The Leyden and Stockholm Papyri - University of Cincinnati

3.1 Description
III
The Stockholm Papyrus
The Stockholm Papyrus is formed of fifteen loose papyrus leaves
measuring about thirty centimeters in length and about sixteen
centimeters in width. These correspond very nearly in size with the
double sheets of the Leyden Papyrus X. Like the Leyden Papyrus it
is in an excellent state of preservation. There are from forty-one to
forty-seven closely written lines of Greek capital letters on each
page. The pages are numbered consecutively although the separate
recipes are not. It is purely and simply a collection of recipes like
the Leyden Papyrus with but few traces of any theoretical considerations.
There are numerous duplications, abbreviations, and
omissions in these recipes as though, as was probably the case,
they were simply intended as reminders to those already skilled in
the practice of the arts they deal with. A total of one hundred fiftyfour
recipes is contained in the papyrus. Only nine of these deal
with metals. There are some seventy recipes treating of the art
of imitating precious stones and of improving the appearance of
genuine ones. The remaining recipes deal chiefly with the
mordanting and dyeing of cloth. The last one is of quite a different
character than the remainder and its significance will be discussed
in the brief commentary following the translation.
! The translation which now follows is based upon both the
Greek text and the German translation of Lagercrantz (1). An
endeavor has been made to give a faithful English version as far as
possible although the exact nature of some of the substances
mentioned in the papyrus is difficult to determine with accuracy.
For these cases and for others where a little explanation is deemed
necessary, brief notes follow the recipe containing them. Words in
parentheses are lacking in the original but are added to give a
true meaning in English where it has been thought necessary.
For purposes of greater convenience in referring to them the trans-
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