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QUILL PEN
BALLPOINT
FOUNTAIN PEN
First there was the QUILL--the feather pen you might picture poised over a page in the hand of William Shakespeare or Benjamin Franklin. A great improvement over, say, scratching a message onro a piece of bark or etching it into stone, the Quill still had its drawbacks. The shaft of a feather, for instance--even one belonging to a relatively large bird, like a turkey or a swan--just doesn't hold very much ink at one time. That means the writer had to stop every couple of words or lines to dip the tip again, which is a frustrating procedure at best.
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In the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, they were still using a Quill. On the right is Anthony Andrews in the title role in 1982.
In this scene from the 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy appears to be as frustrated with the Dip Pen he is using as he is with the individual to whom the letter is addressed.
A Dip Pen works in much the same way as a Quill, where ink delivery is concerned, but it isn't made from a feather.
(no rights to this video held/ clip appears by Fair Use)
Then came a great innovation in writing technology; namely, the FOUNTAIN PEN! Storing ink in its barrel (or, the part of the Pen that you hold), the Fountain Pen got its name because its original users were so thrilled they felt like the ink was just flowing forth by itself, as if from a fountain! Mark Twain, Harper Lee, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are among the accomplished authors who used Fountain Pens in composing their works.
fountain at historic Jamestown, Virginia
These days, of course, there are Ballpoints--the ordinary pens you are used to writing with most of the time. They don't run out of ink every few words! So why would we FPC members bother with Fountain Pens any more, which have already been "replaced?"
Elegant and delicate, Fountain Pens remind us of that which is valuable because it is timeless.
Handled differently due to their unique method of ink delivery, these classic writing instruments naturally encourage diligence and circumspection.
.As a member of the FPC, you will learn all about Fountain Pens--how to write with them, how to clean and refill them, how to tell one type from another, and how to know which kind of ink to choose. Best of all, you will be entrusted with a Fountain Pen until graduation, when it becomes yours to keep.
And did we mention that writing with a Fountain Pen is also really fun?