Office1000 Blog April Archive

History of Pens; Metal Nibs

By Reference at 04/28/2007 06:06

Metal nibs appear to have very early origins. A pen with a bronze nib was found in the ruins of Pompei showing nibs must have been in use in the year 79.

There is also a reference in Samuel Pepys diary for August 1663. A metal pen point was patented in 1803 but the patent was not commercially exploited.

John Mitchell of Birmingham started to massproduce pens with metal nibs in 1822. During the 19th century metal nibs replaced quill pens. By 1850 the quality of steel nibs had improved and dip pens with metal nibs came into generalized use.

History of Pens; Quills

The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 on the northwest bank of the Dead Sea date back to around 100 BC. They were written in Hebrew dialects with bird feathers or quills. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europeans had difficultly in obtaining reeds and began to use quills. There is a specific reference to quills in the writings of St. Isidore of Seville in the 7th century. Quill pens were used until the nineteenth century.

History of Pens; Reed Pens

The Ancient Egyptians had developed writing on papyrus scrolls when scribes used thin reed brushes or reed pens from the Juncus Maritimus or sea rush.

In his book "A History of Writing", author Steven Roger Fischer suggests that on the basis of finds at Saqqara, the reed pen might well have been used for writing on parchment as long as ago as the First Dynasty or about 3000 BC.

Reed pens continued to be used until the Middle Ages although they were slowly replaced by quills from about the 7th century.

Office1000 does not offer reed pens for sale.