The Craft of Quill Pens
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2023
- When the reed pen died out, the quill pen was invented around the 6th century in Seville, Spain.
Writing with a quill pen is a fascinating art that requires more than just plucking a feather and dipping it in ink. The process is intricate and demands careful attention to detail. First and foremost, selecting the appropriate feather is crucial. Different birds yield feathers with varying qualities, such as flexibility and durability. For instance, swan feathers are often preferred due to their strong and flexible nature.
Preparing the feather for writing is a meticulous task. The feather needs to be cleaned, trimmed, and boiled to remove any residual oils and make it more pliable. After boiling, it is dried in hot sand to maintain its shape and prevent it from curling or splitting during use.
One of the most intricate steps involves carving the nib, which determines the thickness and flow of the ink. The nib's tip needs to be delicately shaped and slit to ensure smooth ink flow and precise strokes. It demands skilled craftsmanship and practice to master this art.
In conclusion, writing with a quill pen involves a comprehensive process beyond the initial perception. From selecting the right feather to meticulously preparing it and carving the nib, this ancient practice demands a deep understanding of materials and craftsmanship. It is a testament to the patience and skill required to produce beautiful, intricate script with such a traditional writing instrument. - บันเทิง
finally understand why i couldn't write with the crow feather i found on the road
😂😂
Why did I read this as cow feather
@@n0vanoxwondering the same thing
@@n0vanox same lol
As a kid I tried to turn random feathers into quill pens. I knew I needed a slit and angle to a point, but that was all I knew. I never could figure out why they wouldn't work 😅
You know what, a moment of respect and appreciation for the man who invented the ballpoint pen
I believe that was a man named Lazlo Biro or something like that.
@@Raymationseven those are complicated and expensive
@@Amida-rn3ie nowhere near as diffuclt as a quill
W for László Bíró and John J. Loud
Invented by Anne Frank
I once wrote an Arabic letter with a feather my teacher gave me, it was already prepared so I just used it. It feels amazing, and everyone should try
misread feather as father and man the thought of a teacher just mailing a father is pretty crazy
Which letter?
I once wrote a number with a feather and it didn’t feel good. Do not recommend.
I’m learning arabic and writing has been so challenging with a regular pen. When I saw this video my first thought was, “this would be so great for writing arabic”
@@user-qp1lh9vk7u if you need help with the language i might help. I'm not a professional with it but a native speaker.
I remember back in 3rd grade, my school had a whole history event. All the teachers were dressed from the 1700’s, and the whole school was decorated. It was so awesome, and they taught us how to make butter FROM SCRATCH. They also taught us all how to write with a feather. It was so fun. Best school day ever, honestly.
So jealous right now wish I had that at 3rd grade
@@RuthlessBoot3455 it was so awesome💔
Probably due to living in Philly but I thought this was like something every child did. I guess living in the birthplace of America it’s kind of a thing the city education system does, they’d bring in the churns and shit and teach us the quills and make us sign our own class declarations lol.
I remember trying to write with a random feather I found when I was young, not even using ink just straight up feather
I love that
😂
Bro is a genius
@@fernozzlebro is next Albert Einstein 😂
Took me a sec to realize kid you was just scratching a dry loose feather on a piece of paper 😂
Bless the man who invented pen
you mean style pen or ball-point pen?
quill, thrill, drill
@@xano2921 both are great inventions but I do believe the ballpoint pen is one of the greatest inventions of humankind, up there with the car, the vaccine, concrete, antibiotics, the lightbulb, etc.
You can’t have any of those without pen
@@vitormelomedeiros I prefer pencils
A lot of people don't understand how much of an art writing used to be.
6 year old me with the ballpoint pen with a feather attached to the end I got from the book fair: *”I don’t have such weaknesses”*
Just earned a new respect for writers and quill makers from the 1700s
Im one from the 2000s. Were still here lol
that is where the term "Pen Knife" came from it didn't mean "Pocket Knife" as it does today
@@solomonwiggins8815 lol your smart
@@solomonwiggins8815you make quills?
