I'm wondering if anyone here has written on parchment. What are its characteristics as far as writing is concerned? Need any special type of pen or ink?

The idea has crossed my mind that it might be a neat project to construct a really "old school" journal for myself using parchment pages -- but I don't really know anything about it, except that the stuff potentially lasts forever... Any thoughts out there?

my current journal has parchment for its inside pages, and the nib flows very smoothly over the surface. modern parchments are made of some vegetable matter, and i've read somewhere that some parchments are silicone coated. of course i can't say for sure.

original parchments are made of animal skins, and i've seen manuscripts that are almost 400 years old, and the paarchment pages are thick and they have gotten shiny, almost like porcelain. those last for centuries, evidently.

as for these vegetable parchments, i don't know for sure when they began making them, but i suppose it should last longer than most orginary untreated paper. they can take almost any ink -- ballpoint, marker, fountain pen, gel pen, pencil -- but some writing tips tend to skip over the surface. fountain pen is best, basing from my experience.

I'm thinking about the actual animal skin parchment... I'm sure that parchment paper takes standard pens/ink well, but the animal skin stuff is a complete unknown to me, as far as actually writing on the stuff is concerned.

But yeah -- I sort of like the idea of the longevity of the stuff. People are still reading parchment scrolls written on by Archimedes. And of course founding documents of the US were on parchment, specifically so that they would last.

I don't know much but it seems you'd want oak gall ink (or India ink at least), a quill or a dip pen and gum sandarac. John Neal Books might be a good place to check. There is a good book called "Pen, Ink and Evidence" that touches on these subjects.

At a calligraphy convention many years ago, I wrote on vellum, which is a type of parchment. It came from a cow. I used a dip pen, but don't remember specifics about the ink. A bit of the powdery gum sandarac, similar to talcum powder, controlled the stray bits of fiber which could catch the edge of the quill.

The sheets of vellum were random sizes (mine was about 14" wide by 10" tall). It was up to each individual to decide which side was more suitable to use.

The ink went on shiny and retained its sheen for a long time.

If you browse in a bookstore's calligraphy section, some manuals have instructions on preparing parchment (sounds labor-intensive). Calligraphy suppliers like John Neal Books sell various sizes (check under vellum) and could probably answer your questions.

Vellum is tough stuff to work with as it is finiky. The ink used is a calligraphy ink with a dip pen. The ink has the consistency of shellac and will sit on the vellum rather than be absorbed by the vellum. With all the coatings on teh parchment itself, i have to believe it would quickly gum up a fine fountain pen. Keep in mind that by Queen Elizabeth's day parchment was used only for official and ecclesiatical documents. Everyday writing was done with paper.