These historic types of pens are no longer in common use as writing instruments, but may be used by calligraphers and other artists: A┬аdip pen┬а(or┬аnib┬аpen) consists of a metal nib with capillary channels, like that of a fountain pen, mounted on a handle or holder, often made of wood. A dip pen is called such because it usually has no ink reservoir and must therefore be repeatedly dipped into an┬аinkpot┬аin order to recharge the nib with ink while drawing or writing. The dip pen has certain advantages over a fountain pen; it can use waterproof pigmented (particle-and-binder-based) inks, such as so-called┬аIndia ink, drawing ink, or acrylic inks, which would destroy a fountain pen by clogging, as well as the traditional┬аiron gall ink, which can cause corrosion in a fountain pen. Dip pens are now mainly used in illustration,┬аcalligraphy, and comics. A particularly fine-pointed type of dip pen known as a┬аcrowquill┬аis a favorite instrument of artists such as┬аDavid Stone Martin┬аand┬аJay Lynch, because its flexible metal point can create a variety of delicate lines, textures and tones in response to variation of pressure while drawing.
- The┬аink brush┬аis the traditional writing implement in East Asian calligraphy. The body of the brush can be made from bamboo, or from rarer materials such as red sandalwood, glass, ivory, silver, and gold. The head of the brush can be made from the hair (or feathers) of a wide variety of animals, including the weasel, rabbit, deer, chicken, duck, goat, pig, and tiger. There is also a tradition both in China and in Japan of making a brush using the hair of a newborn, as a once-in-a-lifetime souvenir for the child. This practice is associated with the legend of an ancient Chinese scholar who ranked first in the Imperial examinations using such a personalized brush. Calligraphy brushes are widely considered an extension of the calligrapher’s arm. Today, calligraphy may also be done using a pen, but pen calligraphy does not enjoy the same prestige as traditional brush calligraphy.
- A┬аquill┬аis a pen made from a┬аflight feather┬аof a large bird, most often a┬аgoose. To make a quill, a feather must be┬аcured┬аthrough aging or┬аheat-treatment, after which a nib is fashioned from the shaft by cutting a slit in it and carving away the sides to create a pointed tip. With practice, suitable feathers can be made into quills quickly and cheaply using no more than a small knife and a source of heat. Due to their easy availability, quills remained the writing instruments of choice in the west for a long timeтАФfrom the 6th century to the 19thтАФbefore the metal dip pen, the fountain pen, and eventually the ballpoint pen came to be manufactured in large numbers. Quills, like later metal-nibbed dip pens, must periodically be dipped in ink while writing.
- A┬аreed pen┬аis cut from a reed or bamboo, with a slit in a narrow tip. Its mechanism is essentially the same as that of a quill or a metal dip pen. The reed pen has almost disappeared but is still used by young school students in some parts of India and Pakistan, who learn to write with them on small timber boards known as “Takhti”.[14]
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A dip pen
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An ink brush
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Quill and ink
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A reed pen
History
Ancient Egyptians┬аhad developed writing on┬аpapyrus┬аscrolls when scribes used thin reed brushes or reed pens from the┬аJuncus maritimus┬аor sea rush.[15]┬аIn his book┬аA History of Writing, Steven Roger Fischer suggests, on the basis of finds at┬аSaqqara, that the reed pen might well have been used for writing on parchment as long ago as the First Dynasty, or around 3000 BC. Reed pens continued to be used until the┬аMiddle Ages, but were slowly replaced by quills from about the 7th century. The reed pen, made from reed or bamboo, is still used in some parts of Pakistan by young students and is used to write on small wooden boards.[14][16]
The reed pen survived until papyrus was replaced as a writing surface by animal skins, vellum and parchment. The smoother surface of skin allowed finer, smaller writing with a quill pen, derived from the flight feather.[17]┬аThe quill pen was used in Qumran, Judea to write some of the┬аDead Sea Scrolls, which date back to around 100 BC. The scrolls were written in┬аHebrew┬аdialects with bird feathers or quills. There is a specific reference to quills in the writings of┬аSt. Isidore of Seville┬аin the 7th century.[18]┬аQuill pens were still widely used in the eighteenth century, and were used to write and sign the┬аConstitution of the United States┬аin 1787.
