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.

• The earliest form of Western writing was cuneiform, made

by pressing an angular stick of three or four sides into soft clay
that was then baked, making these wedge-shaped marks
permanent. The next major developments in writing tools were
the use of the brush and of the mallet and chisel by the Greeks.
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.

As early as the 19th century, attempts had been made to

manufacture a pen with a rolling ball tip, but not until 1938 did
the Hungarian brothers George and Ladislao Biro invent a
practical ballpoint pen. Its success was based upon a viscous,
oil-based ink. Early ballpoint pens did not write well; they
tended to skip, and the slow-drying oil-based ink smudged
easily. But the ballpoint pen had several advantages over the
fountain pen: 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. Ink
formulas were improved for smoother flow and faster drying,
and soon the ballpoint replaced the fountain pen as the
universal writing tool.
 In 1963 fiber-tip markers were introduced into the U.S.
market and have since challenged the ballpoint as the principal
writing implement. The first practical fiber-tip pen was invented
by Yukio Horie of Japan in 1962. 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. As a result, the fiber-tip pen can
produce a wide range of colors unavailable in ballpoint and
fountain pen inks. The tip is made of fine nylon or other
synthetic fibers drawn to a point and fastened to the barrel of
the pen. Dye is fed to the point by an elaborate capillary
mechanism.

• As early as the 19th century, attempts had been made to

manufacture a pen with a rolling ball tip, but not until 1938 did
the Hungarian brothers George and Ladislao Biro invent a
practical ballpoint pen. Its success was based upon a viscous,
oil-based ink. Early ballpoint pens did not write well; they
tended to skip, and the slow-drying oil-based ink smudged
easily. But the ballpoint pen had several advantages over the
fountain pen: 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. Ink
formulas were improved for smoother flow and faster drying,
and soon the ballpoint replaced the fountain pen as the
universal writing tool.
• Ink, any liquid or viscous pigmented substance used for writing,
printing, or drawing. The composition and consistency of an ink
vary according to the purpose for which it is used. All inks,
however, contain two rudimentary components: a pigment, or
dye, called a colorant; and a vehicle, a liquid into which the
colorant is dispersed. The more common types of ink include
writing inks, drawing inks, printing inks, and invisible, or
sympathetic, inks. Many inks differ from paints only in the
purposes for which they are used.

 The earliest writing inks were compounded of lampblack

and a gum or glue and were mixed with water before use. Such
inks are called India inks and are virtually permanent because
the carbon in the lampblack is chemically inert and is not
bleached or otherwise affected by sunlight. Colored India inks
contain synthetic dyes rather than lampblack. India inks are
primarily used for drawing. The most permanent black ink is
iron-gall ink, made by mixing an iron salt, usually ferrous
sulfate, with a mixture of gallic acid and tannin in water.
 The first printing inks used in Europe were made of
lampblack mixed with varnish or boiled linseed oil. Colored inks were
developed late in the 18th century. In the next century a great variety
of pigments were developed for use in the manufacture of these inks,
primarily through the application of driers. Varnishes, having different
degrees of stiffness, were later developed to provide inks that could
be used on a variety of paper and presses. When web-fed newspaper
presses were introduced, varnishes were replaced as a vehicle by
mineral oils. Only in the 20th century did ink manufacture become the
complicated process it now is, involving the mixture of a pigment with
a vehicle, the grinding of the mixture in a mill between rollers, the
addition of driers, and, when using chemically produced rather than
natural pigments, a filtering process.

Indelible inks, such as those used for laundry marking,

contain silver nitrate. When exposed to the action of heat or light, or
to chemical action, these inks leave black metallic silver deposits in
the marked fabric. Other marking inks act on the principle of
developed dyes. Many substances have been used as inks for secret
writing. Usually these are substances that leave no visible mark when
the writing is made but can be developed (made visible) by heating.
Such substances, often called sympathetic inks, include milk, lemon
juice, and cobalt chloride solution, which turns blue when heated and
fades again when cooled. Other sympathetic inks can be permanently
developed by treating them with ultraviolet light or chemicals