@@obscure.reference absolutely, I make them and then use them. One time I sold about 37 quills to a history teacher at my old school so they could have there students use them. It was cool.
He was trying to explain how quills work but ended up explaining why we have pens
Underrated! 😉
😂
I feel like both of those are tangential topics, and he was more focused on describing the difficulties with creating feathered pens but ok
Right? You're essentially manually creating a fountain pen. Ain't nobody got time for that.
@@RigoVidsits a joke
I didn’t realize how much I appreciate modern pens until now
Here’s a fun story - me and my friends were out on a 2 week long scout trip where we sleep in tents in the forest. At the end of it there was always a kind of competition where you had a map and you had to visit people and papers with tasks spread across a few kilometres. We actually lost our pencil and had to write our name onto a piece of paper to get a point, so we took a tiny feather we found. Took some berries and wrote the name of our group with it. It was really cool!
Holy shit writing was a skill back then
It still is, just different
Yeah fr. I used to use a dip pen that is very much like the quil he is describing only made of metal. I had to teach myself a totally new way to draw but the control I got with my strokes made it so fun and worthwhile :) but this is another level. You would have to have the exact right tool, environment, skills, and knowledge to write back when feather quils were state of the art I imagine
you wonder why back then only monk an noble was able to write stuff.( noble just hired people to do it)
Harry Potter was doing it from 91-96
@@NickBurns-ey6od😂
I now understand why people sell quills in the wizarding world and not just pluck them off of some random bird.😂
Yeah I've wondered that since I was 8
Witchcraft is demonic. Be careful.
They should really start using pens
@@husaynbootwala1729seriously... Only electronics would go haywire around Hogwarts... So why so difficult 🤷♂️
they got all those damn spells and not one to dribble a little ink from their wand smh.
Thank goodness we invented the pen.... I'd go insane if I had to write with this for everything.
Oh. I have watched many historical web series and films. And what are you saying is truly depicted there. Good man. Thanks for info 👍
Someone get this guy a pen
Lol
140 likes and one comment? Let me fix that
315 like and 2 comments? Lemme fix that...
316 likes and 3 comments? Lemme fix that real quick
530 likes and 4 comments? Let me fix that
I never realized the angle of the paper mattered or that writing upward isn’t feasible. Very interesting and I’m glad pens and pencils exist.
Same, i always thought writing w/ quills just sucked lol.
It’s a thing in most broad and pointed calligraphy as well! Except y self and most of my fellow calligraphers just use 🦐 posture instead
Yeah now I understand why a lot of old calligraphy used more angular scripts instead of some of the loopy/bubblier handwriting people sometimes have today
@@Blndi3I never understood why writing in cursive is so important lol
How would you realize this in the 21st century?😂
_THIS_ is the kinda stuff what TH-cam shorts was made for…interesting and informative, loved it !! ❤
man solving problems that got solved 150 years ago
Similar video in 200 years: “Typing on a keyboard might be more complicated than you think...”
Never
You need to actually use your brain to send impulses to your fingers,and then you need to plan a message that can be interpreted by others out of the context of the shared hive mind
And you actually have to be able to spell the words that you want to type with no AI assistance!
You have to build the keyboard yourself.
💀💀
Authors back in the day would wrestle with giant birds just so they can write their books thats why old books are expensive.
😂😂😂😂😂
More likely they hunted them and made them dinner and took the feathers or made an industry out of hunting birds to sell quills to everyone
Well, they normally used Goose feathers, and there was plenty of gees around.
Imagine living in the 1700's and seeing someone wrestling a fucking adult ostrich just to write a book 😂😂😂😂
@@joshuabarnhill1265yeah and nowadays people just eat meat and waste the feathers😢😑
Thank God for the pens! Respect for the inventors of pen & pencil, thanks for making our lives easier!!!
I don't know what algorithm led me here, but I have no regrets
No wonder most their handwriting was beautiful, they weren't writing, they drew every letter.
That was beautiful.
