The Social Life of Ink: Culture Wonder And Our Relationship With The Written Word

by Ted Bishop

A rich and imaginative discovery of how ink has shaped culture and why it is here to stay Ink is so much a part of daily life that we take it for granted, yet its invention was as significant as the wheel. Ink not only recorded culture, it bought political power, divided peoples, and led to murderous rivalries. Ancient letters on a page were revered as divine light, and precious ink recipes were held secret for centuries. And, when it first hit markets not so long ago, the excitement over the disposable ballpoint pen equalled that for a new smartphone—with similar complaints to the manufacturers.

Curious about its impact on culture, literature, and the course of history, Ted Bishop sets out to explore the story of ink. From Budapest to Buenos Aires, he traces the lives of the innovators who created the ballpoint pen—revolutionary technology that still requires exact engineering today. Bishop visits a ranch in Utah to meet a master ink-maker who relishes igniting linseed oil to make traditional printers’ ink. In China, he learns that ink can be an exquisite object, the subject of poetry, and a means of strengthening (or straining) family bonds. And in the Middle East, he sees the world’s oldest Qur’an, stained with the blood of the caliph who was assassinated while reading it.

An inquisitive and personal tour around the world, The Social Life of Ink asks us to look more closely at something we see so often that we don’t see it at all.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Canada, Cultural, Books About Books, Science

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2014

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Bishop teaches in Alberta- literature and the history of the book. He packs this informative volume with a wonderful lot of facts and references. I hadn't gone very far before I realized I had to have a copy of my own because there are all sorts of bits I want to read to my calligraphy class (poor souls, they don't know what they're in for.) There is a short chapter where Dr. Bishop has his class make ink (pigment, binder, and vehicle). Their pigment was oak galls (hammer and then grind them), the binder was gum arabic (crystalline so don't hit too hard) and the vehicle they experimented with: water, vinegar, white wine, and beer. The vinegar seemed to make the nicest ink but no one had suggested that the beer should be allowed to go flat so the class learned the word flocculent.
Thanks to a government grant Dr. Bishop was able to travel to Samarkand, to China, and to Turkey, as well as Seattle, New York, and Switzerland. He investigated the peculiar history of the ballpoint pen with pieces about Mr. Bich (pronounced beek) and the flim flam man Mr. Reynolds, he of the Reynolds Rocket. You really have to read that for yourself. The Swiss are proud of their pens and coloured pencils to the extent that when the government suggested a different (less expensive - I can't imagine anything Swiss being cheap) manufacturer to supply the schools there was almost rioting in the streets.
We get a history of Chinese stick ink and its place in Chinese poetry. Part of the government exams was a piece of calligraphy to be submitted by the candidate. This is my kind of country.
We meet calligraphers of Arabic and some incredible copies of the Qu'ran. Oh, yes, and we meet the cochineal beetle here again.
There are passages on printers' ink versus writing ink and the various brands of ink. (One brand that I use in some of my fountain pens is a brand the experts he talked to suggested was damaging to the inner workings. I must look into this.)
He also talks about the feeling of writing with pen and ink as an intellectually stimulating action.
If you have any interest at all in the act of writing, or the way pens are made, or the interesting experiments you can try with potential ink ingredients, or just find humans and their activities of interest then this is the book for you. It's funny, informative, like a visit with an interesting neighbour.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aside from a couple of interesting parts, like the invention of the ball point pen, I found this book to be too self-effacing. Too much about the author, not enough about ink. The self doubting introspection made me a little bit crazy. Worrying about his outfit when he was in Buenos Aires or being hurt by a wife who wouldn't shake his hand. Who cares?

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for bookclub. The author is local, and was kind enough to visit our bookclub - it was great to get some insight into the background of the book, and he also showed us some objects featured in the book (Chinese ink sticks, gallnuts, the Reynolds Rocket pen). He's a great storyteller. I thought the strongest part of the book was Bishop's trip to China and the historical perspective on ink and calligraphy. Some of the other parts were less engaging for me... I also appreciated that this book made me think about how things we take for granted (pens, ink, paper) were once cutting-edge technology like the iPad.

[Amanda Schutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this book for bookclub and had the author attend our talk! It was a great book. The subject matter was relatable for me because I am a designer and love using ink as a medium in illustration. Ted blended the history of ink with great travel stories, focusing on the people he met along the journey.

