Late eighteenth century German recipe book for colors, dyes, inks, metal-work

Unique., ca1780. Contemporary half leather over paper covered boards. The paper exhibiting a delicate floral design.. Very good; some cover wear.. Small 4to, 114 pp. appx. 195 x 160 mm. Written in German gothic script on laid paper (no watermark).

Although this volume bears the signature of a John Shank and several lines in English establishing his ownership on January 29, 1836, it dates from about 50 years before. It is continental in origin with no record of how Shank came to own it. The opening pages provide recipes for various color inks (including the green used to record one other recipe later in the manuscript). It then moves on to colors. coloring metals, writing on various surfaces, the brazing of non-ferrous metals, etching, etc. At one point the writer addresses the dyeing of vellum and paper and the use of Lapis lazuli - both exotic topics not encountered in American manuscripts. There are occasional miscellaneous recipes recorded, e.g., Dutch gin. The manuscript exhibits little wear or staining and one assumes Shank could not read the exotic text and had it as a keepsake.