WES bibliography
A bibliography of sources of information about writing and writing equipment. These items are publications and therefore are only listed for reference purposes.
WES bibliography Title Description Writing Instruments and Accessories", . This 144 page book looks at the whole field of writing equipment and accessories, with the collector in mind. It is well-written and its breadth makes it a valuable introduction to the area "Ancient Books", The Penny Magazine, Vol.V,310-312, Aug.6, 1836, A brief description of wood, parchment and other writing surfaces in ancient times Implements of Writing in the East", A brief discussion of ink and other writing materials in the Bible and ancient Middle East. Comparisons are made with 19th Century Middle Eastern equipment. The Vindolanda Writing Tablets A brief, scholarly (but simply written) account of the Roman writing equipment uncovered at the Vindolanda (Northumberland) excavations of 1973. Writing Materials of the East This 35 page booklet describes a very wide range of writing surfaces in the possession in the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books of the British Library. Ratcliff's Patent Inkstand Clear description-and good illustrations of an inkwell in which the area of ink surface presented to the air is sufficiently broad for easy pen dipping, but small enough to prevent undue evaporation. Rotating the device on its base pushes up fresh ink from a reservoir to the dipping well. Joseph Bramah Chapter 9 of this biography of Bramah deals with his quill cutting invention Hancock's Steel Pen Renovator Mentions drawbacks of steel pens and describes with the aid of an illustration a device for wiping grease, clogged material and corrosion from pens. Larger than Life Biography of American entrepreneur, Armand Hammer. Chapters 8 and 9 discuss his relationship with Lenin and how he set up wood pencil and steel nib industries in the Soviet Union. Pens and How to Use Them This is a book about lettering in relation to pens, and is of interest from the writing equipment point of view because a make and nib number is recommended for every one of several scores of writing styles illustrated The House that Thomas Built A history of the firm of Thomas De La Rue. Pages 140-142 deal with the launching of the Onoto pen, which was designed by George Sweetser. A photo of Sweetser who did a stage act dressed in female garb (and on roller skates) is included Fountain Pens Very uneven but, nonetheless, informative account of some aspects of the history of the American fountain pen (50 pages). Nine pages are concerned with pen repair techniques, and the book concludes with 19 excellent colour plates devoted to the historical development (to 1950) of the major American models Collecting and Valueing Early Fountain Pens The title is misleading; apart from a half page introduction and a two page "Fountain Pen Price Guide", this book consists entirely of advertisement reproductions in black and white. The period covered is 1886 to 1949. Another Knee Writing Board, and How to Make It A description of how to make a simple device that will function as a writing surface and also hold in place paper, envelopes, pens and the other necessities for fireside writing. Improved Dotting Pen A letter with accompanying diagrams describing a design for a device to make dotted lines. Hikki yohin hyakka'. (All about Writing Instruments) History of writing instruments and accessories. Black and white photos, 296 pages. Gekkan Jimuyohin'. Monthly magazine of office equipment news Bunbogu no kenkyu'. (Stationery Magazine). Special Issue: Kurashi no sekkei, No. 6 Full colour illustrations. Includes an article on Masa Sunami's collection Pens: Ancient and Modern', Three lecturettes given at Stationers' Hall. In 'Craft Lectures Note that from p.85, all three lecturers deal with questions, and from the beginning of the third 'lecturette' on, there are some lively exchanges on the relative merits of quill, steel nib and fountain pen. In St. Brides Printing Library and London University Library. Sekai no Bunbogu'. (The World of Stationery). Special Issue: Kurashi no sekkei No 117 Introduces many kinds of desk equipment. 196 pages. Includes an article on the collector, Hiroshi Nakazono Mit Stift und Feder. Kleine Kulturgeschichte der Schreib und Zeichenwerkzeuge 165 page history of the development and manufacture of a wide range of writing and drawing implements. 