ABSTRACT
The lesson discussed in this chapter—making iron gall ink using recipes that circulated in the Hispanic world during the early modern period—represents a modest effort to enhance history teaching in three key areas. First, the history of the book in the Iberian world is more than the history of print. Likewise, writing with iron gall ink represented the most important function of the imperial state which sought to thoroughly document every aspect of life in the New World and other parts of Spain’s overseas territories. Second, learning about the process of writing helps us gain a fuller appreciation of the way observation, experimentation, and repetition play important roles in disseminating knowledge. Lastly, the assignment enhances the teaching curriculum in the humanities by asking students to take an active role in the learning process.