Underrated comment
Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. The bible is no old book. You have to really let Christ open your eyes; to see the world in shambles. Many people say it's a religion to lock up people in chains, and say it's a rule book.. why? Because people hate hearing the truth, it hurts their flesh, it's hurts their pride, it's exposes on what things have they done..people love this world so much, s*x, money, power, women, supercars.. things of this world. Still trying to find something that can fill that emptiness in your heart. You can't find that in this world.. only in Christ, the bible is no chains, it's a chainbreaker. Breaking your sins into pieces... Repent now, and turn back to the true Lord only.. God bless.
*Cough* Calligraphy
This explains why writing was a skill not everyone had or could do
As well as why everyone's handwriting was so immaculate
Well yeah, that and the fact that it takes the privilege of having years of practice and materials to learn with. The major limitation isn't really just "a feather ".
Yeah but why are we still running on bicameral legislation?
@enriqueamaya3883Jesus gunna strike you blind for spelling his name wrong
@@theoriginalmonstermakercrying bruh i cant tell if the original comment is a joke or not but it’s so funny either way
My mom made some false ones when I was a kid! Basically take a feather, cut the tip, put a pen ink cartridge worth tip in with a bit of glue. Kept me entertained until it ran out (you can keep a cap handy to keep the ink from drying)
Very fun!
Those wizards must be really skilled to write with quills.
Don't forget that you have to sharpen your quill about as often as a pencil. This is why small pocket knives are pen knives, they are for sharpening quills
Oooooh my goodness 🙆🏽♂️
And 'pens' are female swans, which provide the best feathers for quills.
mind blown
Most calligraphers in illuminated manuscripts are also pictured with a trusty knife! Very handy for scoring in guidelines, holding the page, or trimming your quill
🤯
This is why you are thankful to the makers of pens. Idc what kind of pen you use, thank them in your head!
Pencil is ez and better and coal has also existed forever...i wonder why they used a feather instead of coal
@@notnemeziz yeah but a pen can look more professional for me. Overall both are great.
thank you pen and pencil makers 😊
You can say that about everything you use from dresses to foods, electricity, network--everything!
@@notnemeziz coal was used in some places, but coals main use has always been for burning for energy or cooking. For why we use feathers, well, we used to use bamboo or cane stalks but the tip wore away too fast. Was also an elegance thing.
My late grandpa used to have feather and also bamboo pens. Used to play with them as a kid now I keep them as a. Memorial from him. May he rest in peace and god bless him.
Thank the heavens for the person who invented the pen
I broke the system when I made a feather pen at 12. I just took the inside of a normal pen, shoved it up in there, add a bit of white duct tape and boom! Feather pen that I used at school for like a whole year.
bro really wanna be shakespear
i want to do this
Not all heroes wear capes.😏
I did the same thing with a goose feather recently. Works great.
I did the same thing with a peacock feather (the buzzy feathers not the pretty ones) and i thought i was a bad ass😂
My grandmother always used quills to write letters in her younger days. She took great pride in her calligraphy. The paper she preferred was very expensive, even for the 50s-60s, according to my mom.
666 likes
Never tried quills myself but in the fountain pen world, Tomoe River paper is one of the more highly regarded papers that is produced on a large scale. It's roughly $0.20 per loose A4 page.
0lpp0q
@@user-rd8jq1pq3hok?
Wow
This little short is insanely helpful. Thank you!!
Props for the first person who found out that we could write using feathers
how on earth did humans figure out all of this? like what made someone think of plucking a specific feather from a bird, soaking it, drying it specifically in hot sand, and whittling it into a very specific shape?
Some guy said I had enough of writing in stone shit and did his best to replace it
Idk. Leave somone alone to play with what resources they have around them and eventually they'll make something that works
Trial and error.
You have to remember that this is how they wrote for centuries, so what we are watching is the end product, but the first quills were definitely not this good.
The same way we’ve accomplished many things. Trial and error over hundreds of years.
That makes so much sense. In the 4th grade our teachers had us try using feather pens and they all came out awful. We didn’t have the right strokes or the right surface
When I was in middle and hischool some student still used feather-pens for some writing, I think I used it once or twice it was fun ^^
Elementary school teachers are dunces.
