how to erase a writing table?

Question

I have a writing table from 16th or 17th century. Great little book - size of a moleskin - fits nicely into my pocket and includes a quality silver stylus which sure beats carrying around an ink pot. The table includes an almanac, multiplication grid, and even a chart of European coinage - real helpful for when I'm traveling.

The table has plenty of erasable pages that are made up of a composite of Spanish gesso and glue. Scratching the surface with the silver pin leaves a trace which can be erased. Unfotunately they're filled with the doodles of some renaissance merchant. Recognizing how expensive writing tables are these days, anyone know how to erase these? I believe there were instructions included in some of these tables, but I seem to have lost mine.

Answer 1

      To make cleane your Tables, when they are written on.

Take a lyttle peece of a Spunge, or a Linnen cloath, being cleane without any soyle; wet it in water, and wring it hard, & wipe that you hauve written very lightly, and it wyll out, and within  one quarter of an howre, you maye wryte in the same place agayne: put not your leaues together, whylst they be very wet with wyping. - Cleaning instructions from writing tables published by Robert Triplet in 1604

 

However, a faint trace of the erased text may remain as documented here. For every day practical use, the above instructions will do.