I hesitate to reply as a brand new member and not a normal reader of this literature (though I have picked up one here and there, especially at beach rentals with bookshelves of them waiting to while away a rainy day, so at least I know of what you speak), but I am a history geek. Forgive if these are too geeky. Three eras with potential. If I were to set something in a medieval time, I'd choose the period after the black death was basically finished wiping out a huge chunk of Europe. It was a time of hope, (relative) freedom, and great social change. Nobles didn't have quite the power they once had as there weren't enough people around to work the land, so it was a seller's market, so to speak. Social barriers also became quite fluid in places and an emphasis on both romantic stories as well as bawdy ones was coming to the fore. (read Barbara Tuchman's "Distant Mirror") Perhaps a harder one to write or get into well, without getting too colonial, is the 19th-century Great Game. Russia was dashing into Central Asia, Britain was sending intrepid explorers and spies to try and determine if it was possible for Russia to invade India. Intrigue, exotic locals, danger, risk and great reward. Could be told from the East India Company side and you have Persia, the Ottoman Empire, India, Samarkand, Koshkand, the Silk Road as possible backdrops. The British wives led lives both cloistered and full of "adventure." (duels involving married men coming back from long trips was quite common) Or, as others have suggested, 1880-1914 US. It was a time of tremendous change, economically and socially. It was a time of "muscular" vitality, and a lot of incongruities. In my research on steel pen manufacturing at the time, I have run across a mysterious reference I've not been able to explore further. In Chicago around the turn of the century, there was a pen manufacturer called M. Jacobs who made the "London Incandescent Pen." In lists of manufacturers Jacobs is listed as "Mrs. M. Jacobs." A woman owner of a manufacturing company was quite unusual, if not unprecedented. What's also interesting is that the floor of a steel pen manufactury was traditionally mostly staffed by women. Only the forges and rolling plant, the dirty, hot jobs, were run by men. Women did the pressing, shaping, grinding, etc... Who was Mrs. M. Jacobs? How did she end up with her own factory and company? Was there ever a Mr. Jacobs? Anyway, that's probably why I'm not writing these books and you all are. No one would read mine. :)

And anyone who is writing anything historical set in the US in the colonial or early 19th-century (Regency anyone?) I would highly recommend a wonderful book by Tamara Plakins Thornton called "Handwriting in America: A Cultural History." It really opens up the significance of handwriting and handwriting styles in pre-industrial revolution America. Especially in the early years, what was happening here was a reflection of values and opinions that were true in England as well. As I read the book I kept thinking to that scene referenced in the quote from Pride and Prejudice above where they talk about Bingley's careless hand. That, according to the book, was a sign of a gentleman. Only ladies and clerks wrote cleanly and neatly. But a writing master was as important for a young gentleman as a dancing master. It's quite interesting and well written and a great resource if you're writing a book with a lot of correspondence in it. And if you're interested, here are some of the fountain pens I use regularly, ranging from the 1940's (bottom), 50's (top) and 60's (middle). http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1464279618__image.jpeg And what my correspondence hand looks like: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1462283881__image.jpeg Always happy to geek out about writing implements. :)

I was pointed to your lovely blog by a friend who knows my penchant for old writing implements. Thank you for the wonderful overview of the writing quill. There is actually a lot of very interesting history of both the quill as well as the steel pen left to write. I've done a bit of research, mainly around the early years of the steel dip pen, and find it fascinating. One fact that may be found interesting by your readers is that the main reason that steel pens were so quickly adopted is that very few people were good at cutting quills. Caroline Bingley, in your introductory quote, claims to mend pens remarkably well. But very few were actually very good at it. (and they used a "pen knife" which is where we get the name for a small-bladed, folding knife to this day) Even most school masters relied upon either a specialist in a larger school, or the stationer to cut and mend their pens. It was a specialized skill, rather like an IT specialist today who may be the only one in an organization with the skill and esoteric knowledge needed to mend the computers. In an article in "American Stationer" in 1889, it states that reviewing orders from Her Majesty's Stationery Office one can see that "the proportion of quills to steel pens...is about one to four" and "[the use of] quills as writing utensils will die hard, as the mending of them is said to constitute the principle occupation of some of the clerks." It seems that by the early 20th-century, fountain pens and typewriters put the final nails in the coffin of the quill pen. I personally started with fountain pens some 20 years ago and only last year began writing regularly with dip pens. Now I write all my letters and even pay my bills with vintage dip pens. If I'm going to write a check, it may as well look nice. My meeting notes at work are still with fountain pens as the office manager still stubbornly and inexplicably refuses to supply ink wells in the conference rooms. I've read a bit of this wonderful blog, and now I shall get back to avoiding my work and read some more. Quite enjoyable!