113 illustrations. Shosai no kodougutachi' (Personal Desk Equipment) 216 pages, paperback Genichiro Hori is a columnist and professor at Tokyo University. Pens and Ink A survey of the writing equipment industry at the turn of the century. Predicts that the typewriter will soon oust the steel pen-and, implicitly, ascribes little significance to the development of the foutain pen. In St. Brides Printing Library Bungu Hattasushi'. (Development of Stationery) 100 pages of history of stationery. Has many advertisements from the 1930's. Writing Put out by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Very elementary 72 page introduction to the field of writing equipment. It has three interesting features. First, as part of the 'The Arts and Living Series', it apparently draws its illustrations (which are ample) from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Second the author makes many literary and historical allusions. Third, it has a chapter on writing furniture, a topic hardly dealt with in other introductions. In print. £2.95. Suteishonarii to Mannenhitsu no hanashi'. (Stationery and Fountain Pens) A 114 page hard cover book for beginners. Bunqu no Rekishi'. (History of Stationery) 245 pages. Out of print Yesterday's Shopping', Reprint of the Army and Navy Stores Catalogue, 1907 Over 100 pages of this 1282 page book are devoted to stationery and fancy goods, including writing papers, envelopes, cards, pens,, pencils, pen nibs (3 pages), inkstands, pen trays, typewriters, copying presses, copying apparatus, book rests, letter and parcel post balances, stationery cabinets, letter boxes, writing tables, travelling writing cases, blotting books, notebooks, penwipers, paper knives, seals, S. Mordan pencil cases and pen holders (4 pages), desk pen holders, fountain pens, stylographic pens, letter trays, etc. The Quill Pen This is part of Item 23. Contains some important observations on the history of quill pen manufacture and indicates that the firm of Henry Hill were still in business in 1925. The First Italic Pen', pages 265 to 267 in 'Calligraphy & Palaeography', Edited by A.S.Osley An account of how Hughes developed the Flight Commander nib in conjunction with Alfred Fairbank. Interesting in relation to both the personalities and technical details. The Steel Pen Part of Item 24. An insider's account of the industry. The Gold Pen - Its History and Manufacture Deals with gold nib manufacture in the U.S. at the date of publication. Links with English inventors and manufacturers mentioned. In St. Brides Printing Library 'Mannenhistu no zukai to insyo katarogu'. (How Do You Feel About Fountain Pens?). Illustrated In the Meiji period, 1867 to 1912, the Maruzen Company was a pioneer importer of the products of Europe and America. After founding the fi m in 1867, Yuteki Hayashi devoted himself to the movement of creating a new Japanese culture which was led by Yukichi Fukuzawa (who later established Keio Gijuku University). This book is an illustrated catalogue, and also contains a collection of articles from the magazine 'Gaku no to', or 'Kauto', a monthly publication of the Maruzen company. Each number included an article by a well-known writer or philosopher of the day about his feelings about that extraordinary writing instrument, the fountain pen. The magazine introduced a flavour of the culture of Europe and America and particularly that of Britain into Japan, and used this as a vehicle to launch a great campaign to make the fountain pen popular among the general public. Contributors included noted writers like Soseki Natsume, Hakushu Kitahara, Rohan Kouda and Roan Uchida. They wrote about the Onoto, Pelican, Orion, Caws, Waterman and others. It would be no exaggeration to say that the movement associated with Fukuzawa and his colleagues helped motivate Euro-Americanization of Japan in the Meiji period. This book is not merely a catalogue; it is full of the profundity of the Meiji era, and is intended to show the fountain pen in a cultural context and to induce the people to turn their eyes towards Europe and America. 'M Fusetsu Gojiunen', (The Story of the past 50 years) 199 page paper back. Shyunichi Nakata is the founder of the Platinum Fountain Pen Co. Ltd., and this book tells the story of the Platinum brand. Platinum was established in 1919 'Pilot no Koseki', (A Pilot's Wake), . Full-colour illustrations. Hard cover. Dummy nib on cover. Out of print Ryosuke Namiki was one of the founders of the Pilot Company, and 'Namiki' pens were marketed in Britain in the 1930's. Pilot was established in 1918. Pilot Times Quarterly information for dealers which has been published by the Pilot Fountain Pen Co. Ltd.. since 1920. (Other makers also currently publish house magazines; for example, the Sailor Fountain Pen Co. Ltd.: 'Sailor Tsushin', and the Platinum Fountain Pen Co. Ltd.: 'Platinum News'. 