The history of writing instruments, which humans have used to record and convey thoughts, feelings, and grocery lists is, in some ways the history of civilization itself. It is through the drawings, signs, and words we’ve recorded that we’ve come to understand the story of our species.
From Pictographs to Alphabets
With time, record-keepers developed systematized symbols from their drawings
- The Greek alphabet replaced pictographs as the most commonly used form of visual communication
- In the beginning, all writing systems had only uppercase letters, but later, lowercase was used as well
The Printing Press
Plant-fiber paper became the primary medium for writing after another dramatic invention took place.
Development of Ink, Paper, and Writing Implements
Across the globe, writing was developing beyond chiseling pictures into stone or wedging pictographs into wet clay.
- The Chinese invented and perfected Indian Ink, which was a mixture of soot from pine smoke and lamp oil mixed with the gelatin of donkey skin and musk.
- By 1200 BCE, the ink invented by the Chinese philosopher, Tien-Lcheu (2697 BCE) became common.
Quill Pens
Introduced around the year 700, the quill is a pen made from a bird feather.
- The strongest quills were those taken from living birds in the spring from the five outer left wing feathers. The left wing was favored because the feathers curved outward and away when used by a right-handed writer. Quill pens lasted for only a week before it was necessary to replace them.
