These are gilding recipes collected from various texts.

Liber ruralium commodorum (Book of Profits)i

Author: Petrus Crescentius (Pietro de Crescenzi)

About 1304-1309

Held by: The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, Buhler MS 17

This is a treatise on medieval gardening and other country matters written in Middle English. 

[fol. 2v, recipe a]

To make sise for gold letteres.

Take a drye sound of stokfissh & wash it ones or twise in cold watir and pen lay in watir all a nyghe and on the morne take a posnet with a quarte of watir and sethe it rit wele to pu may qwish it thoror thy fyngyrs and then grynd it on a stone right small. And if it wax tughe in the gryndyng cast theron a litill of the watir pat it was sodyn in and grynd it faste. & put perto a litill yalow bole to colour it with. And take good hede for per is two maners of bole, yalow & rede. Lefe be rede and take be yalow. And when it is groundyn ynogh strayn it thorow a clothe. And if it be to thikke to drawe with letteres temper it with the same watir it was sodyn in. And kepe evir of the same watir to pu nede perof anoper tyme. And if pi sise be bully take pin erewax and touche perwith pe bullis to pai be away and door pat or pu drawe thy letteres.

[recipe b]

Anothir maner of sise.

Take old glaire & chalke & cole and colour it with bole.

[recipe c]

Yit another sise.

Take clere glayre & let it stand ij wekis till it be old and pen take fair nesch chalke and grynd it the space of ij owris and temper it with cole and putt perto a litill of the old glaire & a litill bole and strayn it thorow a clothe and if it be full of bull put erewax perto. And if it haue no bull put perto on the gryndyng a litill safroun and let it not be to yalow ne to white bot a dymme colour. And if pu temper it with newe glaire let it stand vij days or pu wirke perwith. And pen strayn it and wirk perwith.