'The Fountain Pen Part of Item 24. Brief observations on pen manufacture Senpitsu, Mannenpen, Mannenhitsu'. (Stylographic and Early Modern Fountain Pen 187 pages (11 x 15.5 mm). No photos 'The Mannenhitsu'. (The Fountain Pen). . (In the title, 'the' is in the English script and 'Mannenhitsu' is in Japanese) The late Haruo Umeda is the most famous of Japanese collectors. Black and white photos. 250 pages. Hard cover. 'Mannenhitsu Hakubutsu Syusyukan'. (Fountain pen collecting) This book has several colour photos. 275 pages. Hard cover. A revised edition of Item 50. 'Mannenhitsu'. (Fountain Pens). This book is a colour book, No. 89 of the Heibonsha series. It has similar content to items 50 and 51, with the addition of a special discussion of Pilot pens, including photos of the manufacturing process Wada Setsuji'. Shufu no tomo, 1975 A biography of Setsuji Wada, who was President of the Pilot Fountain Pen Co. Ltd. '275 Jahre StaedtIer-Stifte, 1662-1937' An 80 page history of the manufacturing of pencils and related products and of the Staedtler firm 'De Steen der Wijzen, Algemeen Receptenboek Pages 15-23 give many recipes for writing inks 'Manuel du Fabricant d'Encres, Cirages, Colles' 'Manuel Formulaire pour ]a petite industrie chimicotechnique' Contains 9 pages with recipes for inks 'Traité géneral de la fabrication des encres à écrire, dessiner, d'imprimerie et annexes' 'A Series of Articles on Writing Materials from the Saturday Magazine' This reprints 21 pages of the Saturday Magazine from the 1830's,and deals with quills, steel pens, paper, parchment, inkstands and related topics. A most interesting source A History of Inventions, Discoveries and Origins', English translation by William Johnston, 4th Edition Volume 1 contains articles on sympathetic ink and sealing wax and, most important, one on the early usage of quills for writing. A reprint of the latter article is available from Philip Pooleat 50p inc. post. The Poole reprint is from an earlier edition. Many of the footnotes in the Poole reprint are in Latin or Greek. This will be a trival consideration for most readers, and if the footnotes are required they can be found in English by consulting the 4th edition. The Enormous File - A Social History of the Office In print. See review in Journal No.6 Cumberland Heritage Chapter 3 (25 pages) starts with a history of graphite mining, graphite being originally used for a variety of purposes including the casting of cannon balls. Its use for the making of pencils, however, gradually predominated, and the chapter goes to describe various early forms of pencil and the manufactories that produced them. This a key source of pencil history, and is cited by J.I. Whalley in her book on writing equipment. 3 photos Ink Manufacture' 2nd English edition A book of recipes for writing inks, as well as inks for other purposes. Easy to follow: virtually no specialised technical knowledge is required to understand the recipes Ink Bottles and Inkwells In print. See review in Journal No. 6. Inkstands and Inkwells: A Collector's Guide In Print. See review in Journal No.6 Pens and How to Use Them This is a book about lettering, mainly for obsolete technical purposes: legal work, architectural work, etc. It is, however, of considerable interest from the steel pen point of view because it mentions by name several hundred steel pens, many still obtainable, and illustrates the lettering that can be done with each. How It Is Made Chapter 23 gives a 14 page illustrated description of a visit to the William Mitchell factory in about 1907. This book went through numerous reprintings and is not too difficult to find. Pounce Boxes and Their Uses About the history of pounce, with rather more about boxes per se than Entry 71. Changing Uses of the Pounce Pot'. Brief article on the history of the use of pounce rather than pounce pots, with some comments on blotting paper Collectible Fountain Pens' In print. See review in Journal No.6. 