The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 10.0524  Wednesday, 23 March 1999.

From:           Mike Jensen <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Tuesday, 23 Mar 1999 12:25:25 -0800
Subject:        The Cookery of Elizabethan Writing

My amazing Uncle just sent a flock of questions that are outside my
expertise, but then what isn't?  Can anyone on the list answer these or
point him to an answer?  Off list is fine, but it may be of general
interest.

Uncle Mike wrote:
>The quill pen was called, in Old English, (hereafter O.E.,) as a "writingfeder".
>True?
>The (pen) knife used for cutting the quill was known as (O.E.,) "writseax".
>True?
>The reed pen, (which may very well have remained as common as the >quill,) was known as (O.E.) "hreod".  True?

>Narrowing the inquiry to the period of you specialization, what were >the writing materials of the Elizabethan period?  Did the stationers of >the day provide all of the essentials of the writer's craft, or was a >certain amount of "home cooking" involved in the making of inks and >pens?  In what sort of container was a supply of ink carried from >stationer's shop to the users home?

>Hey...the "cookery of art" is interesting, (to some of us,) ...so why >not explore all the inconveniences associated with the "cookery of >authorship?" You think that finding writing materials was not >inconvenient?  What if you had to peel a sheep to before you could jot >down a shopping list?

Thanks in advance,
Mike Jensen   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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