Next it was discovered that certain stones, such as flint, serpentine
and chalcedony, marked more readily than others; that the elongated
chip was handled with more facility; that by rubbing one stone against
another the finest possible points and edges might be obtained. Thus in
the Age of Stone was the long, tapering instrument of stone, the first
pen, the Stylus, originated.
Then came the time, known as the Bronze Age, when men learned to
hammer metal into shapes, and metal having many advantages over stone,
the stylus of stone gave way to one of iron. So we find that in the
time of the Egyptians, about fourteen or fifteen centuries B.C., an
iron stylus was in use for marking on soapstone, limestone and waxed
surfaces. An improvement in this metal stylus was that the blunt end
was convex and smooth, the purpose of which was to erase and smooth
over irregularities. In some cases it was pointed with diamonds, which
gave it greater cutting properties. The iron stylus was also used by
the Egyptians of that period, as well as in later times, with a mallet,
after the manner of the modern chisel (which indeed it resembled) for
cutting out inscriptions on their monuments.
[Illustration: THE BRUSH]
~WRITING FLUIDS HELPED DEVELOPMENT~
In course of time a marking fluid was discovered, and this made
necessary a writing instrument which could spread characters on
parchment, tree-bark, etc. Thus it was found that by putting together
a small bunch of hairs, arranging them in the shape of an acute cone,
and fastening them together in some manner, an instrument could be
made which would carry fluid in its path, and thus make a mark of the
desired shape. The hair best adapted for the purpose was found to be
camel’s hair, while that of the badger and sable was also used. A tube
cut from a stalk of grass answered for a holder. The hairs were held
together by a piece of thread which was then drawn through the tube,
thus making the first writing instrument to be used in conjunction with
ink, the Brush.
[Illustration: HOW THE CHINESE IMPROVED METHODS]
Just when the Brush came into existence is not definitely known, but
with this instrument the great Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote his
marvelous philosophy. The Brush as a writing instrument is generally
associated with the Chinese, because the Chinese use this instrument
even to the present day, it being especially adapted to their letters
and mode of writing. We have now a pen (brush), as well as an ink, but
the material upon which the people of that age wrote, in lieu of paper,
was still very crude, parchment and tree-bark being most commonly used.
[Illustration: THE QUILL]
~THE EARLIEST FORMS OF PAPER~
Just as the discovery of an ink wrought a change from the Stylus to
the Brush, so the advent of papyrus, a paper made from the papyrus
plant, which was much finer and more economical than parchment, brought
with it a pen better adapted for this material. It was found that
the Reed, or Calamo, as it was called, which grew on the marshes on
the shores of Egypt, Armenia and the Persian Gulf, if cut into short
lengths and trimmed down to a point, made an admirable pen for this
newly discovered paper. This was the true ancient representative and
precursor of the modern pen. The use of the Reed can be traced to a
remote antiquity among the civilized nations of the East, where Reeds
are in use now as instruments for writing.
[Illustration: HOW THE MONKS DID THEIR WRITING]
The introduction of a finer paper rendered necessary a finer instrument
of writing, and the quill of the goose, swan, and, for very fine
writing, of the crow, was found to be well adapted. Immense flocks of
geese were raised, chiefly for their quills. The earliest specific
allusion to the quill occurs in the writings of St. Isadore de Seville,
seventh century, although it is believed to have been in use at an
earlier period. The quill was used for many centuries. Most of the
writing during its reign was done in the monasteries by the monks, and
in the eighteenth century, when quill-making became quite an art,
every monk and every teacher was expected to be proficient in the art
of making a pen from a quill. The preliminary process of preparing the
quills was first to sort them according to their quality, dry in the
hot sand, then clean them of the outer skin, and harden by dipping in
a boiling solution of alum and diluted nitric acid. During the last
century many efforts were made to improve the quill, its great defect
being speedy injury from use. Ruby points were fitted to the nib, but
this was found impracticable on account of the delicacy of the work.
Joseph Bramah devised, in 1809, a machine for cutting the quill into
separate nibs for use in holders, thus making several pens from one
quill and anticipating the form of the modern pen.
[Illustration: THE STEEL TUBE PEN]
[Illustration: THE FIRST STEEL PEN]
The quill held sway as writing instrument for many years, and with
it the greatest masterpieces in literature have been written. Many
attempts, however, had been made to supersede the quill by a pen not so
easily injured by use, but it was not until about 1780 that, after much
experimenting and numerous failures, Mr. Samuel Harrison introduced the
first metallic pen.
~THE INVENTION OF THE PEN~
This pen was made as follows:
A sheet of steel was rolled in the form of a tube. One end was cut and
trimmed to a point after the manner of the quill, the seam where both
edges of the tube met forming the slit of the pen. This was soon after
improved upon by cutting a rough blank out of a thin sheet of steel,
which blank was filed into form about the nib, rounded, and with a
sharp chisel marked inside where the slit was to be in the finished
pen. After tempering, the nib was ground and shaped to a point
suitable for fine or broad writing, as required.
[Illustration: THE MODERN STEEL PEN]
[Illustration: THE MODERN WRITING PEN]
Once started, the steel pen made rapid strides in improvement. Mr.
James Perry, in 1824, started in England the manufacture of pens on a
large scale, and to him as well as Gillott is due the many improvements
which followed.
Perry was the first to manufacture “slip” steel pens, up to this time
the pen and holder being one piece.
“In times of yore, when each man cut his quill
With little Perryian skill;
What horrid, awkward, bungling tools of trade
Appeared the writing instruments, home made!”
~THE MODERN WAY OF WRITING~
The steel pen of the present day has reached the pinnacle of
perfection, and the method of manufacture of this little but mighty
instrument of writing, though of extreme interest, is practically
unknown by the general public. To explain in detail the development
from the rough steel to the finished pen would needs make a book
in itself. And as it has been our intention to dwell, not upon the
manufacture of the pen, but to trace its history and development from
its most crude form, the Stylus, to the perfect and smooth-writing
steel pen of to-day, we will close our story with the well-worn epigram
of old, grim Cardinal Richelieu:
“Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The Pen is mightier than the Sword!”