'Official P.F.C. Pen Guide In Print. See review in Journal No.6 Tapermaking In print. See review in this issue L'Aventure Multiple de outils de 1'ecriture A history of writing equipment, including steel pens. 148 pages. The Spirit of the Letter in Painting A study of thirty-two masterpieces from Rembrandt to Renoir .... in which a letter is the keynote of the composition." Some of the paintings show writing equipment other than notepaper. The paintings might provide an excellent subject for an essay on writing equipment history Education in Ancient Rome Contains an excellent scholarly description on the writing equipment of the Roman school, with illustrations of styli, reed pens, ink pots and exercise books. In print Papyrus in Classical Antiquity One of the few full-length books on a single writing equipment item. Written for the scholar, but presenting no problems for the interested layman. Deals with everything from the habitats of the plant to the manufacture and sale of the finished product. A book of major importance for the student of writing equipment One Hundred Great Product Designs Opinionated, but with some interesting facts on the Parker 51 and the Pentel (one page each). The Sources of Invention This authoratative book deals with early technical development of the ball-point pen as a case study (pages 234-5). Design For The Real World An important book that argues for social responsibility in product design. P.27 presents the intriguing argument that Americans bought the immediate post-war leaky Reynold's ballpoint in vast numbers because"it symbolised the dawn of the new era." Inks: Their Composition and Manufacture This is the 4th edition of the book by C.A. Mitchell and T.C. Hepworth bearing the same title. Just over half the book is devoted to a technical discussion of writing inks, and it contains just about everything you are every likely to want to know about the subject The Endless Web The Story of John Dickinson & Co. Mostly tedious company history, but there are useful early chapters on the founder and his inventions. Chapter 6 on stamps and envelopes will be of interest to postal history buffs. Not difficult to pick up second-hand. Pencil Making at Keswick Interesting and usefully illustrated article about a visit to Banks and Co 'Les Origines de la Plume J A very short but intriguing article about William Mitchell's invention of 'lettered' pens and, in particular, of the design of 'J' nib for music writing. (That this was its original purpose is supported by the fact that it is decribed as being adapted to this objective in a number of early catalogues). Who Invented Stationers' Carded Goods According to this article the inventor was John Heath (at that time trading as Thomas Lowe) in 1853. The same claim, with interesting background information, is presented in Vol. XLVIII, No. 6. Whole No. 1067, Feb. 7, 1901 The Birmingham Pen Trade-Sources for Study 15 page duplicated A4 booklet. The first two pages introduce reprints of four articles. Two articles describe visits to Hinks, Wells and to Brandauer respectively. A third reprints the description of a visit to William Mitchell described in Entry 69. The fourth consists of the article by Timmins described in Entry 100. The Manufacture of Steel Pens in Birmingham Describes a visit to the Hinks, Wells factory. Reprinted in 'The Birmingham Pen Trade', Entry 93. Stalpennans ratta behandling 'The proper use of the steel pen'. 28 pages on how to use pens, make steel pen ink, and related topics Josiah Mason A biography of the great pioneer of steel pen manufacture. Very well worth reading, despite the fact that it is unabashed hadiography Bemerkungen uber die Stahlfeder 42 pages. Discusses the use and repair of steel pens and the making of non-corrosive ink. In the University of Jena library Midland Manufactures - A visit to the Steel Pen Works of Messrs. C. Brandauer and Co., Birmingham Describes the manufacturing process. Reprinted in 'The Birmingham Steel Pen Trade', Entry 93. Longmore's Patent Self-Adjusting Spherical Penholder Describes the patent, with some comments on penholder design. The Story of Sir Josiah Mason' Likely to be found bound with Taylor's 'The Story of James Nasmyth' under the general title 'Stories of Noble Lives,'Nelson, 1898. Apparently based on Bunce (Item 96 above) and written as an 'improving' tale for children. Presents all the main details of Mason s life, and worth reading if you cannot obtain a copy of Bunce The Birmingham Steel Pen Trade The whole book was reprinted by Cass in 1969 (and is still in print). The article alone is reprinted in 'The Birmingham Pen Trade', Entry 93. A brief discussion of the economics and structure of the first thirty-five years of the pen industry. Mines and Mining in the Lake District Pages 111 to 114 give a brief, interesting account of the history of graphite mining in Borrowdale Illustrations of Cheapness