Pen (writing)

“ Since the hand now wields the pen, having perfected its instrumentality by means of this latter, our will no longer leans upon and terminates in the hand, but it flows on and presses into the point of the pen itself, through which, if neither ink nor paper offers resistance, it empties into the stream of writing. ”

“ The scribe can vary the forms which his pen produces, and the colours which he gives them, with a freedom that the set form and the method of using the binder’s tools do not allow. But the skilled penman will find that his pen (or, at any rate, his penmanship) largely determines the forms of his freest flourishes and strokes, and that the semi-formal nature of such ornament demands a certain simplicity and repetition of form and colour, which do not unduly tax his skill as a craftsman. ”

“ Indeed, to see the way that most people hold a pen when writing is enough to induce wonder that their hands are not cramped without any writing but simply by holding the fingers in such an outrageous position. ”

“ Thus, in the haste of composition, ideas crowding upon us faster than the pen can give them permanence, we can bestow little thought on mere chirography, writing becomes mechanical, or even automatic; and we pay scarcely more attention to the forms that follow the pen, than we do to the contractions and dilatations of the vocal organs when engaged in conversation with an entertaining friend. ”

“ THE CUSTOMARY MANNER.—The ancient scribe probably held his pen in the manner most convenient to himself; and we, in order to write with freedom, should hold the pen in the way to which, by long use, we have been accustomed; provided that, for writing an upright round-hand, the pen be so manipulated and cut as to make fine horizontal thin strokes and clean vertical thick strokes (see fig. 40, & footnote, p. 304) . ”

“ So great an art can only be learnt by continual practice; but this much is worth writing down, that, as in all good work, to know the thing with which you work is the core of the affair. Good verse is best written on good paper with an easy pen, not with a lump of coal on a whitewashed wall. The pen thinks for you; and so does the scythe mow for you if you treat it honourably and in a manner that makes it recognise its service. ”

“ These writing masters often chose to show their skill by imitating type forms of letters with the pen, but though similar in the individual forms of the letters the written examples exhibit a freedom and harmony in composition impossible for type to equal, and therefore are immeasurably more interesting to the modern penman. ”

“ The ink perhaps may have its influence too, and the paper; but paramount is the pen. This, indeed, is the fundamental secret of essay-writing. Wed any man to his proper pen, and the delights of composition and the birth of an essay are assured. Only many of us wander through the earth and never meet with her—futile and lonely men.
And, of all pens, your quill for essays that are literature. There is a subtle informality, a delightful easiness, perhaps even a faint immorality essentially literary, about the quill. The quill is rich in suggestion and quotation. ”

“ To any one who may have an artistic quality of mind, and delights in beautiful lines and harmonious curves, these pages of ornamental penmanship will serve as models for practice and imitation, and every attempt at such an exercise as the one on this, or the following pages, will give greater strength and freedom of movement, and better command of the pen, so that it will conduce to an easy, flowing and elegant style of plain business writing, while affording a most pleasant and profitable employment in the cultivation of the taste. ”

“ The writing level is kept constant. When one line has been written, the writing paper—which is placed behind the tape and the guard—is pulled up for another line.
USE OF THE PEN
For the practical study of pen-forms use a cane or a reed pen—or a quill cut very broad—giving a broad, firm, thick stroke. It is the chisel edge (p. 57) of the nib which gives the “clean cut” thick and thin strokes and the graduated curved strokes characteristic of good writing (fig. 40) . ”

“ The cumbrousness of our method of writing no doubt strikes us all at times. In our mechanical age it is wonderful that no further advance has yet been made towards simplicity. What an apparatus is this of pen, ink and paper! The invention of steel pens goes but a little way to wards improvement. ”

“ By making a good, clear hand habitual to you, the caution given above, with regard to hurry, will be entirely useless, for you will find that even the most rapid penmanship will not interfere with the beauty of your hand-writing, and the most absorbing interest in the subject of your epistle can be indulged; whereas, if you write well only when you are giving your entire attention to guiding your pen, then, haste in writing or interest in your subject will spoil the beauty of your sheet. ”

“ I can not too often urge you to use your pen in daily composition as a means to felicity and facility of speech. The act of writing out your thoughts is a direct aid to concentration, and tends to enforce the habit of choosing the best language. It gives clearness, force, precision, beauty, and copiousness of style, so valuable in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking. ”

“ A flexible pen, capable of making fine as well as thick strokes, working evenly, and not soon worn out, is what should be sought, and having found two or three kinds to suit, stick to them, and make yourself thoroughly master of their capabilities. Should any difficulty exist in obtaining a special pen, an ordinary "F" writing nib will not lead you far wrong, while for bold vigorous drawing I should prefer a gold "J" ”

“ This is a type of illumination which can safely be attempted by one who, having learnt to write, is desirous of illuminating his writing; for it is the direct outcome of penmanship (see p. 204) , and consists mainly of pen flourishes, or semi-formal lines and shapes which can be made with a pen, suitably applied to the part to be decorated. Its effect may be very charming and restful: no colour standing out as in a positive colour scheme, no individual form catching the eye; but the whole having a richness of simple detail and smooth colouring more or less intricate and agreeably bewildering. ”

“ Suppose an ant walking along a piece of paper beholds that a line is caused by a pen. It can see neither the heart of the writer where the idea of writing has taken place, nor the writer's hand which is the real mover of the pen. In this example human nature is a pen, the angels are the fingers holding the pen and Allah the Almighty, to whom all the angels bow in obedience, is like the hand and the possessor of it. ”

