Pen
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Pen. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a well known instrument used for writing with ink. The point is known as the nib. The earliest implement used for writing was probably the stylus, a mere pointed needle of metal, bone, or ivory. A pen made from a joint of the hollow stalk of the calamus or reed was the implement in use by the ancient writers. It is considered the ancestor of the modern pen. Hollow joints of a small bamboo were used for the purpose also. The use of the quill or feather of the swan, goose, crow, etc., was known, it is believed, at an early date. The first mention of the quill in literature, however, dates from the seventh century. About 1809 an English inventor hit upon the idea of cutting up quills into nibs. He also invented a machine for the purpose. This rendered the mending of quill points unnecessary. The public took to the idea kindly, and thus became accustomed to the notion of a nib and a holder in two separate articles. Various patents were granted for gold and steel pens. About this time also a steel nib was placed on the British market at a retail price of a dollar and a quarter each. The making of steel pens developed into an industry first at Birmingham between 1830 and 1840. That city is still the center of the British pen trade. Joseph Gillott, whose name is associated with the perfection of the steel pen and who made a fortune in its manufacture, was originally a knife grinder of Birmingham. The making of gold pens has kept pace with the use of steel. They are tipped usually with iridium, as gold wears too rapidly to be serviceable. The making of steel pens, like that of needles and pins, is accomplished almost wholly by machinery. Steel of the finest quality is first rolled into sheets and cut into ribbons. After it has been properly annealed, cleaned, and reduced to uniform thickness, the pens are cut out by a die. They are now called blanks. The central perforation and the shoulder slits, if any, are now made by another machine. The flat blanks are then passed into a press and stamped with the manufacturer's name and other points desired. After this they are curled by means of rollers into a semicylindrical form. They are then tempered, plunged in oil, roasted over a fire until they obtain a dull blue color, and scoured and polished in large cylinders in which they are tumbled about with sand. The points are ground on a small emery wheel, first lengthwise, then across the nib. The slitting of the nib is about the last operation, after which the pens are polished, roasted, and sometimes varnished with a solution of shellac. Birmingham pens rank high. French pens have an excellent reputation. According to 1905 statistics the annual value of gold pens manufactured in the United States is $692,029; the value of steel pens, $473,847. In addition, fountain and stylographic pens were reported to the value of $2,082,005. The latter item is increasing rapidly. See Quill
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an instrument for writing with a fluid. The metallic stilus for the production of incised letters was probably the earliest writing implement. It was used by the Romans for writing on tablets coated with wax; but both they and the Greeks also used what is the true ancient representative of the modern pen, namely, a hollow reed, as is yet common in eastern countries. It has been asserted that quills were used for writing as early as the 5th century A. D. In Europe they were long the only writing implements, the sorts generally used being those of the goose and swan. Up till the end of the first quarter of the 19th century these formed the principal material from which pens were made. In 1803 Wise produced produced steel pens of a barrel form, mounted in a bone case for carrying in the pocket. Joseph Gillott commenced the manufacture about 1820, and succeeded in making the pen of thinner and more elastic steel, giving it a higher temper and finish. Mr. Gillott was followed into the same field by Mr. Perry and others, and their improvements reduced the cost and raised the quality. Cast-steel of the finest quality is used in the manufacture, and the various operations are performed by cutting, stamping and embossing apparatus. Birmingham was the first home and is still the principal center of the steel-pen industry. Gold pens tipped with minute particles of iridium are now in extensive use, and a good one will last for years. Fountain pens and penholders, to carry a considerable supply of ink and to discharge it in an equal manner, were invented by Joseph Bramah.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote in 1910 that Birmingham was "still the center of the British pen trade," the steel dip nib was still the ordinary tool of the clerk and schoolchild; the city's pen quarter is now largely a museum, and dip nibs survive mainly for calligraphy and drawing. The decisive break came with the ballpoint: László Bíró patented his design in 1938, it reached American shops in 1945 at a high price, and by the 1950s Marcel Bich's cheap Bic made it disposable and universal. Later came the felt-tip and fibre-tip marker, the rollerball and the gel pen, while the fountain pen, which Collier's called a recent convenience, became a luxury item rather than a daily necessity. Collier's credits Joseph Bramah with the fountain pen; Bramah's 1809 patent was in fact the quill-cutting machine Aiton's describes, and the practical fountain pen owes more to Lewis Waterman's capillary feed of 1884.
Written for this edition, 2026.