Most interesting article relating the use of the steel pen to the spread of education and introduction of the penny post. "The demand for the instrument, and the means of supplying it, came together." The Birmingham Pen Trade This is a four page leaflet put out by the museum. Short, well-written, informative The Rise and Fall of the Pen Nib Trade The chief interest of this short article is in capturing the end of an era atmosphere of 1952 : "There have been many improvements in fountain pen construction and in consequence the shadow across the Birmingham steel trade has grown heavier." How to Make a Writing Board Similar to the article mentioned in Bibliography entry No.19 The Surprise Pen Describes how to construct a dip-pen holder so that a loud bang will occur when the pen is put to paper by the unwary 'Cedar Pencils in the Making Contains some interesting photographs of pencil-related Lakeland buildings and scenes My Museum of Eastern Curios', Part V: Writing Materials One page article about writing equipment mentioned in The Old Testament Fountain Pens of the World A beautifully produced and illustrated, authoritive account of both major and minor manfacturers around the world. He has had access to some major sources of pens so that the coverage of prototypes is unusual Fountain Pens. USA & UK The Book of Fountain Pens & Pencils 264 colour pages of illustrations of pens, pencils and advertising materials with $ prices. Insert with more recent prices. Includes a chapter of advice to collectors and another on pen cleaning Pens & Pencils. A Collector's Handbook 154 pages of illustration of pens and pencils with $ prices. Includes advice on collecting and brief histories of the major pen manufacturers. Mixture of colour and B&W. Collectible Fountain Pens' Histories of major manufacturers, advertising material and pens. Price $ estimates are inclded and with a recent price update. Many pen pictures, all B&W An Illustrated Guide to Antique Writing Instruments A5 style format. Short histories of major manufactures and illustrations of a range of pens of many manufacturers to size and with $ prices. 160 colour pages. Fountain Pens Past & Present Collectors guide A Passion for Pens Montblanc Diary & Collectors Guide 132 pages of pens, cataogues and advertising The Fountain Pens of Esterbrook Fountain Pens & Pencils. The Golden Age of Writing Instruments 300 pages The Incredible Ball Point Pen Victorian Pencils. From Tools to Jewels 224 pages Collectible Stars 92 pages on Montbanc from 1947 to 1979 Millers Pens & Writing Equipment. A Collector's Guide A handsome A5 formatted 64 colour page starter book for a collector. 150 items displayed with £ prices The Fountain Pen - A Collector's Companion Fountain Pens - Vintage & Modern Fountain Pens Bonhams Chelsea Vintage Fountain Pen Auction 12th April 1991 Catalogue of the auction W.H.Hayden & Co. Ltd. Catalogue 1934. A4 pages, mainly in lustrous black and white - printed from wood blocks to a superb standard. Some pages are colour. This is a beauty! There are sixteen sections covering everything sold in the stationery trade at that time including: 'Glass inks and inkstands'; 'Law Stationery'; 'Duplicating Apparatus'; 'Office & School Sundries'. Section 1 of No.142. Paper and Books. Pages 1-84. Supplied comb bound with acetate covers. Section 3 of No.142. Fountain and Steel Pens. Pages 97-140. Supplied comb bound with acetate covers. Four pages are in Section 4 of No.142. Penholders and Pencils. Pages 141-199. Supplied comb bound with acetate covers Section 12 of No.142.Office and School Sundries. Pp.344-418. Supplied comb bound with acetate covers. Abridgements of Specifications relating to Writing Instruments and Materials", Office of the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions, Writing instrument patent abridgements are given for the period 1635 to 1866 in Number 37 of the unillustrated "old style" or "Woodcroft" abridgement volumes. Like the abridgements for later periods, it is an invaluable source of information about all aspects of writing equipment. The introduction by B. Woodcroft is of considerable interest in its own right "The Story of Writing" Studio Vista, An elementary account of the history of writing. There is some description of writing instruments. Beautifully illustrated. Writing Antiques", Shire Publications Ltd., A 32 pager booklet written for collectors. Over 50% of the space is devoted to illustrations. Most types of writing equipment get a mention, with inkwells getting the most concentrated attention