“ Not only does it train his hand to make pen ornaments, the forms of which are in keeping with the writing, but it helps to keep the decoration proportionate in every way. It is an excellent plan for the beginner to use the writing-pen for plain black capitals or flourishes, and to make all other decoration with similar or slightly finer pens than the one used for the writing. ”

“ Where beautiful character is the natural product of a tool, any person may at any time give such character to a useful form, and as at this time a properly cut and handled pen will produce letters resembling those of the early MSS., we may take as models such early, simple pen-forms as have remained essentially the same,84 and copy them as closely as we can while keeping them exact and formal. ”

“ Fig. 168.
A freely used pen naturally produces occasional varieties for special or ornamental purposes: these tend to elegance and drawn out flourished strokes (p. 331) ; they vary chiefly in being extra large.73 [p299] Several of these may be used with fine effect in a page of plain Capitals, their “weight” (and generally their colour) being the same as that of the text (see Plate V., and p. 328) .
Whole Books or Pages written in Capitals.—A very grand effect may be produced by these at the expense of a little more time and material than a Small-letter MS. entails. ”

“ It is obvious that writing executed with a pencil or the now much-used stylograph will differ in many respects from that performed by an ordinary pen. It is not too much to say that their use will eliminate many features and introduce new ones. ”

“ Finally, personal quality is essential to perfect workmanship, but that is the natural and gradual—sometimes [p324] scarcely visible—departure from a model, that comes of practice and time.
Forms of Letters: component pen-strokes.—In a good hand the chief component strokes—stems, bows, and serifs—are repeated again and again (see pp. 244, 254) —this is essential to the uniform character and the quickness of the writing. When substituting a new for an old letter a naturally used pen will produce such common pen-strokes, giving the desired “family likeness” to the new letter85 (b, fig. 183) . ”

“ The act of writing is much less a matter of control than may be supposed. The pen follows the thoughts mechanically, and few ready and habitual writers could, if suddenly called upon to do so, say what peculiarities their writing possessed. For example, how many could say off-hand how they dotted an i—whether with a round dot, a tick or a dash—whether the tick was vertical, horizontal or sloping; what was the proportional distance of the dot from the top of the i. Again, ask a practised writer how he crosses the letter t—whether with a horizontal, up or down stroke? ”

“ Good, well-formed writing comes first and foremost, making use of the reed and quill pen in the formation of letters. The method of practice, commencing with simple pen-strokes, that is given in the early part of this book, ought to enable the student to produce good lettering if he works with the exercises in the manner suggested. ”

“ When you press the point on paper to write, the needle falls back just enough to let out what ink is needed. The flow stops the instant the pen ceases to touch the paper. The special advantage of the stylographic is that the mere weight of the pen is sufficient pressure, and therefore many hours of writing do not tire the muscles of the hand. The advantage of the fountain pen is that it has the familiar action of the gold pen, and that it will adapt itself to any style of handwriting. ”

“ Writing performed with a pen that has been used before, will be darker than that with a new pen; for the dry residuum of the old ink that is encrusted on the used pen will mix with the new ink, and make it darker. ”

“ It is for this reason that so much attention has been given to the use of the quill and reed pen in the formation of good writing.
Students are frequently at a disadvantage from inability to handle the pen properly. To help, in some measure, to remedy this, the student is shown how to make sharply-defined strokes before attempting to form letters. ”

“ The ink should be glossy black as it leaves your pen, for polished English. Violet inks lead to sham sentiment, and blue-black to vulgarity. Red ink essays are often good, but usually unfit for publication.
This is as much almost as anyone need know to begin essay writing. Given your proper pen and ink, or pencil and paper, you simply sit down and write the thing. The value of an essay is not its matter, but its mood. ”

“ As having a general fitness in the placing, connecting, and spacing of letters, words, and lines, in the disposal of the lettering in the given space, and in the proportioning of every part of the lettering and its margins. RIGHT EXPRESSION CHARACTER 7. Essential qualities of (Hand and Pen) work:
As being genuine calligraphy, the direct outcome of a rightly made and rightly handled pen. ”

“ We have no doubt that, in a large majority of cases of this sort, if the question between “the types” and “the pen” were left to a jury, they would, as in the case of Lloyd’s paper, decide in favor of the types.
By dint of hard study, by comparison of letters in {p16} various words, and by the sense of the context, the compositor generally goes through his task creditably, in spite of the “illegibility of the writing.” ”

“ Page after page he wrote, turning each leaf over upon its face as it was completed—never referring back, never hesitating, and only occasionally raising his pen from the paper. Line after line of neat, small writing, quite different from what his friends knew in letters or on envelopes, flowed from his pen. It was his “press” handwriting, plain, rapid, and as legible as print. The punctuation was attended to with singular care: the commas broad and heavy, the colons like the kisses in a child's letter, round and black. ”

“ For the purposes of the modern penman, however, they may be regarded as Round Capitals. (For their treatment, see pp. 297–299, and 304.)
77 The writing in fig. 170 shows a slightly slanted pen. To make quite horizontal thins is difficult, and was probably never done, but it is worth attempting them nearly horizontal for the sake of training the hand.
78 Note.—Single-line ruling is commonly used—the writing being on, or a little above or below, the line: this allows of greater freedom than the double line (see p. 304) . ”

“ Furthermore it is found that the strokes which a vertical writer makes in his movements with the pen are quite as easy as those made in the sloping style and far shorter, for careful calculations show that the ordinary oblique writing necessitates the pen moving over 20 to 25 per cent. ”

“ A common and not less pernicious habit is to allow the pen to take an outward direction to the right, when as an inevitable consequence the writing takes a backward slope and all the curves and lateral lines become thickened at the expense of the downstrokes, which attenuate off into hairlines imparting to the writing an appearance as peculiar as it is illegible. ”