tly up to speed.

The quill pen, made from the five exterior left wing feathers of live birds, plucked in the springtime, was the most popular and longest lasting writing implement. The quill pen’s usage lasted over 1,000 years. Goose, swan, crow, eagle, hawk, owl and turkey feathers were used, depending on the quality of the desired line. These feathers were laboriously produced and lasted no longer than a week before needing replacement. Parchment was made from animal skin, demanding a lengthy cleaning preparation. Ink was dried onto parchment, via a coal stove normally placed next to the scribe’s desk.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printi

The history of writing implements begins with the cave man scribbling pictorial images depicting daily rituals of hunting or planting crops into the walls, creating cave paintings seen in places such as Lascaux dating back to 25,000 BC. Record keeping advanced with the advent of symbols that were recognized as having meaning. Clay made communication portable and in 8,500 BC, the first merchants employed clay tokens with pictographs to keep track of what was shipped and traded. Pictographs gave way to representational figures, becoming the first alphabet in 1700 BC in Sinai. Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets originated in 600 BC. The Greek alphabet, the first alphabet to be written left to right was created in 400 BC. These writing systems began in all uppercase letters and as writing instruments became refined, lowercase letters appeared in 600 AD by the Celtic monks.

The Greek system of writing on tablature employed the use of a stylus, typically made of bone, ivory or metal for inscribing onto wax-coated stone tablets. The tablets were hinged together, like a modern day book, to protect the interior notations. Cadmus, a scholar of Greece, wrote on paper with written text in the form of a missive, creating what we know of today as handwriting and personal or official letters.

Tien-Lcheu (2697 BC), a Chinese philosopher, developed ‘India ink’ that was originally designed for blacking out hieroglyphic tablature. India ink was made by combining soot from pine smoke and lamp oil blended with fat of donkey skin and musk. India ink was commonly used by 1200 BC. Other inks originated from plants, minerals and berries and were used in many cultures with ceremonial significance by color.

Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Hebrews wrote on papyrus and later, parchment. A reed pen, made of bamboo or other marshland grasses was created by the Romans for writing on parchment with ink. The early form of the fountain pen was invented by carving the tip of a bamboo stem to form a point or pen nib, ink filled the reed pen’s hollow, tubular stem, flowing through the pen and out the nib.

A new standard of stable ink that lasted for centuries, composed of iron salts, gum and nutgalls, was created by 400 AD. The color of this ink was bluish-black when fresh, turning a darker black when dried and fading eventually to a muted brown color as seen in ancient documents. The Chinese kept their secret invention of wood-fibrous paper, invented in 105 AD, to themselves until Japanese paper in 700 AD was imported to Spain via the Arabs in 711 AD. Paper mills built in the late 1300s brought the Europeans efficiently up to speed.

The quill pen, made from the five exterior left wing feathers of live birds, plucked in the springtime, was the most popular and longest lasting writing implement. The quill pen’s usage lasted over 1,000 years. Goose, swan, crow, eagle, hawk, owl and turkey feathers were used, depending on the quality of the desired line. These feathers were laboriously produced and lasted no longer than a week before needing replacement. Parchment was made from animal skin, demanding a lengthy cleaning preparation. Ink was dried onto parchment, via a coal stove normally placed next to the scribe’s desk.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printin

alphabet to be written left to right was created in 400 BC. These writing systems began in all uppercase letters and as writing instruments became refined, lowercase letters appeared in 600 AD by the Celtic monks.

The Greek system of writing on tablature employed the use of a stylus, typically made of bone, ivory or metal for inscribing onto wax-coated stone tablets. The tablets were hinged together, like a modern day book, to protect the interior notations. Cadmus, a scholar of Greece, wrote on paper with written text in the form of a missive, creating what we know of today as handwriting and personal or official letters.

Tien-Lcheu (2697 BC), a Chinese philosopher, developed ‘India ink’ that was originally designed for blacking out hieroglyphic tablature. India ink was made by combining soot from pine smoke and lamp oil blended with fat of donkey skin and musk. India ink was commonly used by 1200 BC. Other inks originated from plants, minerals and berries and were used in many cultures with ceremonial significance by color.

Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Hebrews wrote on papyrus and later, parchment. A reed pen, made of bamboo or other marshland grasses was created by the Romans for writing on parchment with ink. The early form of the fountain pen was invented by carving the tip of a bamboo stem to form a point or pen nib, ink filled the reed pen’s hollow, tubular stem, flowing through the pen and out the nib.