Also, you were kids - at that age, chances are you were still developing the fine motor skills to write neatly with any instrument!
It's a lot like writing with a fountain pen except it's less forgiving if you fuck up.
@@red.maned.unicornmy handwriting hasn't changed since fourth grade, and I graduated a few years ago 😹
The fact that someone came up with this is still crazy to me. I know people used everything they could from everything they had but must have been an artist to first express such ingenuity.
Its amazing how back in the day people wrote entire books with a feather
When we were kids, my brother found a feather at the park. He used a pocket knife and his best guess to make the point. With mom's permission we juiced a bag of cherries and got a few table spoons of juice. He tried writing with it and it crudely worked. It didn't really glide and you had to dip it often, but it made legible letters on paper. While we went to show our parents, our younger brother, being very young at the time, saw juice and drank it. We only got to use a fraction of the ink we made.
Very nice story
Your younger brother really be the type of mf to remind the teacher to hand out homework
That’s really cool. What is your genius brother doing now?
Little man saw an opportunity and took it.
@@ElpSmith The brother that made the quill is almost done with a degree in chemical engineering at a prestigious college.
This is why I love the internet. Just killing time, a few minutes while waiting for my tea to steep, and I learn something totally cool that I never would have even thought to ask about. I knew quill pens required a certain amount of shaping and maintenance, but the amount of detail you crammed into this short clip was amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Careful though because it's a sinkhole, and if you don't strictly bound yourself, it will drain your focus.
Thank the companies who have optimized the algorithm to such extent this short/reel/etc. feedback loop is as bad for health as fast food.
@@cryonim Sure there’s plenty of junk on the Internet, but knowledge of the truth expands your imagination and your mind and is good for your soul. This is good knowledge.
@@ruthmaryrose A younger me would agree, but you slowly realize we just can't remember these things, the keyword is associativity. And even if we make a point to atleast have a clue, later this turns out to be a bit disappointing when we can't find the source.
For ex.:
You see a cool video on how to tie your shoe in a unique way, it's good but since it isn't associated with any other action, your brain will discard in a few weeks if not days, but say you like it and want to remember it so you associate it with something like say trying it out in real, then it will gradually go out of your memory unless you use it a lot more. But you know the quantity of these useful things is so much you won't associate, or would just think it's good then move about your day and even if you remember the existence of a unique shoelace method, you would have to dig through piles of stuff to find it again.
If we are meant to forget things anyway, why not forget the most profound things ?
The shorts are not that, unfortunately. Good for passing time though.
@@cryonim I can agree with this, and there have been times when I have found myself on the fringes of the internet in the wee hours of the morning, feeling as if I've just emerged from a blackout drunk wondering how I got here and where the heck is 'here' anyway. But you never know what's going to stick until you see it, and the more knowledge you're exposed to, the more there is likely to stick.
What is steep tea?
I learned Hebrew calligraphy. You finally taught me the word for "whittling." Now I can explain it more easily.
Worst part of Hogwarts.
😂
U can buy it too...
But hey there's magic
Just get pencils
LMAO
I used to wonder why not everyone knew how to read and write in the medieval times because it seemed so easy aside from spelling being a pain sometimes. Other than ofc, being broke and not being able to afford lessons.
Now I know one of many reasons why.
At the very least a LOT of people knew how to read. Not knowing is actually a myth, though i can see why writing could have been difficult. Remember, Dante Algheri got in trouble not because of his divine comedy, but that he wrote it in italian not latin. So the common folk could read it.
@@wardogs667Most people did not encounter anything written in their daily life so not being able to read was normal. Books were as expensive as cars are now and not as useful. People who do not read or write typically have much better memories so it wasn't a big deal.
