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These historic types of pens are no longer in common use as writing instruments, but may be used by calligraphers and other artists: AĀ dip penĀ (orĀ nibĀ pen) 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 anĀ inkpotĀ in 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-calledĀ India ink, drawing ink, or acrylic inks, which would destroy a fountain pen by clogging, as well as the traditionalĀ iron gall ink, which can cause corrosion in a fountain pen. Dip pens are now mainly used in illustration,Ā calligraphy, and comics. A particularly fine-pointed type of dip pen known as aĀ crowquillĀ is a favorite instrument of artists such asĀ David Stone MartinĀ andĀ Jay Lynch, because its flexible metal point can create a variety of delicate lines, textures and tones in response to variation of pressure while drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • TheĀ ink brushĀ is 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.
  • AĀ quillĀ is a pen made from aĀ flight featherĀ of a large bird, most often aĀ goose. To make a quill, a feather must beĀ curedĀ through aging orĀ heat-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 timeā€”from the 6th century to the 19thā€”before 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.
  • AĀ reed penĀ is 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]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History

Historic pens

M. Klein and Henry W. Wynne received US patent#68445 in 1867 for an ink chamber and delivery system in the handle of the fountain pen.

Ancient EgyptiansĀ had developed writing onĀ papyrusĀ scrolls when scribes used thin reed brushes or reed pens from theĀ Juncus maritimusĀ or sea rush.[15]Ā In his bookĀ A History of Writing, Steven Roger Fischer suggests, on the basis of finds atĀ Saqqara, 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 theĀ Middle 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]Ā The quill pen was used in Qumran, Judea to write some of theĀ Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to around 100 BC. The scrolls were written inĀ HebrewĀ dialects with bird feathers or quills. There is a specific reference to quills in the writings ofĀ St. Isidore of SevilleĀ in the 7th century.[18]Ā Quill pens were still widely used in the eighteenth century, and were used to write and sign theĀ Constitution of the United StatesĀ in 1787.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A copper nib was found in the ruins ofĀ Pompeii, showing that metal nibs were used in the year 79.[19]Ā There is also a reference to ‘a silver pen to carry ink in’, inĀ Samuel Pepys’ diary for August 1663.[20]Ā ‘New invented’ metal pens are advertised inĀ The TimesĀ in 1792.[21][full citation needed]Ā A 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 byĀ Bryan DonkinĀ in 1811.[22][full citation needed]Ā John Mitchell ofĀ BirminghamĀ started 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,Ā Ma’ād al-Mu’izz, theĀ Fatimid CaliphĀ ofĀ Egypt, 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]Ā This 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 hisĀ Deliciae Physico-MathematicaeĀ (1636),Ā GermanĀ inventorĀ Daniel SchwenterĀ described 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 withĀ cork. 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 inĀ Paris,Ā RomanianĀ Petrache PoenaruĀ invented a fountain pen that used a quill as an ink reservoir. TheĀ French GovernmentĀ patented this in May 1827.[25]Ā Fountain 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]Ā In 1938, LĆ”szlĆ³ BĆ­rĆ³, a Hungarian newspaper editor, with the help of his brother George, a chemist, began to design new types of pens, including one with a tinyĀ ballĀ in 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. BĆ­rĆ³ filed a British patent on June 15, 1938. In 1940, the BĆ­rĆ³ brothers and a friend, Juan Jorge Meyne, moved toĀ Argentina, fleeingĀ Nazi Germany. On June 17, 1943 they filed for another patent.[27]Ā They formed “BĆ­rĆ³ Pens of Argentina”, and by the summer of 1943, the first commercial models were available.[28]Ā Erasable ballpoint pens were introduced byĀ Paper MateĀ in 1979, when theĀ ErasermateĀ was put on the market.

Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, a naturalizedĀ CroatianĀ engineer and inventor ofĀ Polish-DutchĀ origin from theĀ Kingdom of Croatia-SlavoniaĀ inĀ Austria-Hungary, became renowned for further development of the mechanical pencil (1906) ā€“ then called an “automatic pencil” ā€“ and the first solid-ink fountain pen (1907). Collaborating with an entrepreneur by the name ofĀ Edmund 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 calledĀ TOZ-Penkala, still exists today. “TOZ” stands for “Tvornica olovaka Zagreb“, meaning “ZagrebĀ Pencil Factory”.

In the 1960s, the fiber- or felt-tipped pen was invented by Yukio Horie of theĀ Tokyo Stationery Company, Japan.[29]Ā Paper 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. AĀ porous point penĀ contains 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 andĀ personal computerĀ with theĀ keyboardĀ input method has offered another way to write, the pen is still the main means of writing.[30]Ā Many people like to use expensive types and brands of pens, including fountain pens, and these are sometimes regarded as aĀ status symbol.[31]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History of First Pen History of First Pen History of First Pen History of First Pen History of First Pen

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