Wandlore is, according to Mr. Ollivander, is a "complex and mysterious branch of magic". It is the ancient art of studying wands, tools used by witches and wizards to cast spells, and often making them. This particular field of magic is studied by wandmaker's such as Mr. Ollivander and Gregorovitch.
Wandlore dates back at least two-thousand, three-hundred and eighty years (as of 1998), as proven by the sign outside of Mr. Ollivander's Wand Shop, which reads, "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.". It is, however, quite likely that Ollivanders was not the first wand shop, and that othersmay have been around before it.
To study wandlore, one must become the apprentice of an accomplished wandmaker and eventually, after apprenticeship, go on to become on themselves (if educated in the subject enough when the time comes).
Mr. Ollivander revealed to Harry Potter in 1998 that wandlore is "a complex and mysterious branch of magic" which even the most accomplished do not fully understand. Ollivander admitted that he did not fully comprehend Priori Incantatem and did not know why Harry's wand destroyed the wand of Lucius Malfoy in the Battle Over Little Whinging. Wandmakers also believe that the wand chooses the wizard, and that wands can think for themselves, however it is unknown why they think this.
Wands are usually mentioned with three components, wood, core and length.
Their are lots of woods which wands can be created from, and, although they were not all mentioned in the books and films, Jo has released them all on Pottermore.com. They are Acacia, Alder, Apple, Ash, Aspen, Beech, Blackthorn, Black Walnut, Cedar, Cherry, Chestnut, Cypress, Dogwood, Ebony, Elder, Elm, English Oak, Fir, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Hornbeam, Larch, Laurel, Maple, Pear, Pine, Poplar, Red Oak, Redwood, Rowan, Silver lime, Spruce, Sycamore, Vine, Walnut, Willow, and Yew. However, a wandmaker could not simply walk into a forest, pick up a twig and create a wand. He or she would have to find the right wood. Bowtruckles, magical tree guardians, opt to live in trees with wand quality wood (wand wood). It is unknown if wand wood has to be magical, or whether it just has to wood strong enough to withstand the magic inside it.
Wands hold magical cores, which are possibly magically inserted into the wand wood by the wandmaker, once the wand has been carved. These cores enchance the wands magic, or gicve the wand wood it's magical ability. It is known that the core type influences the personality of a wand and some wandmakers decide to use only certain cores. For example, Ollivander opts to only use Phoenix Feather, Dragon Heartstring and Unicorn Hair. It is possible that these produce the best wands, as Ollivander was known for producing very good wands. Other wand cores include Veela Hair and Thestral Hair.
The length of wands can vary greatly, the shortest wand in the series (belonging to Dolores Umbridge) was 8" long while the longest (belonging to Rubeus Hagrid) measured 16". Wand lengths may have some similarity to the owner's height, as Umbridge was very short while Hagrid was a half-giant.
Rigidity is another thing which is not usually included in the description of a wand, however was mentioned when Ollivander inspected the wands of Harry Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. Harry's was said to be "nice and supple, Bellatrix's "unyielding", Malfoy's was "resonably springy" and Peter's was "brittle".