@@rruthlessly Writing would also be prohibitively expensive in Europe until they started more commonly making and using rag paper in the 13th cent. Before that people who wrote manuscripts had to use vellum or parchment, both made from highly treated animal skins and membranes. Labor intensive and therefore pricy!
if youre into anime this is basically what ascendence of a bookworm is about
This really depends on the time period and place (and there is a pretty big chance information about it have been lost). Not every place used quills, even for languages with the Latin alphabet. We still have the big fancy manuscripts, because they've been carefully kept and are usually made with pretty durable materials. Most people wouldn't have used those. Hell, the only reason we know about the shitty copper of one specific guy from 1750 BC is because his house burned down or something
There was a whole period in either Iceland or Greenland where pretty much everyone could read. They had a surplus on leather/hide to make books and a lot of time on their hands because of the long winters and would spend a big part of that reading.
There are a lot of other examples, like little monster drawings and notes from boys learning how to write, letters, poems etc. Especially in different parts of the world. You just have to dig a bit deeper because they're not as well known. I even read somewhere that most people knew how to read/write/etc but didn't do it/said they couldn't to avoid taxes.
Writing with mostly everything in the correct hand is.. pretty easy. Our American schools, did just that over time. Pencils, pens & blood. Thanx!
Just makes everyone I’ve ever seen write with a feather much more impressive
When I interned at a historical museum, part of my job was working at the family activity center where my primary responsibility was teaching kids how to write with feathers. Every morning I'd show up an hour before the center opened so that I could sharpen and test the feathers that would be used by the kids. I still make quills for my friends if they find the proper feather, and have a small collection of feather quills I've made on my own.
That is so cool!
Niiice
Okay I've decided. I want to be your friend.
Okay I've decided. I want to be your friend.
Cool!!!
As someone who discovered a flight feather in the desert and intends to make a quill from it, I find this extremely helpful.
Edit - discovering that it’s illegal to obtain a FALLEN feather is absolutely mind blowing to me. I could literally prove that it’s fallen before processing it. I currently wear the feather (and others) in my hat ILLEGALLY and I don’t care. That’s a law I’m willing to break lmao.
Edit 2 - The law was put in place over 100 years ago to prevent poaching (and lying poachers) and protect the birds of several countries. I’m all for the law because it’s a loose law. No officer is going to pull my feathers from my brim and ask me if they were ethically sourced. He may however do that to a person with a suspicious amount of hunting trophies. And even if for whatever crazy reason I did “get in trouble” simple communication could alleviate the issue. I do actually collect my feathers for religious reasons, not collecting in mass or for personal gain. As long as your intentions are good, you’ll find a lot of laws that exist may not actually really apply to you.
Final edit - I’m Romuva (Baltic Pagan). I’m not gonna answer this again lol.
Just make sure not to be too showy with it you can break federal bird law
Townsend has a video on making quill pens
“As someone” 😂
@Syllashathe lawyer nobody asked for 😅
@🌺 Alyssa 📛 thats very interesting, could you explain why that's the case?
I woulda just waited till ball point pens were invented 😂
This makes me thankful for whoever invented pen
We made something similar out of bamboo wood in art class one time. Also had to carve the tip like that. Took me several sticks before I got it right. That was almost 20 years ago and that thing still works just fine for the occasional DIY birthday card. Calligraphy rules ❤
Oh no way! I am surprised bamboo lasted that long!
oh wow, things I never realized about my own handwriting
Thank you Sir, you are a true servant
Gentleman and scholar*
Servant? Wth
@@Deathworm-eg5lt yeah what the hell SERVANT? Bro if I was in his place and some random guy calls me servant I would seriously report him!🤬
@@ayushiabedin4530 exactly, disrespectful and demeaning
@ayushiabedin4530 a servant can just be someone who serves a purpose
Thank god the pen was invented.
I have a fast learning speed. Which is why I LOVE uour shorts.
Normally I watch videos at 1.5x (2.0x if the person talks clear) to shorten the time of the video, but still the knowledge.
But your content is so compact, I feel like I'm watching a nornal youtube video, on 1.5x.
Great work!
Man, how the fuck did anyone invent writing with a feather? Who killed a bird, plucked out its feathers, and was just like “hmm… I bet I could fill these with ink!”
