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the first penThe Egyptians were the inventors of the first form of paper, papyrus. Along with that they invented the first form of writing instrument using Calamus reeds. The fibres of the reeds were capable of retaining an ink composed of water and black soot which they used to scribe hieroglyphics onto the papyrus. With the later invention of a two-sided parchment made out of animal hide the quill was developed as a new and more suitable writing instrument.demand for the quillTowards the middle of the 20th century the production of paper and increased demand for printed material meant that the quill became a wanted item. Gees had been the major source of quills but with the increased demand crows, turkeys and ducks were also farmed for their quills.Skill was required in producing a good quill. It was necessary to remove the fat as it rendered the ink useless. This was done by dipping the feathers into a preheated sand bath and then wiping them clean. The quills then had to be trimmed at both ends (big long lovely quills as in the movies are more a myth than reality). As the writing point became blunt easily the tip was regularly trimmed also. |
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the fountain pen developesMany attempts were made to modify the quill so as it could hold an ink reservoir. In the early nineteenth century a quill was developed that had a inner duct section that acted as a reservoir, it was developed further so as to allow the quill sections to be mounted onto a penholder and stay in place with the use of a locking ring. This refined version of the quill lasted for many years until the development of the metal nib which revolutionized the pen.Many different metals were initially used in the manufacturing of the nib including brass, gold, and steel. The problem with those metals was their rapid rate of wear, but with the discovery of iridium, a hard wearing metal, the pen developed even further to what is now know as the “fountain pen”. There were many versions of the fountain pen invented in attempts to have a consistent and regular flow of ink from the reservoir to the nib. Lewis Edison Waterman, an American insurance agent is credited with the development of the first reliable duct in the history of the pen. the pen nowThis day and age the pen takes many different forms. The twentieth century saw the invention of the ball point pen which further revolutionized the writing world by having a fast drying and cheaply manufactured pen available throughout most of the world. The pen now comes in a variety of styles including the fountain pen, ball point and roller ball pens, marker pens, gel pens and even the mechanical pencil. <back |
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