In my final post on handwritten communication, I am reflecting on writing implements.

Writing implements have has been known for thousands of years – think of the Egyptians, Babylonians and Ancient Chinese all of whom left some form of written documentation. These have ranged from brushes, to reeds, and of course feathers. Bronze ‘pens’ were known in Classical times (an example has been found in Pompeii), but metal was rarely used for writing steel nibs were introduced in the 1800s. A steel point pen was invented in 1828, and the fountain nib (with the central split) in 1830. Until 1884, when the foundation pen reservoir was invented, nibs still had to be dipped into the ink.

Think of any historical writer, from Shakespeare, Milton, Austen, Pepys, the Brontes and how they are represented, and chances are you will see a quill pen. It is an iconic implement that brought so many important words to the page that we still read and enjoy now. For hundreds of years, at least in the West, it was the only means to write with.

The Quill pen is such an indelible part of writing history, and so very different from the hard nibs that we are currently used to. On this basis, I thought I would find out what it is actually like to write with a feather and traditional ink, and what it takes to make one.

In October, I attended a practical (short) course learn about Tudor letter writing and make my own quill pen and Tudor ink. This was run by Jorge Kelman of the Guild of Saynt Luke, and was great fun. As an inveterate note taker, I have plenty of research that I will feed into not only my understanding, but my writing. I know about the scents, sounds, actions that my characters will experience if/ when they need to write for themselves.

Writing with a quill pen takes practice and time. Having to stop to dip the nib into the ink forces you to consider what you are doing, rather than rushing on with the next word or sentence. There is a certain scratch to the nib on paper that is unique to the quill. It scrapes along the page, sometimes with a little squeak if the connection with the cut on the feather shaft is at a certain angle.

A key point that was stressed for us is that quill pens are never left as the full flight of the feather. As it was mainly goose feathers that were used (swans and eagle for royalty) as they were domestically available, leaving the feather intact would make for impractical writing. Just think of the tip tickling your nose!

Ink over time, and in different parts of the world, will have different ingredients. Focusing on the Tudor tradition, we made ink using Oak Galls, Ferris Sulphate and Gum Arabic. Whereas in some parts of Europe pomegranate rind will have been used. Boiling the oak-gall ink brings a warm earthy/ autumnal scent to the air, the oak-gall water a rich coffee/ chocolate brown until the iron (Ferris Sulphate) is added.

It was interesting to note that the rate at which inks fade is dependent on the chemical make-up (what it and the paper is made up of) rather than the age of the letter. Letters written 200 years ago could still appear fresh, crisp and clear, when some written much more recently fade to brown. Indeed, the ink that we created seems to be within the latter category.

I now enjoy doodling and writing with my own nod to history. As you would expect, I have good attempts and bad attempts at writing with the quill. I am not sure if the quality of my nib is good or bad, it seems wide to me – of course I am used to the narrower nibs of contemporary fountain and ball point pens -, with a softness that (in my mind at least) suggests that I have cut the central slice too far. But no first attempt is ever going to be perfect, and I will need to make more to have an accurate comparison.  

The ballpoint pen was initially developed 1888, but developed into the form we know now by the late 1930s by László Bíró and subsequently Mike Reynolds in 1945. Originally designed to be refillable – as the foundation pens – though less frequently, the poor sales of the pens (once purchased, only the refills where needed). So Michel Bich developed a cheaper, disposable version in the 1950s which made writing in ink more easily available, but has fed into the ‘throw away’ culture we are now trying to address.

As a final pause to consider the delights of writing by hand, it is also worth taking a moment to consider what we write on. Paper from wood-pulp was only introduced with the newspapers in the 1850s, before then rags (typically linen or hemp) were recycled into paper (using sizing as a sealant, otherwise the ‘paper’ acts like blotting paper), or parchment, vellum or papyrus. Each with different textures, acidities, and influence on the ink, the nib and therefore the writing. Not only that, the price of paper would influence who was writing on what, and lead to paper-saving techniques such as the cross-letter and tiny lettering discussed previously.