I think they actually used other materials first, but they were either not as easy to get or they didn't perform as well.
But that might explain how they knew the exact properties the feather had to be in.
I'd rather know how they found out how to cure it to make it more resistent yet flexible.
Well, it's interesting that they were modifying feathers for thousands of years before that as fletching for arrows. My theory is when they were looking for a material that was more durable than the reed pen, the hollow tube reminded them of feathers.
😮😮😮😂😂😂😂
Before that, people wrote on clay tablets.
Wait- THAT’S why I was taught to only write in downstrokes in kindergarten??
what century? lol
@@smithworks23 all centuries. Schools (at least american ones) teach that you write letters from top to bottom. It was weird and a lot of kids just ignored it but it was still a "rule".
Keeping the tradition alive I suppose
@@smithworks2321st century. 2000s kid.
That, and assuming you’re “finger writing” as most people do instinctively it is easier to pull a pen neatly than it is to push it
I never fathomed there would be a day I would appreciate how simple and easy it is to write today.
Even getting a modern metal nib to work can be quite challenging
Yeah they are su fun tho
Yeah, still today china can't do that.
I wrote with a soviet one I had. Not too difficult considering:
1) I'm taught to write in cursive. Russian cursive hasn't changed much since we had metal nibs. Strokes down, tails and circles.
2) I know how to handle flat-sharpened sketching pencils
3) I had to slow down considerably, focusing on how I write
I understand now why homeworks are such a drag in the Harry Potter universe.....
Always wonder, why Hermione and Harry didn't bring things like pen and computer with them.
@@clint4527"Have you, like, _never_ read the History of Hogwarts? Electronics don't work in Hogwarts because the magical vibrations from the school's protections deactivate them." (or something similar, I haven't read the books in English) - Hermione
Pens though... For real
Exactly what I was thinking
And here, my dumb ass thought that i could use a pigeon feather from the street and dip it in ink 😂😂😂
Its impressive that someone figured this out in the first place
Aahhh memories...
I used to collect feathers of local birds when i was little, whenever i acquired an extra, large feather (usually from Stroks, Herons, Crows an Doves) i would try to make pens out of it by cutting cross sectionally near the tip just so that a gel pen's nib would fit perfectly and fill inside the feather with ink, i felt like a wizard writing with that XD
I actually have a kite feather that i made into a pen with a refill of another pen and also hollowed it out
So cool! I had no idea how involved making a single quill pen was! It also explains why I read somewhere that there were never enough of the correct kind of feathers. When I read it, I thought, "But a goose is covered in feathers!" I will appreciate my metal quill pen much more now.
Back in elementary, I once taped an inside of a pen to a feather because I was frustrated trying to ink the feather. This explains it.
Thank you for giving closure to my small self who used to try writing with every feather and always ended up feeling upset. I will try this again when I get a chance and finally, me and my smol self are gonna feel like an ancient author/poet.
Learning calligraphy and writing with a quill was on my list but now crossing it out with a ballpoint pen. 😂
Thank you for the video, made me appreciate writers of the past even more ❤
I have done it before and I will tell you it is easier than he made it out to be.
It also makes your handwriting beautiful once you get gud
They do have metal blade pens with feathers on them youd still have to buy specific ink ballpoint ink will just make a mess you need thick ink that will stay on the blade
"Might be ..."
Proceeds to describe a more complicated process than I could possibly imagine.
Yep.
I mean...I knew most of the content of this video already because I'm interested in calligraphy. He's very smart to not use absolute terms!
The printing press is hands down the most influential invention of human kind.
I had to learn this when I was taking graphic design classes in college. Once you learn how to do it though, it's really fun.
Fascinating.
in primary school we had to go through all states of writing utensils. Including writing with feathers, it was very fun. We also did like nails in clay tablets, forgot what that was called. Eventually we got to modern pens of course.
Cuneiform
styling when working with clay or stone it's styling because you use a stylus the mother of all writing implements.
