Pen | History, Types, & Facts (2024)

FAQs

What was the first type of pen? ›

The Reed Pen - 4th Century

The first citing of a pen dates back to the 4^th century BC with the Ancient Egyptian scribes who would write hieroglyphics on papyrus. The Egyptians didn't favour a Parker 51, but rather a “Reed Pen”, a single piece of reed pointed into a square and split at the point.

Gel pens use a water-based ink to offer a smooth writing style. Advantages: This type of pen offers a richer ink colour, with a variety of shades to choose from. It's also smooth to write with compared to a rollerball thanks to its viscous nature.

Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity that had to be periodically recharged by dipping the tip of the pen into an inkwell. Today, such pens find only a small number of specialized uses, such as in illustration and calligraphy.

Made in France and introduced in 1950 (along with other soon-to-be classics like James Dean and Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strip) Bic is the best-selling pen brand in the world. The Bic Cristal, with its decidedly chewable cap and transparent, pencil-like hexagonal barrel shape are recognized around the globe.

A regular BIC ballpoint pen can draw a line that's about 2 kilometers long. That's more than 6 times longer than the height of the Eiffel tower! The United States produces more than 2 billion pens a year. Paul Fisher designed the Space Pen for the 1968 Apollo mission.

In the late 16th century pure graphite deposits were found in the Borrowdale area of the Lake District and farmers began using it to mark their sheep. Later in the 19th century a major pencil manufacturing industry was created at nearby Keswick. The 'oldest pencil in the world', found in a timbered house built in 1630.

The inexpensive, disposable Bic Cristal (also simply "Bic pen" or "Biro") is reportedly the most widely sold pen in the world.

A pen is a universal tool used for writing on paper. A pen has a plastic body called a barrel, a tip, an ink reservoir or chamber, and a cap. Different colours of ink can be used in a pen to write. A significant phrase related to it is “Pen is mightier than the sword”.

Petrache Poenaru is credited for the invention of pen, which is known to be mightier than the sword. He was the first to develop the fountain pen in 1827. Petrache was a Romanian engineer, inventor, and mathematician.

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. 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.

What is the oldest pen? ›

The earliest ancestor of the pen probably was the brush the Chinese used for writing by the 1st millennium bce. The early Egyptians employed thick reeds for penlike implements about 300 bce. A specific allusion to the quill pen occurs in the 7th-century writings of St.

Often fountain pens are referred to as old fashioned pens. Beautiful hand made fountain pens are really rare and a thing of the past.

These techniques include hatching, cross hatching, random lines, and stippling. (Each of these techniques are explored and demonstrated further down this page.) One appeal of drawing with pen and ink is the clean, finished appearance that can be created.

Pilot G2 Gel Pens

Pilot's classic G2 gel pens are the best pens of all time, and do not test me. They're easy to hold and to write with. As gel pens, they are pretty inky, which means you only need to apply light pressure for perfect form.

Today, fountain pens are often treated as luxury goods and sometimes as status symbols. Fountain pens may serve as an everyday writing instrument, much like the common ballpoint pen.