Photograph of pen nibs

Photograph, possibly from an exhibition, showing examples of pen nibs produced by Bryan Donkin.

For at least 1300 years people in Britain wrote with pens made from birds’ feathers. The tip of the feather was cut into a point with a slit to help the ink flow. The writer would dip the quill pen into a pot of ink, write a few words and dip again.

Experiments had been conducted into making nibs from brass, copper or steel as early as the fifteenth century.

In March 1808 Donkin was the first to bring out a patent for a steel pen. The drawing a published patent showed how the nib was made from two lengths of shaped steel brazed together at an angle, leaving a slit at the end to form the pointed nib.