A copper nib was found in the ruins of┬аPompeii, showing that metal nibs were used in the year 79.[19]┬аThere is also a reference to ‘a silver pen to carry ink in’, in┬аSamuel Pepys’ diary for August 1663.[20]┬а‘New invented’ metal pens are advertised in┬аThe Times┬аin 1792.[21][full citation needed]┬аA metal pen point was patented in 1803, but the patent was not commercially exploited. A patent for the manufacture of metal pens was advertised for sale by┬аBryan Donkin┬аin 1811.[22][full citation needed]┬аJohn Mitchell of┬аBirmingham┬аstarted to mass-produce pens with metal nibs in 1822, and after that, the quality of steel nibs improved enough so that dip pens with metal nibs came into general use.[23][full citation needed]
The earliest historical record of a pen with a reservoir dates back to the 10th century AD. In 953,┬аMa’─Бd al-Mu’izz, the┬аFatimid Caliph┬аof┬аEgypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib.[24]┬аThis pen may have been a fountain pen, but its mechanism remains unknown, and only one record mentioning it has been found. A later reservoir pen was developed in 1636. In his┬аDeliciae Physico-Mathematicae┬а(1636),┬аGerman┬аinventor┬аDaniel Schwenter┬аdescribed a pen made from two quills. One quill served as a reservoir for ink inside the other quill. The ink was sealed inside the quill with┬аcork. Ink was squeezed through a small hole to the writing point. In 1809, Bartholomew Folsch received a patent in England for a pen with an ink reservoir.[24]
A student in┬аParis,┬аRomanian┬аPetrache Poenaru┬аinvented a fountain pen that used a quill as an ink reservoir. The┬аFrench Government┬аpatented this in May 1827.[25]┬аFountain pen patents and production then increased in the 1850s.
The first patent on a ballpoint pen was issued on October 30, 1888, to John J Loud.[26]┬аIn 1938, L├бszl├│ B├нr├│, a Hungarian newspaper editor, with the help of his brother George, a chemist, began to design new types of pens, including one with a tiny┬аball┬аin its tip that was free to turn in a socket. As the pen moved along the paper, the ball rotated, picking up ink from the ink cartridge and leaving it on the paper. B├нr├│ filed a British patent on June 15, 1938. In 1940, the B├нr├│ brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, moved to┬аArgentina, fleeing┬аNazi Germany. On June 17, 1943 they filed for another patent.[27]┬аThey formed “B├нr├│ Pens of Argentina”, and by the summer of 1943, the first commercial models were available.[28]┬аErasable ballpoint pens were introduced by┬аPaper Mate┬аin 1979, when the┬аErasermate┬аwas put on the market.
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, a naturalized┬аCroatian┬аengineer and inventor of┬аPolish-Dutch┬аorigin from the┬аKingdom of Croatia-Slavonia┬аin┬аAustria-Hungary, became renowned for further development of the mechanical pencil (1906) тАУ then called an “automatic pencil” тАУ and the first solid-ink fountain pen (1907). Collaborating with an entrepreneur by the name of┬аEdmund Moster, he started the Penkala-Moster Company and built a pen-and-pencil factory that was one of the biggest in the world at the time. This company, now called┬аTOZ-Penkala, still exists today. “TOZ” stands for “Tvornica olovaka Zagreb“, meaning “Zagreb┬аPencil Factory”.
In the 1960s, the fiber- or felt-tipped pen was invented by Yukio Horie of the┬аTokyo Stationery Company, Japan.[29]┬аPaper Mate’s Flair was among the first felt-tip pens to hit the U.S. market in the 1960s, and it has been the leader ever since. Marker pens and highlighters, both similar to felt pens, have become popular in recent times.
Rollerball pens were introduced in the early 1970s. They use a mobile ball and liquid ink to produce a smoother line. Technological advances during the late 1980s and early 1990s have improved the roller ball’s overall performance. A┬аporous point pen┬аcontains a point made of some porous material such as felt or ceramic. A high quality drafting pen will usually have a ceramic tip, since this wears well and does not broaden when pressure is applied while writing.
Although the invention of the typewriter and┬аpersonal computer┬аwith the┬аkeyboard┬аinput method has offered another way to write, the pen is still the main means of writing.[30]┬аMany people like to use expensive types and brands of pens, including fountain pens, and these are sometimes regarded as a┬аstatus symbol.[31]
History of First Pen History of First Pen History of First Pen History of First Pen History of First Pen