into a well-closed glass phial, and place it in the heat of the sun for a day or two, and it will be fine and perfect verzino for writing. And if you wish the colour to be darker, add to it, when it boils, a piece of quicklime as large as a bean, and it will he done.

133.--Take one ounce of verzino, scraped with a rasp or with glass. Put a third part of the verzino to soak in sufficient spirit of wine to cover it, for the space of one natural day, and add to it the weight of one quattrino of roche alum in powder. Put it over the fire, and let it boil for the space of one paternoster, strain it, and keep it in a phial, and also put by the verzino. Then take the rest of the verzino, that is, the other two-thirds, and put it to soak in very clear vinegar, and add to it a quattrino or more of alum and a quattrino of gum arabic, and a good half drinking-glass full of vinegar. Let it soak for 8 or 10 days, and then soak in this liquid the verzino which was taken out of the spirit, adding it to the other two-thirds, in the sun; then add to it another quattrino of pounded alum, and let it stand in the sun in a glass vase for 4 or 6 days; then put it away in a phial, after straining it. When you wish to use the colour, take some of the verzino that was in the spirit, which will be almost yellow, and mix it with one-tenth part of the verzino which was in the vinegar, and write with it, and it will be fine; and if you wish to have it darker, put more of the verzino made with the spirit into it, and if lighter, less. And the verzino will he better if made in this manner, viz. :--Take the verzino, scraped as before; then take a tumbler of vinegar, and let it boil for the space of one paternoster, and put into it 2 or 3 quattrini of pounded alum, because when the vinegar is boiling the alum dissolves and liquefies sooner; and if it does not all dissolve it is of no consequence. Then put the verzino and the gum to soak in it, and place it in the sun for 8 or 10 days, and it will be good, and mix it with the other verzino, steeped in the spirit, and it will be light or dark as was before mentioned.

Oricello

174. To make purple oricello. --Oricello has a purple colour; boil some water, when it is hot liquefy the oricello in it, and rub it hard, and press it through a strainer into a glass goblet, boil the water as you did before, and strain it two or three times. Then put a strip of saffron and a piece of gum into an egg-shell, and warm it on the coals, and do this 2 or 3 times, and the next day, when that water has settled, strain it well through a strainer and distemper it, and lay it upon paper, and write, and then let it dry. Then take gum ammoniac and grind it well with ley, and mix a little vermilion with it, and write whatever you like upon the oricello with a paint-brush or a pen, and let it dry. Having done this, take a leaf of gold between your little finger and thumb, blow upon the leaf, and place it upon the gum ammoniac, and fix it well first with your finger and afterwards with a stone, but do not rub it. Clean it with bread crumbs; do this once or twice; if you mix the oricello with lake or vermilion it will be brighter.

White lead/ceruse

196. To make minium quickly. --Take calcined litharge, and lead, prepared together over the fire, and you will have a good minium.

Faking Stained Glass (not applicable to the subject, but too cool to leave out)

215. For the same in another way. --Take kid or sheep-skin parchment, scraped very fine, wet it with warm water; then stretch it on a frame, and let it dry; afterwards paint upon it, and again let it dry. Then take rather warm linseed-oil, and rub it over the parchment, and let that dry also, and it will resemble glass in appearance.

216. To do the same with linen cloth. --Take a linen cloth, very clean and close, and stretch it out well upon a frame; then take white of egg well whipped, separate it from the scum, and add to it one-third part of gum-water. Then lay it over the cloth with a sponge, so as to soak the cloth with it all over, and let it dry, and then paint upon it in any manner you like, and let that dry also; then give it another coat of the white of egg and gum-water, and let it dry again. Afterwards apply a coat of liquid varnish, and it will appear like crystal.

221. To make musk soap. --Take a vase of whatever size you like, made of good earth, and let it he rather thick in order that the weight of the lime may not break it, and near the bottom of it there must be a hole, closed with a peg, and on the inside, in front of the hole, you must put a wooden platter, and upon the platter you must put a lump of tow, enough to cover the bottom of the jar, and upon the tow, in front of the hole, put a small piece of thin linen. Then mix two parts of ashes from the baths with one part of quicklime, and place the mass upon the piece of linen that is upon the tow in the vase, and spread it well all over it. Then take rain-water, according to the quantity of the ashes, and pour it into the vase at two or three times, because it boils up and absorbs the water, and there must he enough water to cover the ashes to the depth of two fingers-breadth or less, and when it ceases to boil, let it stand for a whole night, and in the morning take out the peg and let out the ley; and when you have drawn off a bocale full of it, pour it back into the vase, and it will become rather thick; do this two or three times, and the last time let it rest a little, and then strain it; and if it comes away too fast, press the ashes down a little in the vase, because it must issue from the whole like a thread in order that the lye may

2. Poligonum Aviculare.

3. This recipe is distinguished in the original by a hand drawn in the margin.

4. Guarnello is a kind of cloth made of cotton, but the term is also used to denote a woman's dress made of this material. Pignolato is a sort of cloth made of linen or hemp.

7 There is no doubt that this was lime.

8 Erba Gilosia. The Amaranthus Tricolor.

9 Verzino Collombino. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, says, thc best Brazil wood, or, as he calls it, Verzino, grew in the Isle of Ceylon.

Glossary

roche alum: Potassium alum.

sumach: Young Fustic ( Rhus cotinus). It was used to dye yellow. The tannic acid content also functioned as a mordant when dyeing other colours.

tartar:

galls: oak galls, a source for tannic acid.

privet: Ligustrum vulgare. A tall bush with sweet-smelling white flowers.

buckthorn: Rhamnus carthaticus. .) Buckthorn berries were used extensively in medieval and renaissance times by painters to create "sap green", a yellow-green color. They produce a yellow color when unripe, and a green when ripe.

herba roccia:

panicella:

Roman vitriol: also called blue vitriol. Hydrated copper sulfate (CuSO4.5H2O)