Quill: Difference between revisions

A '''quill''' is a [[writing tool]] made from a moulted [[flight feather]] (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large [[bird]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mugo|first1=D. G.|last2=Muthwii|first2=S.|last3=Gakuru|first3=P. M.|date=September 2014|title=Tracing writing technologies through time: A historical reflection of writing systems, writing surfaces and writing implements|url=https://karuspace.karu.ac.ke/handle/20.500.12092/1901|language=en|issn=2384-7301}}</ref> Quills were used for [[writing]] with [[ink]] before the invention of the [[dip pen]], the /metal-[[Nib (pen)|nib]]bed pen, the [[fountain pen]], and, eventually, the [[ballpoint pen]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofpencils.com/writing-instruments-history/history-of-quill-pens/|title=Quill – Facts and History of Quill Pen|website=www.historyofpencils.com|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>

As with the earlier [[reed pen]] (and later dip pen), a quill has no internal ink reservoir and therefore needs to periodically be dipped into an [[inkwell]] during writing. The hand-cut goose quill is rarely used as a [[Western calligraphy|calligraphy]] tool anymore because many papers are now derived from [[Pulp (paper)|wood pulp]] and would quickly wear a quill down.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} However it is still the tool of choice for a few scribes who have noted that quills provide an unmatched sharp stroke as well as greater flexibility than a steel pen.

The strongest quills come from the primary flight feathers discarded by birds during their annual [[Moulting|moult]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museum.ie/The-Collections/Documentation-Discoveries/December-2015/Writing-Implements,-c18th-Century|title=Writing Implements, c18th Century| publisher=[[National Museum of Ireland]]}}</ref> Although some have claimed that feathers from the left wing are supposedlybetter favoredsuited byto [[right-handed]] writers because the feather curves away from the sight line, over the back of the hand,<ref name="A Note on the Quill">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usask.ca/english/barbauld/notes/quill_note.html|title=A Note on the Quill|website=www.usask.ca|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> the quill barrel is cut to six or seven inches in length so no such consideration of curvature or 'sight-line' is necessary. Additionally, writing with the left hand in the era in which the quill was popular was discouraged, and quills were never sold as left- and right-handed, only by their size and species.

Quill pens were used to write the vast majority of medieval manuscripts. Quill pens were also used to write ''[[Magna Carta]]'' and the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref name=":1" /> U.S. President [[Thomas Jefferson]] bred geese specially at [[Monticello]] to supply his tremendous need for quills.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0828/p22s1-hfks.html|title=The mighty pen|date=2001-08-28|work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|access-date=2019-05-28|issn=0882-7729}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Quill pens were the instrument of choice during the [[medieval era]] due to their compatibility with [[parchment]] and [[vellum]]. Before this, the [[reed pen]] had been used, but a finer letter was achieved on animal skin using a cured quill. Other than written text, they were often used to create figures, decorations, and images on [[manuscript]]s, although many illuminators and painters preferred fine brushes for their work. The variety of different strokes in formal hands was accomplished by good penmanship as the tip was square cut and rigid, exactly as it is today with modern steel pens.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

It was much later, in the 1600s, with the increased popularity of writing, especially in the [[copperplate script]] promoted by the many printed manuals available from the 'Writing Masters', that quills became more pointed and flexible.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

{{quoteblockquote|In order to harden a quill that is soft, thrust the barrel into hot ashes, stirring it till it is soft; then taking it out, press it almost flat upon your knees with the back of a penknife, and afterwards reduce it to a roundness with your fingers. If you have a number to harden, set water and alum over the fire; and while it is boiling put in a handful of quills, the barrels only, for a minute, and then lay them by.<ref>''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', 6th edition, 1823.</ref>}}

An accurate account of the Victorian process by William Bishop, from research with one of the last London quill dressers, is recorded in the ''Calligrapher's Handbook'' cited on this page.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

Quills appear on the seals of the [[United States Census Bureau]] and the [[Administrative Office of the United States Courts]]. They also appear in the coats of arms of several US Army [[Adjutant general]] units which focus on administrative duties.<ref>{{factCite web |title=Coat of Arms |url=https://tioh.army.mil/Catalog/HeraldryMulti.aspx?CategoryId=5876&grp=2&menu=Uniformed%20Services |access-date=November2024-07-01 |website=The Institute of 2023Heraldry}}</ref>

Quills are on the coats of arms of a number of municipalities such as [[Bargfeld-Stegen]] in Germany and [[La Canonja]] in Spain.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

A quill knife was the original primary tool used for cutting and sharpening quills, a process known as "dressing".{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

Following the decline of the quill in the 1820s, after the introduction of the maintenance-free, mass-produced steel dip nib by John Mitchell, knives were still manufactured but became known as desk knives, stationery knives or latterly as the name stuck [[pen knife|"pen" knives]].{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

There is a small but significant difference between a pen knife and a quill knife, in that the quill knife has a blade that is flat on one side and convex on the other which facilitates the round cuts required to shape a quill.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

A "pen" knife by contrast has two flat sides. This distinction is not recognised by modern traders, dealers or collectors, who define a quill knife as any small knife with a fixed or hinged blade, including such items as ornamental fruit knives.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}

While quills are rarely used as writing instruments in the modern day, they are still being produced as specialty items, mostly for hobbyists. Such quills tend to have metal nibs or are sometimes even outfitted with a ballpoint pen inside to remove the need for a separate source of ink.{{factcitation needed|date=November 2023}}