第85章
THE QUILL PEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AND FITTING OFALL WRITING INSTRUMENTS--TENDENCY TO "WEAR" OUT--THE SOMETIMES AFFECTION FOR OLD PENS--DR. HOLLAND'S LINES ON THE PEN--SELECTION OF QUILLSTO BE MADE INTO PENS--METHOD OF PREPARING THEM--BYRON'S ESTIMATION OF HIS QUILL PEN--ITSINVENTION BEFORE THE SIXTH CENTURY UNCERTAIN--EMPLOYMENT OF THE REED AND QUILL PEN TOGETHER UNTIL THE TWELFTH CENTURY--WHEN THE STEEL PEN CAME INTO VOGUE--WHO WAS ITS INVENTOR--SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT IT--QUANTITYOF MATERIAL SIXTY YEARS AGO CONSUMED IN PEN MANUFACTURE--A FEW REMARKS ABOUT GOLD, FOUNTAINAND STYLOGRAPHIC PENS--MORE STEEL USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PENS THAN IN THAT OF SWORDSAND GUNS--POETICAL LINES ABOUT THE PEN.
THE quills belonging to the feathers of birds seem to have been the most successful and fitting of all materials for pens, for, though steel and other metals are now used for this purpose to an immense extent, there is a power of adaptation in a quill pen which has never yet been equalled in metal. Quills, however, like other things, have a tendency to "wear out," and the trouble resulting from the necessity of frequently mending quill pens and a desire to write with more rapidity have been the main causes of the introduction of steel substitutes. A kind of affection has often been felt by an author or official, or their admirers, for the pen with which he has written any large or celebrated work or signed some important document;old worn-out pens, as well as new ones, have been preserved as memorials in connection with such matters, and Dr. Holland, who translated Pliny's "Natural History" in the sixteenth century, recorded an exploit connected with it in the following lines:
"With one sole pen I wrote this book, Made of a gray goose-quill:
A pen it was when it I took A pen I leave it still."The quills employed for pens were generally those of the goose, although the crow, the swan, and other birds yielded feathers which were occasionally available for this purpose. Each wing produced about five good quills, but the number thus yielded was so small that the geese reared in England could not furnish nearly enough for the demand, hence the importation of goose quills from the Continent was very large.
The process surrounding the manufacture of a quill pen proves of considerable interest.
"The geese are plucked of their feathers three or four times a year, the first time for the sake both of the quills and the feathers, but the other times for the feathers only. The pen quills are generally taken from the ends of the wings. When plucked the quills are found to be covered with a membranous skin, resulting from a decay of a kind of sheath which had enveloped them; the interior vascular membrane, too, resulting from the decay of the vascular pith, adheres so strongly to the barrel of the quill as to be with difficulty separated, while, at the same time, the barrel itself is opaque, soft, and tough. To remove these various defects the quills undergo several processes. In the first instance, as a means of removing the membraneous skin, the quills are plunged into heated sand, the high temperature of which causes the external skin of the barrel to crack and peel off, and the internal membrane to shrivel up. The outer membrane is then scraped off with a sharp instrument, while the inner membrane remains in a state to be easily detached. For the finest quills the heating is repeated two or three times. The heat of the sand, by consuming or drying up the natural moisture of the barrel, renders it harder and more transparent. In order to give the barrel a yellow color, and a tendency to split more readily and clearly, it is dipped in weak nitric acid, but this was considered to render the quill more brittle and less durable, and was therefore a sacrifice of utility for the sake of appearance.""Oh! nature's noblest gift--my gray goose quill!
Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will, Torn from thy parent bird to form a pen, That mighty instrument of little men!"BYRON.
To locate an exact period for the invention of the quill pen is impossible. It could hardly have been in use before the fourth century, probably not earlier than two centuries later. Some writers have assumed that it was employed by the Romans, but as no distinct mention is made of them by early classical authors we must accept the only information at hand.
Isidore (died A. D. 636) and contemporaries state that the quills of birds came into use as pens only in the sixth century. It is also known, St. Brovverus being the authority, that in his time (seventh century)the calamus or reed pen and the quill pen were employed together, the calamus being used in the writing of the uncial (inch) letters and capitals, and the quill for smaller letters. Mention is also made by many writers of the five centuries which followed Isidore's time of the calamus, indicating that notwithstanding it had been superseded by the quill it was still a favorite writing implement in some places.
The use of the "steel pen" did not spring immediately from that of the "quill pen." There were several intermediate stages adopted before the fitness of steel for this purpose was sufficiently known, From about 1800 to 1835 the number of proposed substitutes for the quill pen was very considerable.