That sounds like a great hands on learning exercise! Thanks for sharing :)
YES THIS WAS MY HYPERFIXATION FOR **YEARS**!!! Quills, calligraphy, ink-dip pens of all sorts!! The algorithm is COOKING today!
Reminded me how great the invention of the pen really is...
This explains so much about how children were taught to write back in the day, and especially CURSIVE. I need to teach my kids enough cursive for them to at least have a signature…
Is this the reason that handwriting is taught in such a specific way? It shouldn’t really matter where you start writing a letter if using a pencil, so long as the end product is legible, but kindergarten teachers still teach the letter formation in a very specific top down way.
Good point. Are you a teacher yourself? I think I should investigate this a bit, it would be super interesting to know how writing is taught in 2023.
@@_magnify Just starting school for it, but not sure if we will cover handwriting instruction.
More or less. The downstroke thing still applies to fountain pens, which is what pretty much all "writing systems" were developed for. People got real stubborn about it because if you're *good* with a fountain pen and at writing "proper" cursive, sure, you can write pretty quickly and write for a long time without your hand getting sore. But that's what keyboards are for.
In fact the way writing is usually taught straight-up sucks with ballpoint pens and to a lesser extent pencils because you need to put much more pressure on the paper.
It indeed is. Try with a steel dip pen.
It may also be because it’s easier to make a neat line pulling the pen towards you rather than pushing away.
Growing up on the coast of Alaska, my siblings and I would find eagle feathers on the beach and from time to time we would use them for calligraphy. We never treated them with sand but it still worked probably because of the fact that we were finding them in hot sand to begin with.
We would make the ink from soot we would collect from burning spruce sap. I never really thought about how this is something most people have never done.
Get a fountain pen, you get all the joy and good feel in the hand of trying to use a quill, it's better at pushing, and they make them take cartridges now.
That's not the point here at all.
They are really cool. I am more of a pencil fellow myself.
Pilot V5 master race 🫡
Totally different ballgame.
The other seldom mentioned difference is that while you can find metal nibs cut into “stubs” (that are still tipped), there exists no such a nib that is also flexible like a quill.
You forgot stripping the barbs off of the feather for balance., as well as cleaning the pith out of the shaft and possibly adding a small sliver of metal or wood to serve as an ink reservoir.
Hmmm, perhaps that is 102 and this is 101. I do not have the time for such activities, but it looks very interesting.
Im not very well taught on this subject, but isnt the "ink reservoir" just a bottle of ink you dip the quill tip into?
@@1mariomaniac
That's the ink well, the reservoir holds the ink you're writing with on the nib itself. When you dip the pen into the well you are refilling the reservoir.
@@NikkyTikkiTavi ah, ok, neat! 😊
@Syllasha Which you used to have to do... thus the "pen knife".
My friend literally did this at school and we were so proud
It was insane af
That explains a lot. I never could figure it out growing up.
fun fact: both of the words "pen" and "feather" are "pluma" in some dialects in spanish. in others, pen is "boligrafo"
Bolígrafo 🖊️ is ballpoint … like the bola ⚾️,
you can find pluma used in filipino too.
@@lordofonions8224 you can find that Filipinos speak Spanish …. “The where part of the empire”
@@Chillaxin1844 yeah, and "grafo" means write. also, a baseball is more of a pelota than a "bola"
@@wkhdt google it
Amazing that this was the way we wrote in Europe for centuries.
Man this guy is good. Every video I see from him Is something I rly want to learn about
This really makes you appreciate why it took so long for writing to come about, similar to the wheel.
What on earth are you talking about? Writing started by etching in stones.
now write the entire works of Shakespeare with it.
haha a reason why scribe used to be a real profession.
😂😂😂
Glad I found this account which is a perfect match for my specific brand of nerdiness. Thanks
Same here 😂
jup!
