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quill

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Also known as quill pen, crow quill, crowquill, goose quill, goosequill

thumb|Quill and a parchment|321x321px A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen. thumb|218x218px|Ink bottle and quill As with the earlier reed pen (and later dip pen), a quill has no internal ink reservoir and therefore needs to periodically be dipped into an inkwell during writing. The hand-cut goose quill is rarely used by modern calligraphers, however, it is still the tool of c

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Quills
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~9 min read

Article

11 sections
Contents
  • Description
  • Sources
  • Uses
  • History
  • As a symbol
  • Quill and pen knives
  • Today
  • Music
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

thumb|Quill and a parchment|321x321px A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen. thumb|218x218px|Ink bottle and quill As with the earlier reed pen (and later dip pen), a quill has no internal ink reservoir and therefore needs to periodically be dipped into an inkwell during writing. The hand-cut goose quill is rarely used by modern calligraphers, however, it is still the tool of choice for a few scribes who claim the quills provide an unmatched sharp stroke as well as greater flexibility than a steel pen.

==Description== alt=Picture of a quill nib.|thumb|218x218px|A nib cut from a bird's quill thumb|Feathers in stages of being made into quills|218x218px The shaft of a flight feather is long and hollow, making it an obvious candidate for being crafted into a pen. The process of making a quill from a feather involves curing the shaft to harden it, then fashioning its tip into a nib using a pen knife or other small cutting tool.

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