penmaker

Updated: July 10, 2026

Before this goose-quill pens had been exclusively used, and there was in each House of Congress and in each Department a penmaker, who knew what degree of flexibility and breadth of point each writer desired. Every gentleman had to carry a penknife, and to have in his desk a hone to sharpen it on, giving the finishing touches on one of his boots.

Benjamin Perley Poore - Perley's Reminiscences, v. 1-2: of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis