from web site
New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. p. 152. This Author -1-250-04021-3. Shackleford, Steve (5 January 2010). Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 219222. ISBN 978-1-4402-1505-6. External links [edit]
Pen knives were initially named for the reality that their folding blades were utilized to thin and point quills so that they could be utilized as dip pens. Knife Center's pen knife collection has a wide variety of quality blade steels and beautiful handles that consist of wood, bone, carbon fiber, and more.
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The pocket-knife which we understand today has its roots in the pen knife, or scribal knife, of the Middle Ages. But not just did those early knives not fold, few of them would safely or easily suit a pocket, even in their protective leather sheaths. For centuries, people of lesser means may only have one knife, which they used for everything, consisting of repairing the nibs of their quill pens, while the wealthy, or professional scribes, would have specially-made pen or quill knives to be used for just that purpose.
They could therefore be safely carried in pockets or reticules. However there were also other knives which looked really like pen knives, but served various purposes. A bit about pen and other specialty folding knives of the Regency From the Middle Ages to the start of the eighteenth century, the majority of pen knives had blades which were repaired in the manage, or haft, of the knife.
All pen knife blades were made from steel, in order to hold the sharp edge required to cut quills The haft was typically in between 3 to four inches in length. The really rich had the hafts of their pen knives made from valuable woods, horn, agate, tortoise shell, ivory, or mother-of-pearl, frequently encrusted with silver, gold and even semi-precious stones.
In the eighteenth century, cutlers first made pen or quill knives with blades which could move into the haft when not in use. By the middle of the century, they had actually also established a folding version of the pen knife. These folding variations generally had blades of between 1 to 1 & frac12; inches in length.