Today fountain pens are no longer the everyday tools they once were, before the work of Laszlo Biro became widespread, for most people the choice was between a pencil, a dip pen, or a fountain pen. Today these former tools are collected, restored and cosseted, uninked and unused in cabinets in climate-controlled rooms, (and yes there are a few of these), or inked and in everyday use by more people than may be obvious to a casual observer. Beautifully made, elegant pens are sold, these are the indulgence of some of those who keep journals, send cards to friends, these pens, alongside vintage pens passed down the family line, are often the most used, cherished pens today. Then there are the well-made pens, cheap or costly that just plainly appeal to the user and these owners are mostly enthusiastic users, rather than fanatic collectors.
The use, and collection of fountain pens appeals to and attracts a larger number of people than many may think and there is a quite a large body of literature and specialist sites for this minority community. Much of this information is aimed at the enthusiastic user and collectors, there are repair manuals for those who want to repair any finds they may come across, there are books that tell the history of the larger brands, there are books that give approximate values of pens, although most people would do better to dive into some specialist sites or online groups as with all commodities the values of collectable pens go up and down.
This book is a bit different it reflects the thoughts of a relative newcomer to the hobby/addiction, on what the pens mean to them, how they are classified in their mind, how they work and so on. There are still a number of small high quality pen makers in the UK, there are a few high-quality artisan makers, there are many assemblers of ‘kit pens’ using materials and fittings provided as a kit by several companies around the world, there are pens turned from seasoned and treated wood blanks but the one thing that all of these people need is a nib. Once the UK was one of the largest makers of pen nibs, more than half of all the dip pens nibs in use throughout the world were made in one small area of Birmingham, now there are no makers of tipped gold nibs in the UK.
Leonhardt’s still make a lot of steel nibs for dip and calligraphy pens but for tipped nibs they all have to look to Germany, to JoWo and Bock, some to Spain, or the east, to China, India or Japan; there are at present no gold nib makers in the UK, although by the time this is published this may have changed as there is one person who is putting a lot into making this happen.