The Archetype of the Quill Pen
Quill pens are an elegant art form from bygone centuries that were popular throughout literature from classical antiquity up through the 19th century.
Quill pens were often utilized with carbon-based black ink or later iron gallotannate ink for easier handling and to retain their point for longer.
The History
From the Middle Ages through metal pen’s mass production in the 19th century, quill pens were an indispensable writing tool. Used to craft important documents like Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence, quill pens were preferential over clay tablets, wax pens or reed pens of their time.
Feather quill pens employ capillary action, where liquid flows upward through a narrow tube from a reservoir to its nib using gravity’s pull. They’re perfect for calligraphy and art as their fine tip allows users to produce fine lines.
Feathers used in quill pens come from birds such as geese, swans or turkeys and must be prepared in order to hold ink effectively in an inkwell dipped into an inkwell; each dip can write between 3-6 words! There are various techniques used in creating quill pens from these feathers.
The Symbolism
Writing is an act of devotion, and having a quill pen as part of your ritual provides an avenue to clarity. Being around this archetype allows you to look at life through language’s filter, which shapes culture and history. Your world becomes one large collection of stories which you are adept at deconstructing into personal narratives that shape our collective consciousness.
Your life experiences are your legacy; when you put pen to paper and document them for others to read or hear about them, that can bring great satisfaction and an incredible sense of mastery. Finding just the right words to express a feeling or creating minutes from a meeting that went off the rails gives a powerful sense of personal pride and self-respect.
Quill pens were the writing instrument of choice for over 2000 years before modern mass-produced steel pens became widespread in the 19th century. Quills were employed to write most medieval manuscripts as well as historic documents like Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence; Thomas Jefferson even kept geese at Monticello to provide him with quills!
The Feather
Quill pens were the main writing instrument prior to the advent of bamboo reed pens in the 18th century. Constructed from outer feathers from goose or swan wings, with one end shaped into a point and featuring a small slit for holding ink from an inkwell; capillary action would transport ink directly from there to its tip through this small opening slit at a 70-degree angle slits cut along their lengths.
When using a quill pen, it is crucial that the paper be of high-quality so as to prevent clogging or bleeding. Furthermore, as their nibs hold more ink than modern ballpoint pens it is also important that care be taken when handling them to avoid breaking or tearing. A single feather may last many years with proper treatment but eventually need replacing; to create one simply trim its end as desired before cutting a slit into it’s end and glueing over.
The Writing
Antiquity to the 18th Century saw goose feather quill pens and powdered ink used as primary writing instruments – together making literature possible and shaping civilization as it exists today.
Quill pens require proper techniques in order to prevent ink blots and sprays caused by too much hand pressure or fast writing, and require frequent mending due to degraded points over time.
Pen cutters would trim a feather’s natural point into an ink-holding nib, leaving a small slit that controlled ink flow into its hollow center known as the calamus. This system works through capillary action; therefore ink is drawn upward by gravity instead of being forced out through pressure on its way down through gravity into its tip.
Feathers were typically collected from geese, though other birds such as swans, turkeys and crows may also have been utilized. A feather’s quality depended upon its age; for the highest-grade specimens plucked during spring when fuller and stronger feathers could be plucked off the bird.
