Been fiddling about on the net this afternoon...found out that quill pens were used until the late 1800's and spectacles were invented in 1200 or thereabouts...vellum...used to write on, was terribly expensive because the best vellum came from the skin of new-born or still- born goats and calves...rearing and feeding the cows and goats to produce enough skins was difficult enough. Sheep were also used but the preference of the scribes was the skin of calves. Vellum was used mostly for important manuscripts...some of which have been found re-reused as book bindings.
Quill pens were made from fallen feathers rather than those which had been plucked from a Goose or other large bird...the end inserted into hot sand to harden and the feathery parts totally stripped off...a small sharp knife whittled the end into an approximation of the pens we used to use at school...the quill would last a long time because once the end was worn the user simply reshaped it.
Goose feathers were the first choice though any strong wing feather from larger birds were used as well...it was the scribe who made his own quills, mixed his own inks...using the Oak Gall. Those small lumps you sometimes find growing among the leaves of Oak trees. They are actually the home of a parasitic wasp but when ground up they produce a long lasting Black ink or dye...makes you wonder who found that out.
Other dyes were used for coloured inks...the Cochineal beetle produces a clear red and blue came from the expensive Lapis Lazuli...I like to imagine the traders coming from far off countries with their little cloth bags of precious beetles and the stones of the Lapis Lazuli...
Illuminated letters were often decorated in gold...gold leaf was used...laid down over a base of Gesso...which is still used by artists nowadays...then polished and held fast with a smooth stone...rubbing it over and over again.
Those scribes sat at an easel on a high backed chair...carefully recording the words of a Kings proclamation or copying the Scriptures...writing Herbals and the thoughts of the learned people of their day...sometimes practising their writing by copying the alphabet in the margins or doodling tiny figures...
Many of those manuscripts no longer survive...victims to the purges carried out at the Dissolution of the Monasteries... and by Cromwell and others of his ilk...some are carefully hoarded in private collections...others are on display in museums...and some have been found when restoration is carried out on old leather-bound books...laid between the book covers and covered with thin soft leather ...treasures have been revealed.
I've been using a huge book I have of Rembrandts paintings to press flowers, having decided zapping them with microwaves is uncalled for...while looking again at the wonderful illustrations I found one of a scribe...which led me to Goose feather quills...and inks and vellum...
That is most interesting. I told my husband who has been a printer all his life, that if he had lived hundreds of years ago, he might have been a scribe. Did you know the scribes were furious when the printing press was invented, because it put them out of work.
My husband was a compositor, he did a six year apprenticeship. I expect you already know about letterpress. Whole books and newspapers where printed using letterpress.
Then linotype and monotype machines were invented. My husband was trained on Monotype. Then came computers. You can dictate to them and they do the typing for you.
Sorry, I digress, isn't it absolutely appalling, beyond belief, what Henry VIII did to the wonderful Monasteries? I sometimes wonder if evil people reincarnate. Do you think Hitler was a reincarnation of Henry VIII? There have been other despots through the centuries. Now we are faced with IS although nobody seems to know who leads them.
Henry VIIi tried to conquer France but failed. Thousands of people were killed during the Reformation. 800 Monasteries were destroyed, countless monks killed. He executed a great many people who displeased him.
400 years later, Hitler had modern weapons of war. He was a tyrant like Henry VIII but on a far bigger scale. Stalin was a tyrant too. It is all a matter of scale and time.
The population was much smaller in the 16th Century when Henry VIII was King for 38 years. Soldiers had weapons that were nothing like the ones available to Hitler.
>Quill pens were made from fallen feathers rather than those which had been >plucked from a Goose or other large bird...the end inserted into hot sand to >harden and the feathery parts totally stripped off...a small sharp knife whittled the >end into an approximation of the pens we used to use at school
Only the feathers of the female bird were preferred and it is from this that we gained the word "PEN KNIFE"
Oh is that where we got our smarts from. There was me thinking that I got mine from the other side of my family. Not the side that fed me hedgepigs.
Good lord I am learning such a lot on here! Lovely story as usual vashti. It's a pity our descendents will find nothing like that from our era but only texts and emails.. x
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I was thinking that yesterday actually...we might not even have books in years to come!
Once again, I'm fascinated by your writings - I learn so much from reading the. Please keep them coming! Jan xx
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You'd be surprised what can be found on the net...lol
I found that I was heavy handed on my pen nibs at school. We had ink wells and dip pens. Wooden pens rather then quills and nasty steel nibs. When I passed my eleven plus my Dad bought me a fountain pen. I damaged the nib learning to write neatly with it before starting at secondary school. I was taken to a shop and given a pad of paper and a bottle of ink and several different pens were placed on the counter along with a pencil. I was told to use the later to write something. I think it was my name and address. The shop assistant then gave me a series of pens and I had to rewrite with each. I think I only wrote with two. However, the shop assistant advised that I should learn to write with a broad nib. My father bought two and one was fitted to my fountain pen. I still write with a broad nib now, although the bladder of the original pen perished long ago I still have the to unused spare nibs. I still enjoy writing with my fountain pen now, although my ink comes from a posh glass bottle rather than a white enamel jug that was used at school.
This post has caught my attention! I trained as a calligrapher years ago and it is a BIG interest to me. I am currently trying to regain my copperplate skills after suffering a hand injury about 12 years ago. Keep the info coming, I love it. stillmovin1 xx
Thanks vashti I have to go slowly with that now. I use ox gall ink by the way, as it is the best for copperplate writing. It is taking a while as I can only get into a little bit of practice a day at the moment but it is very relaxing. xx
Oh...that's really interesting about the Ox Gall ink...do you make it yourself? It'd be difficult to find any Oak trees in our area...never mind hope they were infested with galls...lol
Don't suppose you use a feather quill pen though...?
Hi Vashti - I made a slip up there, it is actually IRON GALL ink that I use and I buy it online from Blots. I have a quill pen as I was at a workshop once where they showed us how to make them but I have never used it as it looks too nice to mess up!!!! I will give it a go further down the line one day though. Keep the info coming, it is wonderful! xx
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