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts:
- A weirdly specific topic but a wild ride. I saw this book recommended on some Reddit thread when I was getting into fountain pens during the summer break. Glad I picked it up because it was super interesting.
- This is more of a travelogue than a comprehensive history of ink, and overall I found it enjoyable and engaging despite sometimes being a tad rambly.

[Terry Pitts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ink perplexed me from start to end. I expected a completely different kind of book, one that might have an organized structure of some sort and that might actually "explore the story of ink" as the book's blurb promised. I had a hard time adjusting to the book that Ted Bishop wrote, even though I found myself enjoying large swaths of his rambling travelogue through parts of Europe, South America, China, and central Asia. The last thing I expected from a book on the history of ink was that it would start with a lengthy section on the invention of the Bic pen and the ballpoint pen. Yes, the history of the ballpoint pen is really about the struggle to make ink flow properly, but this seemed like a very unpromising start.

Bishop, it turns out, is a hands-on kind of writer. To understand Marcel Bich, who invented the Bic pen, and Laszlo Biro, who developed the first great ballpoint pen, Bishop takes us along on his travels to Hungary and then Argentina. For the most part, Bishop is a fairly good travel writer, but occasionally there's a bit too much about the weather, the coffee, the food, or his own bad attempts at calligraphy.

Eventually Bishop gets to China to explore the history of ink there across the millennia and he's pretty good at discussing the impact that ink had on poetry, calligraphy, and culture in general. He visits scholars and museums and learns firsthand how to make Chinese ink cakes. For me, this is when Bishop was at his best. Still, I had to wonder about what kind of person takes an arduous and risky bus trip to a remote Tibetan lamasery to visit a print shop that has been operating for centuries using hand-made inks and ancient wooden printing blocks - only to learn that the print shop was closed for the winter.

Then, when his brother proposes a trip to Uzbekistan, he's not too sure where this is on the map, but he realizes that this excursion might allow him to delve into the role that ink played in Islamic culture, which proves fascinating. Ink earns a passing grade as both a history and a travel narrative to a truly odd itinerary. But I still want the book I dreamed of when I bought this volume.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed this charming anecdotal account of various inks and pens. I certainly would never have picked it up had it not been on this year's Alberta Reader's Choice shortlist, so I'm very thankful that it was included, otherwise I wouldn't ever know about this little gem. It was somewhat thought-provoking for me, making me realize that I'd only had deep-seated thoughts and preferences for pens and inks that I'd never really given much conscious thought to (until now). Despite still not preferring Bic pens, I have a new appreciation for both their design and how they were brought to market. I've always preferred blue ink to black, and this book makes me want to go buy a variety of blues to see what I prefer. Most of all, I am itching to dig out my fountain pen and start scribing on beautiful creamy papers. Thank you, Ted Bishop, for sharing your adventures with us in your quest to learn more about ink throughout the ages.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drawing on equal parts travel diary and on his formidable research and knowledge, Ted Bishop has written a lively and literate social history of ink. Although seemingly a humble substance, it has inspired great literature and art, political upheaval and murder, mysticism and spirituality, as well as jealousy, fraud, secrecy, invention, hype, lust and many other aspects and emotions. Bishop dips into several dimensions of its history, travelling to the places associated with those stories, and having related adventures of his own. A very engaging read and one that will cause the reader never to look at a pen or a book in quite the same way again. - BH.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and thoughtful look at something so often overlooked.

[Melissa Toth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was actively looking into this topic when I found this book, and I love doing long detailed research into niche interests, so this book should have been perfect for me. However....it felt more like awkward small-talk with a new acquaintance, rather than a deep dive into a topic. It felt like trying to dive with a life-jacket on: it was really hard to get very far past the surface to the good stuff.

The topic is very interesting, and there's some information that's really cool to hear about. However, it feels like there's more authorial introspection and travel reviews than actual substance. Several of the passages were just...really "icky", for lack of a better word. For instance, (content warning for discussion of suicide ahead), there's a bit where the author is talking to his wife, who's telling him that in Hungary, suicide isn't a taboo topic - it used to be a noble way out for bankrupt aristocrats so it's not, like, targeted by religious groups or stigmatized. She mentions that hanging is the preferred method of suicide. And the author quotes himself as responding, "Hence the hangdog expression of all the servers (in the restaurant). They're just going to finish their shift and go home and hang themselves. They're already depressed because the rope will probably slip or the light fixture will come out and they'll have to try two or three times." Just...feels really weird and insensitive? Like it's not funny, it's not adding any insight to the book's topic, it's not adding to the experience. It's just..."lol suicide".

