A Brief History of the Pen
Humans have been writing and making marks as far back as the caveman. Initially man used his finger by dipping it in plant juices as a drawing and writing instrument. By 4000 BC, bone or bronze tools were used to scratch everyday events on to cave walls.
As language and writing developed there was a need for new improved, more effective tools.
It was the ancient Egyptians who were the first people to write on paper. In around 3000 BC the scribes from ancient Egypt used thick Calamus or Bamboo reed brushes to write on papyrus scrolls. The reed pen was used up until the Middle Ages, although the quill pen had begun to replace it as early as the 7th century.
European monks were to first to realise that goose feather quills were much better than reeds. The hollow quill would hold the ink and the split end worked as a nib. There was real skill needed in trimming the quill and a talented scribe could create some very nice calligraphic effects. The downside to the quill was that it needed constant re-trimming, so it gave it a very short writing life.
The quill was replaced by the metal dip pen in the early 19th century. The metal dip pen had a steel nib with various holes to hold the ink. The nib was attached to a wooden handle, and could be manufactured quite cheaply. In 1803 Bryan Donkin patented a steel pen point but did not commercially exploit his patent, so this left it open to exploitation and in 1830 steel makers in Birmingham, England, pioneered the mass production technique for cheap long wearing steel pen nibs.
The dip pen had to be constantly dipped in ink, which meant it wasn