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Contents  

There are many books which trace the history of the fountain pen from Bion to present day but we suggest reading the RSA MacGinnis lectures as a starter. The earliest books written in the 1980s are simply copies of adverts, which although interesting are not very good 'reads'.  Lambrou's first book is a good starter, Steinberg's large format great value, Erano's three books have detail but the classics are still the Fischler and Schneider's two volumes.

There is a wealth of detail in early editions of Penworld and Penfancier mags'. A few 'google' enquiries, should give you all the information you require. 

The earliest reservoir pens from the C18th are rare and cost '000s of pounds as do the early C19th pens by J J Parker, Scheffer and Mosely.  Stylographic pens by Mackinnon and Cross were popular from the 1870's but the L Waterman patent, which is essentially a design of feed is generally regarded as the starting period for fountain pens. After that date Parker, Sheaffer, Crocker, Mabie Todd, Onoto and a host of others innovated and copied until by the 1920's a self filling pen was the norm. Earliest pens were eyedroppers but for self filling, three filling systems were dominant, viz; lever, button and piston. Parker favoured button, Waterman lever and Onoto, Wahl and Sheaffer promoted piston fillers. Earliest pens were black and boring so it was not long before decoration in the form of overlays were introduced and from the 1890's marketing and product development devised variation after variation to attract customers.

Pen manufacturing companies proliferated in the early C20th but the crash of 1929 dramatically reduced the makers and many companies effectively ceased to exist after the early 30's.e.g Carter, Le Beouf.

Austerity promoted innovation and manufacturing process as well as designs and  materials affected the sort of pen a customer could have. The golden age of pens is generally regarded as the 1920-1938 period but after 1938 there were dramatic changes and some of the 1940s classics such as the Parker 51 were revolutionary in every sense. After the war the ball point was well established by the mid 50's and that signalled the demise of the  fountain pen. A  resurgence of interest started in the late 1980's and has continued until today, stimulated by nostalgia, TV antique shows, antique fairs and a wide range of new fountain pens designed to look like 1930's models.

A bibliography of relevant collector books can be found in most