There's also a healthy dose of misogyny. For instance, "When the landlord had said he could arrange a translator I instantly imagined someone young and lovely, and then stopped myself. It wouldn't be that way; it never is, and anyway I wasn't interested" (or so he says; but nonetheless feels the need to prepare himself for disappointment: "I conjured up instead an earnest linguist with thick glasses and stumpy shoes. When the thoughts returned" (wasn't interested? sure buddy) "I added stocky, swarthy, and a fierce command of the subjunctive in six languages" (because ewwww masculinity in a woman). "On the morning she was to arrive I dialed in a hint of moustache and sour body odour." Really selling your lack of interest, my friend. When she arrives, he finds out "She looked like Audrey Hepburn. Slender, with brown hair that fell below her shoulder blades, held back in front with a hair band. No makeup, delicate features, small hands. She wore tight blue jeans and a western shirt with snaps over a turquoise tank top." Just normal things to say about a female professional, right?

It's not just a fluke, either. Later on he describes the female head of promotion of a Swiss company: "Tall and slender, she had on elegant glasses and a business suit with a brown scarf at the neck, an ensemble that was stylish without being sexy (which of course made it so)". Again, just...just a normal way to discuss a woman doing her job.

Anyway, all that aside (there are plenty of other specific examples), overall there's more travel commentary and complaining and introspection than there is actual information about ink. There's good content in this book, but the author makes you wade through his diary to find it.

[Ash Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF at 60%. Got it for $1 at a tag sale. This is supposed to read as a historical overview, combined with a travel journal.The history has so much potential to be really great, but I just can't make myself care about the author. I don't care about how the staff at the hotel were rude to you. I don't care about the view you got out the window of the library, or how much your bougie pen cost. I found myself skipping/skimming whole pages, because I didn't want to read about the author's life. It's not supposed to be about YOU and YOUR relationship with ink.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book! it was a nice exploration of ink and really interesting to look at how it was used and made - and i particularly enjoyed the last section that talked about fountain pens and ink making a resurgence in the digital age. very fun, overall a good start to my reading this year

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanna travel the world learning neat facts usually about ink, from the historical to the contemporary, then this is the book for you. Not the most academic work, so treat it more like a travelogue with a lot of contextual sections.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal travel memoir as much as a delve into ink. I was much reminded of Bill Bryson’s style. Covers everything from Chinese ink sticks to the notorious Bay State Blue from Noodler’s Ink. Entertaining read.

[Angela Natividad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've decided I'm going to become an obsessive ink person. Thanks, Ted.

[Taraya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating; makes me want to invest in a high quality pen and ink set.

[John Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

The author is Professor of English literature and film studies at the University of Alberta, but the word life in the title is a hint that this book is more than an academic history of ink. It's part travelogue, with snippets of autobiography, part historical biographies, part meditation on such topics as the influence of writing and different writing implements on thought. It's also lively, and particularly in the early chapters, quite engrossing.

Bishop opens with Lazlo Biro, inventor of the first successful ball-point pen. He realised that ink for such a device would have to be based on printing ink rather than the water-based material hitherto used in pens. His challenge was to develop such an ink that would flow though a narrow channel and then dry almost immediately. A bit frustratingly Bishop defines the problem quite clearly and portrays the struggles to solve it, but skips over the solution itself.

Biro was an inventor rather than an entrepreneur. (Among his other inventions was a filtering cigarette holder; a photo shows him, cigarette holder in hand, looking like one of the younger Bond villains.) He was followed by Milton Reynolds, who could be called an entrepreneur; he worked on the cheap and relied on hype to deal with technical problems, making and losing several fortunes in the process. Then came Marcel Bich, a dedicated craftsman, who was persuaded to drop the last letter from his own name to give a name to his product, and produced the first successful disposable pen.