A new standard of stable ink that lasted for centuries, composed of iron salts, gum and nutgalls, was created by 400 AD. The color of this ink was bluish-black when fresh, turning a darker black when dried and fading eventually to a muted brown color as seen in ancient documents. The Chinese kept their secret invention of wood-fibrous paper, invented in 105 AD, to themselves until Japanese paper in 700 AD was imported to Spain via the Arabs in 711 AD. Paper mills built in the late 1300s brought the Europeans efficiently up to speed.

The quill pen, made from the five exterior left wing feathers of live birds, plucked in the springtime, was the most popular and longest lasting writing implement. The quill pen’s usage lasted over 1,000 years. Goose, swan, crow, eagle, hawk, owl and turkey feathers were used, depending on the quality of the desired line. These feathers were laboriously produced and lasted no longer than a week before needing replacement. Parchment was made from animal skin, demanding a lengthy cleaning preparation. Ink was dried onto parchment, via a coal stove normally placed next to the scribe’s desk.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printi

, a Chinese philosopher, developed ‘India ink’ that was originally designed for blacking out hieroglyphic tablature. India ink was made by combining soot from pine smoke and lamp oil blended with fat of donkey skin and musk. India ink was commonly used by 1200 BC. Other inks originated from plants, minerals and berries and were used in many cultures with ceremonial significance by color.

Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Hebrews wrote on papyrus and later, parchment. A reed pen, made of bamboo or other marshland grasses was created by the Romans for writing on parchment with ink. The early form of the fountain pen was invented by carving the tip of a bamboo stem to form a point or pen nib, ink filled the reed pen’s hollow, tubular stem, flowing through the pen and out the nib.

A new standard of stable ink that lasted for centuries, composed of iron salts, gum and nutgalls, was created by 400 AD. The color of this ink was bluish-black when fresh, turning a darker black when dried and fading eventually to a muted brown color as seen in ancient documents. The Chinese kept their secret invention of wood-fibrous paper, invented in 105 AD, to themselves until Japanese paper in 700 AD was imported to Spain via the Arabs in 711 AD. Paper mills built in the late 1300s brought the Europeans efficiently up to speed.

The quill pen, made from the five exterior left wing feathers of live birds, plucked in the springtime, was the most popular and longest lasting writing implement. The quill pen’s usage lasted over 1,000 years. Goose, swan, crow, eagle, hawk, owl and turkey feathers were used, depending on the quality of the desired line. These feathers were laboriously produced and lasted no longer than a week before needing replacement. Parchment was made from animal skin, demanding a lengthy cleaning preparation. Ink was dried onto parchment, via a coal stove normally placed next to the scribe’s desk.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printi

of a bamboo stem to form a point or pen nib, ink filled the reed pen’s hollow, tubular stem, flowing through the pen and out the nib.

A new standard of stable ink that lasted for centuries, composed of iron salts, gum and nutgalls, was created by 400 AD. The color of this ink was bluish-black when fresh, turning a darker black when dried and fading eventually to a muted brown color as seen in ancient documents. The Chinese kept their secret invention of wood-fibrous paper, invented in 105 AD, to themselves until Japanese paper in 700 AD was imported to Spain via the Arabs in 711 AD. Paper mills built in the late 1300s brought the Europeans efficiently up to speed.

The quill pen, made from the five exterior left wing feathers of live birds, plucked in the springtime, was the most popular and longest lasting writing implement. The quill pen’s usage lasted over 1,000 years. Goose, swan, crow, eagle, hawk, owl and turkey feathers were used, depending on the quality of the desired line. These feathers were laboriously produced and lasted no longer than a week before needing replacement. Parchment was made from animal skin, demanding a lengthy cleaning preparation. Ink was dried onto parchment, via a coal stove normally placed next to the scribe’s desk.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printi

tly up to speed.

The quill pen, made from the five exterior left wing feathers of live birds, plucked in the springtime, was the most popular and longest lasting writing implement. The quill pen’s usage lasted over 1,000 years. Goose, swan, crow, eagle, hawk, owl and turkey feathers were used, depending on the quality of the desired line. These feathers were laboriously produced and lasted no longer than a week before needing replacement. Parchment was made from animal skin, demanding a lengthy cleaning preparation. Ink was dried onto parchment, via a coal stove normally placed next to the scribe’s desk.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1436. This press included removable wooden and metal pieces that contained letters and symbols. Chinese printing stamps were used but did not arrive in Europe for centuries.

The lengthy process of hand writing with ink was improved upon by a Venetian named Aldus Manutius. He created this ‘cursive’ system in 1495 and by the 17th century, our familiar twenty-six letter system with upper and lower case letters was formalized.

As the natural progression of writing became more and more workaday and less about specialization and artistry, necessary and available technology created the fountain pen.