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		quill cutters

		The problem with Quill pens is that they need to be recut fairly frequently. The term 'penknife' today is given to the convenient folding knives that can be carried conveniently in the pocket. The history of the pen-knife goes back thousands of years to the time when reeds were cut and shaped to make pens. In the age of the quill the pen-knife had three main functions. Firstly, and most obviously, was to cut and shape the feather into a pen. Secondly, it was an eraser when the scribe made an error and used the knife to scrape the ink off the parchment. Thirdly, to keep the parchment moving and to avoid smudging any wet ink, the scribe held down the parchment with the point of the knife held in one hand whilst writing with the other. The earliest extant pen-knife dates from around the thirteenth century and is made of gilt brass. In the seventeeth century craftsmen made some knives with highly decorative, engraved blades and handles. In some instances it was difficult to distinguish pen-knives from domestic eating knives. The museum has such a knife from the sixteenth century where the shorter blade is the only giveaway. Many pen-knives had a point or 'peg' projecting from the end of the handle, which was used to extend the slit in the quill. The idea of the folding knife came into its own in the eighteenth century and many had multiple blades. In our picture A is an example from the mid seventeenth century, with a single folding blade. B is a fixed bladed knife from the early sevententh century whilst C is from a century later and shows the 'peg'. When wax seals came into common usage penknife blades such as D were produced, combined with a flattened area at the tip for erasing and removing the wax seal. Mechanical devices were introduced to cut quills but, more commonly, cutters were manufactured that had the form of the quill end into which the quill was inserted. By pressing on the back of the quill it could be cut to the same shape every time. A pair of rare French quill-cutting pliers with their original green leather case are shown in E.
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