Bishop then moves on to ink in other times and other cultures, which gave him an opportunity (excuse?) for travelling and to emphasise the autobiographical-travelogue aspects of his book. We learn about the tribulations and rewards of marrying into a Chinese family. He visits China, where ink is still produced as sticks of material to be ground and mixed with water as part of the ritual preparation for calligraphy and poetry; and some of these sticks were artworks in themselves, too ornate and valuable to be used. We get glimpses of the society that required a poem as entrance to the civil service and saw calligraphic style as an image of personal character. (But Bishop's long bus trip to observe printing techniques in Tibet proved to be a bust when he turned up in winter and found the printing shops closed because their water-based inks would freeze.)

Bishop's book is filled with fascinating nuggets. For example: Gutenberg's crucial invention was not of printing using movable type (which already existed in Europe) but of an ink that would make a sharp, dark impression from such type. Newly elected members of the Royal Society of literature sign the roll book with a historical implement—Dickens' now-splotchy quill, Byron's pen or T. S. Eliot's fountain pen. One "signs" a document because historically an illiterate monarch would make the sign of the cross beside his clerk-written signature to endorse it. We get descriptions of ink-making (usually starting with huge amounts of hand-grinding of raw pigment). Lampblack (very fine soot) generally made the best inks. Ink based on gall could be so acidic that over time the writing would etch itself right through the paper. There are discussions (at various lengths) of printing, tattooing, of blood as ink, ink as medicine; of the Q'ran and the sunni/shiite schism; of pens and motor bikes; of ink versus pencil, pen versus typewriter with respect to sentence lengths, ball-point versus fountain pen (but oddly no discussion of the reputed adaptation of a fountain-pen nib to its owner's handwriting). There's a chapter on the apparent resurgence of the fountain pen and the near-fetishistic delight in its inks—with different tints for different moods and such specialised items as a laser-proof ink to deter cheque forgery.

If there's a slight sense of anticlimax at the end, Bishop has still produced a model of popularised, genial erudition.

[Deborah Makarios · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much the story of the author's researches as it is the story of ink itself - if not more so.
If you want to know what László Bíró's daughter's friends were wearing when the author met them, and what they all had to eat, this is the book for you. If you just want information about ink, read something else.
There are some amusing lines, such as "If you want secret ink you'll need a wild ass and a camel, but as a bonus this ink will cure your liver ailments".

[Xatolos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much about the authors trips and personal information, no where near enough about ink let alone any of its usage in social life.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have missed my subway stop, lost sleep as I read into the wee hours of the morning, surfed multiple websites and dashed off to the Public Library to follow up sources the author mentions. This book has had an impact on my life. It encouraged me to boldly walk into “fine writing instrument” shops to look at pens that cost a small fortune. It kindled a quirky fascination with 19 cent pens* (that claim to contain enough ink to write for 2 km,) languishing in my junk drawer. It has made me “pay attention.”

As a student artist, I quickly learned that the quality of the materials I use influences both my process and my work. The longer I look at a scene or an object to sketch or paint the more detail I see. So, I was intrigued and hooked from the opening sentences, “Ink binds us. We are surrounded by ink, immersed in ink, a substance so common it is invisible.” University of Alberta Professor and author, Ted Bishop, invites us to look more closely at something we see so often that we don’t see it at all. This book is part history, part sociology, part travel log, part memoir and an altogether humorous adventure. He travels all over the world in search of ink recipes, writing instruments and the people who invented them. This book is packed with facts and references.

The author asserts that the invention of ink was as significant as the wheel. Ink recipes, the world over, have been highly protected trade secrets for centuries. In the 1950s the advent of the disposable ballpoint pen was revolutionary technology and its introduction was surrounded by the hoopla equivalent to the introduction of the smartphone.

Ink is commonly used to write or to draw, but it has also been used as medicine, as object d’art (inksticks of China) and as currency. You can find many websites dedicated to ink as well as to ballpoint pen art.

Ink, like good art, has the ability to incite strong emotions. Ink can invoke creativity, fascination, jealousy, joy, spirituality and awe, just to mention a few that the author writes about in fascinating detail. I will never again take ink for granted.

*Bic crystal ball point pen ($2.39 Canadian for a pack of 12) advertises ink to write for over 2 km.

[Lianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won an ARC of this book via the GoodReads First Reads programme. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2...

