Writing Implements, manual devices used to

make alphanumeric marks on or in a

surface. Peculiar to inscription is the
removal of part of a surface to record such
marks. The writing tool is usually controlled
by movement of the fingers, hand, wrist,
and arm of the writer. The development of
writing implements in the West has been
determined by the interplay of the demand
and skills of the writer and the writing
materials available.
Writing found on ancient Greek pottery was done
with a small round brush, and early Greek letters
were incised on stone with a metal chisel driven
by a mallet. Neither form of Greek writing shows
any variation in the thickness of the lines of
individual letters; the Romans, using broad-edged
tools, introduced variations in the width of
alphabetic marks.
The rise and spread of Christianity increased the demand for
permanent written religious documents. As the size of writing
became smaller, both writing tools and surfaces changed. Vellum
or parchment books replaced the papyrus roll, and the quill
replaced the reed pen. Although quill pens can be made from the
outer wing feathers of any bird, those of goose, swan, crow, and
(later) turkey, were preferred. The earliest reference (6th century
ad) to quill pens was made by the Spanish theologian St. Isidore of
Seville, and this tool was the principal writing implement for
nearly 1300 years.
The ink was waterproof and almost
unerasable; the pen could write on many
kinds of surfaces and could be held in
almost any position for writing, and the
pressure required to feed the ink was
ideal for making carbon copies.
It was ideally suited to the
strokes of Japanese writing, which
is traditionally done with a
pointed ink brush. Unlike its
predecessors, the fiber-tip pen
uses dye as a writing fluid.
One of the most popular tools for
ephemeral writing is the pencil. Pencil
marks, unlike those made by writing
implements using fluids, can be easily
erased. Although commonly called lead
pencils, they do not contain any of that
metal but are composed of a mixture of
graphite (a form of carbon) and clay (see
Carbon; Graphite).