What Is the History of the Calligraphy Pen?

The calligraphy pen has developed over thousands of years from brushes and reeds to the modern metal-tipped pen we use today. Dating back to ancient Egypt and China the calligraphy pen has been used in the development of writing systems and alphabets. It has also established an artistic way to write in our modern culture.

Types

There are a few different kinds of calligraphy pens each with a different history. Calligraphy pens date back to around 4000 BC. They have been used in many different cultures over time such as Ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece. The different cultures also used different materials to write with such as quill, metal, hair and reed.

The Reed Pen

The first kind of Calligraphy pen used was made from reed. This pen was used in Ancient Egypt during 4000 BC when people used hollowed out straw and reeds filled with liquid to write. They cut the nib, or the point of the pen, out of the end of the reed to allow the ink to flow out so they could write. With these reed pens the Egyptians created hieroglyphics. Brushes made from wolf or goat hair were also used during this time period to create calligraphy in ancient China and Japan. A thousand years later during 3000 BC the reed pens were also used by the Romans to create Lucinda calligraphy font which is also Western Calligraphy. This was the Roman's writing system during the time along with Greek and Cyrillic.

The Quill Pen

Shortly after the Romans adopted the quill pen to replace the reed because it could be sharpened multiple times, unlike the reed pens that had to be replaced. These quill pens carried into the middle ages and were used by monks to write ancient texts in decorative ways such as the bible for the wealthy class. Paper was expensive and so the monks slanted their writing to fit the pages better, developing the Gothic lettering.

The Metal Pen

In the 19th century the metal nib pen became popular. It was based off the pens that Romans used hundreds of years before to write on thin sheets of wax. These metal nib calligraphy pens are the style that are most popularly used today. The fountain pen was developed by Romanian Petrache Poenaru.

Calligraphy Today

The Calligraphy pen is used today to write invitations, announcements and other things for special occasions. Calligraphy is now seen as an art instead of a style of writing and many professional companies have machines that can mechanically write calligraphy quickly and more easily. Because of the development of these machines and the regular use of computers and ball point pens to write with, the art of calligraphy has been somewhat lost except for the few who practice it as a hobby.