The Social Life of Ink is a delightful read, indeed part-travelogue, part-investigation into the history and development of familiar writing devices–the pen, the printing press–not only in Western culture, but also the Middle Eastern and Chinese traditions. The uses, approaches, and mindset behind the writing process and how they came about creating ink to write were all very interesting, and reflective of their own traditions and cultures.

The travelogue aspect of the novel was also very interesting, from Hungary to China to Central Asia (!). The latter was especially intriguing and a surprise for this reader as it’s not a typical tourist destination. I also learned a lot from his adventures to the other locations mentioned, as well as the historical anecdotes featured.

The last segment of the book focuses more on the various uses of ink in our present society, and whether it has a place in the future. This section felt a bit more like a mish-mash–the chapter on tattoos in particular felt a little out of place after most of the book covered the use of ink as a writing (on paper) medium–but nonetheless reinforces the different ways in which ink is used. I also wished there was an epilogue/postscript to wrap up the themes and observations in the book about what he learned from his travels and the future of ink, though ending with the story of his class making ink was also a nice way to wrap up the book.

I highly recommend The Social Life of Ink, it’s a very informative read about an object in our lives that I think we take for granted.

[Katherine Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a mixed read.
The (awesomely named) author writes accessibly (+). This is an academic-ish book that my dad can/might read. Ted Bishop is well read overall (+) & gets hands on. He digs into ink from a range of perspectives (+). I learned some things & found some further sources (+).

But often the book feels like an ill-prepared travelogue. More than once he admits to traveling to do research without doing prior footwork so is sometimes foiled on his quests (-). This even comes up in the section in which he has his class make ink but doesn’t try it himself first (-!). Commenting on his students’ skeptical reactions to his instructions he writes, “They knew I didn’t really know.” As a reader, I had a similar reaction: he’s enthusiastic & has the recipe / research to hand but the text, like his class, could use a bit more prep.

Worst of all is the way he turns to ill-considered, often *all-caps* ungrammatical dialect when capturing his in-laws speech (-!!!) and flippant comments about how “[I]t’s always been hard to get a handle on Central Asia.” For whom? Just no. I almost rated this book one star because of it. Maybe I still should.

[Brian Greiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read, overall. I gave it 3 stars, although my wife would probably say 4.
The topic is rather more extensive than I would have guessed. The historical and reenactment stuff I found quite interesting, but the detailed travelogues I could have done without. I mean, who cares what food or drugs the author ingested along the way? A bit too meandering into the inconsequential for my taste.
I liked the story arc ... it begins with a way to replace the fountain pens with ballpoints, and ends with the revival of fountain pens and ink as a medium of expression.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Ted's enthusiasm for his topic is contagious and even when he goes off on a tangent, I'm happy to stumble along; there's something new and fascinating around every bend. I enjoy the mix of the academic and the personal, the science and literature, historic and present.

I found my own touchstones in so many places, from mentions of my alma mater to my own recent appreciation of fountain pen, ink and paper to connect to my writing. And may have a newfound curiosity for calligraphy!

A wonderfully engaging read.

[Jack Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

After slogging through a couple of dreary 700 pagers this was a very funny unexpected cultural trip
With some of some interesting facts: about Biro and the Ball point pen.
Sorry Ted but Yann Martel beat you to it in "The Facts Behind the Helsiniki Roccamatios. "
This book is for anyone who wants to resist the cultural trend to make us all part of the
Borg entity.

[Wade Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found who whole thing delightfully informative and thoroughly intriguing. I loved Ted's stories of travel and the experiences he had along the way. It felt, at times, like Ted was Indiana Jones nerdy cousin, sleuthing around libraries and forbidden places. I have a new respect for ink!

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting cultural tour of the history of ink around the world and a present-day tour of places where ink still has a tangible link to the past. Well done, good ideas that elevate the beyond the limited topic of ink.

[Russell Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

May have limited appeal for those who aren't obsessed with the art and form of the written word but this book is very well written; a conversation with an interesting friend about the things that he has found out about ink.

[Janna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read about a third of this book but then couldn't bring myself to pick it up anymore. Well written, well researched, but not really what I was looking for. You can only read about how to mix ink for so long.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dunno, dude is really insufferable. Ink is great. The writing was meh and should have been edited much tighter. Also, I thought his translations of both French and Mandarin took a lot of liberties, so then I questioned the accuracy of everything. Also kind of an orientalist & vaguely pervy shit.