Quill pen
A wing feather, cut and slit – Europe’s writing instrument for over a thousand years.
The quill was used in Europe from the early Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. The best came from the outer wing feathers of geese, and they were cut to suit the writer’s hand.
The word penknife comes from the knife used to cut the quill. The steel pen displaced the feather in the 1830s and 40s.
Materials: Feather, usually goose
Manufacture: The quill was hardened in hot sand or ash and shaped with a penknife; the point had to be recut often.
A slanted barrel with a slit point.
The vane often stripped away – the plumed quill is mostly an image.
Traces of iron-gall ink, which can eat holes in the paper.