Quill and inkwell drying powder?

Question: Quill and inkwell drying powder!?

Hi guys!. I was recently watching a movie and was curioius about the powder that used to be shaken over a handwritten document!.!.!.!.!.Does anyone know what this is and what its suposed to do!? Is it chalk!? Just wanted to know!.Thanx so much!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

It's a substance called pounce, made of cuttlefish bones or pumice stone ground very fine (like talcum powder)!. This was used in preparing parchment for writing as it gives parchment a white, smooth and grease-free surface!. It was also applied after the writing was completed, to blot up any excess ink - this was before blotting paper was introduced (so from Roman times, throughout the medieval period and right up to the early 19th century)!.

Some sources say that salt or fine sand was also used for this purpose but my own experiments have shown that both are far less absorbent than either cuttle bone or pumice!.

I keep my own pounce in a replica pounce pot, a round, flat-topped, squat pottery vessel with a hole and bung in the base (for filling it) and several small holes in the top (like a salt-shaker)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com