Here's a capsule history from an insert included with a Goose Quill Pen recently purchased for use in the 19th century one-room schoolhouse I interpret:

Goose Quill Pen

By the first century AD, writing instruments made from hollow reeds were commonly employed in Egypt and throughout the Greco-Roman world. In northern Europe writing tools were developed using the wing feathers of bird and fowl: the word for feather in latin, penna, gives us the name "pen". References to the feather quill pen occur as early as the 6th century AD, as the scribes of the medieval European monasteries and Islamic libraries created and safeguarded their great collections of illuminated manuscripts against the perils of the Middle Ages. The history of Europe and the Americas continued to be written with the quill pen: from the Book of Kells and the Ebbo Gospels of Reims, to the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, artists and scholars wielding their quill pens created lasting contributions to civilization. The quill pen remained pre-eminent until the 19th century when developments in England led to the mass production of steel pen points. The first practical fountain pen was introduced in 1884; ballpoint pens were widespread by the early 20th century; felt-tip pens made their appearance in the 1960's. Yet the fine sharpness and flexibility of the quill pen nib still gives enjoyment to the calligrapher and the artist as well as the historian.

This pen is made of the finest quality bleached white goose pointer, the primary flight feather of the goose and the most prized feather for pens. Only a very select group of pointers and quills (secondary flight feathers) are used in making pens, althought the source may be turkeys, swans, or crows as well as geese.
Once the quills are cleaned and prepared, the barrel of each feather is cut and shaped to form the nib, which can be re-shaped and re-sharpened as often as necessary.

"A serpents tooth bites not so ill as dooth a schollers angrie quill." --Quote from John Fiorio, 2nd Fruites, 1591

Suggested references: Scribes and Illuminators, Christopher De Hamel; Collecting Writing Instruments, Dietmar Geyer;

The National Archives http://www.nara.gov/exhall/exhibits.html provides information on historic documents.

The University of Utah has a site with a wide selection of illuminated manuscripts:
http://www2.art.utah.edu/Paging_Through/index.html

History Lives, The Cooperman Company, (c) 2000