Initially, man was able to get by using his finger - dipped in plant juices - as a drawing / writing instrument. By 4000 BC, bone or bronze tools were used to scratch everyday events on to cavedwelling walls. Such were these simpler, happier days.

But as language and writing developed, so did man's need for more effective tools. Between 500 and 300 BC, brushes made from Camel or Rat hair were used by the Chinese whilst the early Egyptians used thick Calamus or Bamboo reeds. Then, after the fall of the Roman Emprire (around 600 to 1800 BC) things began to change. European monks were the first to realise that Goose feather quills could serve the same purpose as reeds, and better still. The hollow quill would hold the ink and the split end worked as a nib. Different writing pressure produced thick and thin strokes. What a breakthrough! But alas, the writing life of these quills was extremely short and they needed constant re-trimming. In short they were a hassle.

A portable pen with its own ink supply was not created until the late 19th century. Reflect for a moment that some of the world's greatest writers and philosophers, from Aristotle to Dickens, did not benefit from these instruments and wielded their arts beset by the varied problems of ink splurges, broken 'nibs', or simply running out of their supply.

And so back to the English. In 1803, an English engineer called Bryan Donkin patented a steel pen point but he did not commercially exploit his patent. This left it open to exploitation and in 1830, steel makers mainly in Birmingham, England, pioneered the mass production technique for cheap long wearing steel pen nibs. The doors to innovation were finally opened. By the mid 19th century, metallic pens and pen nibs were starting to take over from quills.

Aided by new materials and technology, the development of these first portable, minimal maintenance pens was on a roll (excuse the pun). The quality of steel nibs was continually improved by tipping them with hard alloys of Iridium, Rhodium and Osmium. Very occasionally nibs were tipped with precious stones (sorry, we've none in stock ladies!). Fountain pens soon lead to the ballpoint pen or biro and rollerballs. With their more viscous ink, which dries almost immediately on contact with paper, ballpoint pens have almost completely replaced the fountain pen for everyday usage. But fountain pens are still considered to bring out the best handwriting in all but the worst scrawlers.

Pen trivia: