by Darlene Houseman

Created on: July 02, 2007

THE AGELESS PASSION OF WRITING

From Stone Age man to computer geek, the passion for writing has been with man as long as mankind has existed. We know this because of writing. Using the all-purpose tool of a sharpened stone, Stone Age man killed his prey, skinned it, and then Stone Age man, or perhaps Stone Age woman, then recorded it by scratching images into the cave walls or dipping their fingertips into crushed berries and other plant material, perhaps even blood to make the markings.

Stone gave way to the writing stylus, closely related to the writing instruments we use today. Developed by the Greeks, made from ivory, metal or bone, the stylus was used to scratch into wax-coated tablets, which were re-used by rubbing out the writing with the flat end of the stylus.

Early Egyptians and Romans used bamboo stems by fraying, splitting or cutting one end and forming into a point then filling the hollow stems with ink. They would then squeeze the stem and force the fluid to the point, or nib, to write.

Beginning around 600 A.D., it was discovered that bird feathers were similar to bamboo stems and were excellent instruments for holding ink. The use of the quill pen dominated the history of writing instruments lasting for over a thousand years, until 1800 A.D. The best quills were made from the five outer feathers of the left wing. These were the strongest and best suited to right-handed writers because the feathers curved out, away from the writer. Swan feathers were a deluxe form of quill and crows' feathers were best for making fine lines. Eagle, hawk, turkey and owl feathers were also used but goose feathers were the most common. Each bird only yielded 10-12 useful quills and each quill would last only a week before it had to be replaced. It's interesting to note that the special knife used to sharpen the quill became known as the "pen-knife."

There is mention of an iron pen' in the Old Testament's book of Job, and brass pens are referred to by the16th century Spanish calligrapher, Juan de Yciar in his 1548 Writing Manual. In 1702, M. Bion, a Frenchman, designed a fountain pen, one of which has survived to the present and is the oldest known fountain pen today. English engineer Bryan Donkin patented a steel point pen in 1803 but the mass production technique for such pens was not developed until 1830. The basic nib was produced from stamped tempered steel then shaped, split and the tip formed. This technique continues today. Jacob Parker developed the first

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