A Brief History of Quill Pens
One of the earliest and most overlooked uses of feathers was that of writing tool. Primitive peoples first began making marks on cave walls several thousand years ago using their fingers as a brush. Time moved on and with its passage came the invention of paper, ink, and reed styluses. Then, the Roman empire began to decline and the priests and monks of Europe noticed that it was getting harder and harder to lay hands on a good quality reed from which to make a pen. One day, some unsung hero decided that it would be better to use a handy goose feather than another reed. Although we're not sure exactly when the big switch happened, we do know that one of the first mentions of quill pens was in the seventh century writings of St Isidore of Seville, in his encyclopedias.
The primary advantages of quills over reeds seemed to be those of convenience and legibility. Quills could be made far more quickly and easily than reed pens, as well as being able to be made by almost anyone with a bit of training. All one had to do was gather the feather, trim it (although one could leave the plume if one wanted something fancy), and then cut the tip into a point, with a small notch or groove to hold the ink. With time and practice, a skilled quill maker could learn to produce several kinds of pens for various calligraphic effects.
Other effects were determined by the kind of feather used. For example, if one needed fine and delicate work done, a wing feather from a crow or raven would be used. And if you needed something expensive, say to impress potential in-laws with, there was nothing finer than a swan's feather. But, for the most part, goose feathers provided the quills of choice.
(Arguably the single most important part of getting the proper feather was choosing which wing to take it from. Right handed people preferred feathers from the left wing of the bird as it would curve away from them as they wrote. For lefties, naturally, it was just the opposite.)
With the advent of Johannes Gutenberg's printing press in 1436, reading and writing became less of a specialist skill set and more of an everyday tool for regular people. This lead to the spread of books and the spread of education, which combined with about a week's worth of usability for the average quill pen, lead in turn to the growing need for an ever greater number of quills.
However, while a phenomenal tool, quill pens were not perfect. They took time to make, and once made, had a useful life of about a week before the tip would become to degraded to make legible markings. Further, as one bird could only furnish a maximum of 10 to 12 usable feathers, they could be somewhat expensive.
The essential quality of the pen though, that of retaining ink long enough to write a sentence, was sound. During the 18th century, people began experimenting with different metals, cut into shapes that mimicked the best quill pens. Metal nibs began to be manufactured with notches and grooves that would hold ink longer than a quill pen could. With the beginning of the industrial age and the era of mass manufacturing, factories began churning out steel pen nibs that lasted far longer than feathers could. As people continued to experiment, adding ink reservoirs and air chambers to let the ink flow more smoothly, the quill pen faded into disuse until, by the early twentieth century, they were more or less gone from everyday life.
But while they may no longer be the writing instrument of choice, they are still around in city halls, courtrooms, and wedding chapels. They are traded in antique and collectors markets; replicas are sold at hobby shows and craft fairs. There are even some ball point pens masquerading as quill pens these days, showing that quill pens have earned their place in our collective consciousness.