Your Quilling me!
The story of the pen
The word pen is derived from the latin term, "penna" which means feather.
The swan, goose and turkey feathers most commonly used to make the pens, had the larger capillaries for better ink flow.
In Shakespeare's time, all that was available as a writing instrument was the quill; he wrote his many masterpieces like Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth & more with a hand cut feather quill pen.(When it comes to Shakespeare, I can see where the term "The Pen is mightier than a sword" comes from; all those tragedies he wrote..In his hand, the pen truly was a sword to his characters!) Unfortunately over time his from dipping his quill into the ink, his fingers turned black and so retired.
This form of writing tool was used for over 1500 year. From the Egyptians' fine reed brushes to the Romans' Hollow reeds & stylus feather quills, fountain pen & now our ballpoint pens, ( typewriter & then computer) writing instruments have come a long way. Sadly thanks to the computer formal writing is becoming a lost art. When I told someone I was handwriting my story, then typing to file they called me "Hardcore"
Aside from Shakespeare, the quill pen has written most of the famous documents if not all in history. The dead sea scrolls, Magna Carter, The constitution of the united states (if I remember right, I think in the pictures of the signing you will see them using quills), and the beautiful Illuminated manuscripts. What do I mean by illuminated? Illuminated lettering is pretty much-decorated lettering. If its block letters it is usually decorated inside with various colors & can be very complex with flora & fauna, animals, Celtic knots, & more all of this inside or outside of the letter, bringing it to life! I've also seen where it was just the background was decorated & the letter was just plain with a different color to pop) The illuminated letter was usually the first letter of the page or paragraph.
These pens around every 2 sheets of writing would have to be sharpened, and would last but about 1 week or 2. It's the left wing of a bird that is used for the quills, mainly goose, swan or crow even Ostrich have been used. (those are the ones that look like they are waving at you while one is writing) and were the most comfortable for those who are right handed as the curve of the left wing quill best fit the right-handed writer.
have you found a large bird feather? Do you want to use it for a quill pen? The best are said to be from geese and for the finest most detailed writing crows flight feathers work best.
They are still used occasionally in modern times usually calligraphy, scrapbooking, and some other creative outlets.
Before you do anything, soften & cure the tip by putting it in a container of hot sand or hot water. This will prevent it from shattering when you cut it with the knife (no matter how sharp)
Calligraphy ink is used when writing with a quill (feather) not India ink as that has adhesive properties. (that will most likely bind itself to & ruin your Quill pen.)
