Forty Centuries of Ink; or, a chronological narrative concerning ink and its backgrounds, introducing incidental observations and deductions, parallels of time and color phenomena, bibliography, chemistry, poetical effusions, citations, anecdotes and curi by David Nunes Carvalho
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page 10 of 472 (02%)
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an allusion to the antiquity of this art, and to the pre-
eminence attached by the ancients to purple beyond every other color, it is remarked: "It is important to understand that the word purple, in ancient writings, does not denote one particular colour." Many of the names of the dyestuffs have come down to us, some of them still in use at this time and others obsolete. They were employed sometimes as ink, and certain color values given to them, of which the more important were blue, red, yellow, green, white, black, purple, gold and silver. Some colors were estimated symbolically. White was everywhere the symbol of purity and the emblem of innocence, and, just opposite, black was held up as an emblem of affliction and calamity. Green was the emblem of freshness, vigor and prosperity. Blue was the symbol of revelation; it was pre-eminently the celestial color blessed among heathen nations, and among the Hebrews it was the Jehovah color, the symbol of the revered God. Hence, it was the color predominant in Mosaic ceremonies. Purple was associated as the dress of kings, with ideas of royalty and majesty. Crimson and scarlet, from their resemblance to blood, became symbolical of life, and also an emblem |
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