Writing, reading, speaking out loud, and printing is all part of being a literary citizen. Charles Cist was a literary citizen. In the printing shop of Cist and Styner were numerous quill pens that their customers could use to have words and letters printed.
In February 2016 edition of Early American Life on pages 12-13 there is a very informative article, Skills- To Make a Pen, about the different skills it took to make quill pens. These different skills included knowing which side of the bird the feathers came from, which type of bird, and what part of the bird. These quill writing pens came from feathers from a bird not from a porcupine quill.
The word pen derives from Latin penne, which means feather. The flight feathers from a goose where the top choice in Colonial Times. Birds from colder climate were more desired. The quills were stronger and lasted longer from these types of birds.
When taking your pen knife you can increase or decrease the thickness of the ink line by shaping the quill. Additionally, you can prolong the life of the quill by the shaping of the quill with the pen knife. Modern methods include soaking the quill overnight in cold water to soften it. Next, strip the barbs from the shaft against the grain with a pen knife.
Quill feathers from the right shoulder of the bird were used for left handed writers. Quills from the left shoulder of the bird were used for right handed writers. Once a writer became comfortable with the pen, then it took about one year for the pen to season! Ms. Ramona Vogel-Hill said. "The quicker option for hardening a quill is a process called dutching, where you temper it in hot river sand or wood ash that's been sifted." (Ms. Ramona Vogel-Hill is a quill maker at Colonial Williamsburg).
It is interesting to note that quill pens were used to write both the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence. The Industrial Revolution soon made steel pens affordable on a mass scale in Europe and America.
There is a great painting by Dutch master artist, Gerrit Dou, c. 1630-35, called Scholar Sharpening a Quill Pen. This is a realistic depiction of the use of a quill pen. Hollywood stylizes the quill pen with flamboyant feathers, but Gerrit Dou captures a clearer depiction of a writer with a quill pen.
Andrew C. Allen
pewabic34@gmail.com
February 9, 2016