Imagine being the first person to figure out you can write with a feather. Must’ve been a trip
I'm 50 years old. As a person with Asperger's...who was also "nerdy"...I literally use to make Feather Quill Pens at the age of 11 and 12 years old when I saw old portraits of People writing with Quill Pens. Within a few tries...I perfected how I whittled or cut the tips of the Feathers...I would use Pidgeon Feathers I would find during Autumn when the birds were shedding. I would use a razor to cut and shape...a needle to cut a small groove. A drain hole. I would treat the feather by allowing to to dry while "loaded" with ink. (I had my own method)...I also had "developed" my own ink using food coloring. All four colors using mostly blue and green...treating the ink with vinegar and rubbing alcohol...a tiny amount of salt...extremely little bit or else it will crystalize. Allow the mixture to dry fully...then rehydrate. I knew I was successful because the feather once reloaded would write clear with a calligraphic style and with one dip into the ink I could continue to write at least 30 to 40 words without any pooling or droplets. It would write smoothly. Even my cousin was able to use it after the pen was made...one thing was you had to write lightly without putting pressure...not like a ball point pen which you need to put pressure. I also tried to make "pens" from skinny thin bones from turkey wings with no success. The Feathers worked best. It worked so good I literally took two Quills with me to school...as much as my teacher was impressed...she discouraged me from using the quills...asking me to use pencil or regular pens instead. The students were also impressed...but I got a lot of slack afterwards and teasing.
There are a lot of naysayers in the comments, and a lot of those boil down to something reasonable. It's not super difficult to make marks on paper using random feathers, reads, and other materials that are hollow. I think the main point to take away from it is that writing at that point in history wasn't art form, not just a utilitarian exercise. The cost of paper, the smudging of ink, all of the issues that we don't even consider today would have been very front of mind for an ancient scribe or even an early modern one. There's a reason why small pocket knives are sometimes called pen knives. To get things to work really well consistently over a long period of time, you would take the time to set things up right for the state of comfort, legibility, and consistency.
I think writing was an art form back then. At least for important documents and Bibles.
Also, a not so well known fact but the soft feathery parts of the feather actually rub against your hand which is not pleasant. So, quill pens are usually just the spine of the feather, despite what we usually see in films
If I remember correctly, in Shakespeare in Love, he writes with only the spine.
Just to say how much this detail is rare to find that it stuck in my mind for several years.
Interesting, I wondered why the videos of calligraphers I saw just were using the quill and the shaft.
@@_magnify Sometimes the fluffy parts are still kept on the pen but it has to be kept on only one side, the side that faces away from your hand
Thanks for pointing this out! If you look at illuminations of scribes in old manuscripts you’ll also notice that they’re only using the spine. I always appreciate when movies include this detail .
I have a clay inkpot and a goose-feather quill my parents got me from a trip to Williamsburg. Every time I'm freaking out about having trouble writing on my laptop, I look at the quill and inkpot and remember that that was what Shakespeare wrote with.
This makes carving stone tablets sound more efficient.
And that's before we even get to clay and wax tablets.
Why did people start writing with ink before pencils and pens, anyway? You not only need a complicated writing tool that can easily mess things up and a perfectly practiced set of strokes for each letter, but also a very expensive and difficult to produce material to write on.
Sounds like a great topic for a future short.
The more I learn about how complicated old things were the more respect I have for the intelligence and problem solving skills of ancient people
Meanwhile minecraft steve casually writing a 3000 word essay while climbing a mountain
lmao
Or compressing 9 pieces of diamonds into one big piece
@@brrrrrrand then de compressing it back to normal to make a hoe out of two diamonds and two sticks
And here I am tapping on some glass and, magically, letters perfect to the pixel appear as a result. Wild.
Mr Bic, deserves his weight in gold, now I can imagine seeing half a dozen men chasing large bird around the pond at the park. Then having to get a boat out to sea,catch squid for their ink. Then overcoming writers block.😮😮😅
thanks BIC. you guys made my school life bearable, and i wish the founding fathers had one of your pens.
wood pencils solo your favorite writing tool verse
@@orang1921grow up
I remember having a metal quill when I was a kind. I tried once working with it, but unless I missed something, I found it hard.
It’s just cool to think that someone had to come up with this technique before they could even share with the world