The Steel Pen

Site Info

• Welcome
• Contact Me

Pen Basics

• Basic Steel Pen Anatomy
• Pen Shapes: A Proposed Glossary
• A Note on Grinding
• Choosing a Quill
• What is “Action”?

Pen Types

• Barrel Pens vs. Slip Pens
• The Falcon
• Origins of the Oblique Pen and Oblique Holder
• A Gold Oblique Pen for Spencerian Writing – Piquette of Detroit
• The Stub Pen
• Pen Mystery: 149 Pacific Railroad

Pen Collecting

• Managing a Collection of Steel Pens: Part 1, Recording Information

Using Steel Pens

• Basic Supplies
• Choosing the Right Pen (Nib)
• Holding Your Pen
• Ink and Paper
• Pen Prep and Bits & Pieces

Published Work

These articles were originally published in The Pennant, the publication of the Pen Collectors of America. The issue in which they were published is indicated by the numbers at the beginning of the link. The date range, if applicable, is at the end of the link.

How pens were made.

• 2021–1: The Industrialization of the Steel Pen Trade: Part 1
• 2021-2: The Industrialization of the Steel Pen Trade: Part 2
• 2021-3: The Industrialization of the Steel Pen Trade: Part 3

History of the US Steel Pen Industry

• 2018-3: Thomas Jefferson’s Pen Maker 1 – 1800-1830
• 2019-1: Thomas Jefferson’s Pen Maker 2 – 1800-1830
• 2019-2: Thomas Jefferson’s Pen Maker 3 – 1800-1830
• 2019-3: Yankees Can Do Anything – 1832-1845
• 2020-1: C.C. Wright: Engraver, Artist, Pen Maker – 1842-1847
• 2020-2: Well Finished Steel Pens: The Inventions and Pens of Myer Phineas – 1844-1868
• 2022-2: Washington Medallion Pen Company 1 – 1854-1880s
• 2022-3: Washington Medallion Pen Company 2 – 1854-1880s
• 2023-1: In the Beginning: Esterbrook Part 1 – 1813-1861
• 2023-2: In  the Beginning: Esterbrook Part 2 – 1861-1952
• 2023-3: John Turner in America: Warrington & Co. – 1865-1885

Assorted Topics

• 2020-2: The Angles of our Better Writing: The Oblique Nib

Raw Pen research

The research that led to the published articles above. These include partial and inaccurate information, as well as some tidbits and characters that didn’t make it into the published accounts. Presented here as-is, in it’s raw form.

• The Ages of the Pen
• Prehistory and the Craft Era
  • Additional Evidence for Early Metal Pens
  • Peregrine Williamson: Inventor, Businessman, and Pioneer Pen Maker
  • Peregrine Williamson: Part 2 – Thomas Jefferson’s Pen Maker
• 1820’s: Foundations Laid
• 1830’s: The British Invasion
• 1840’s: The Rise of the Americans
  • Josiah Hayden
  • Mark Levy & Brothers
  • C. C. Wright
  • H. B. Herts & Sons
  • Myer Phineas
  • Rhoads/Rhodes & Sons
• The 1840’s, from the perspective of the 1850’s.
• The Washington Medallion Pen Company
  • The 1850’s: Washington Medallion Pen Company, Part 1
  • The 1850’s: Washington Medallion Pen Company, Part 2
  • The 1860’s+: Washington Medallion Pen Company, Part 3
• How Steel Pens were Made in 1857 (and 1890)
• How Steel Pens were Made by Esterbrook in 1885 (and c. 1920)
• Esterbrook Steel Pen Co.
  • Esterbrook, Part 1: In The Beginning…
  • Esterbrook: The Famous Signature
• Warrington & Co.: 1865-1885

Research Resources

• The Steel Pen Video Channel: Videos showing various steel pens in action
• Trade Journals: American Stationer, Geyer’s Stationer, and The American Bookseller
• Historic Newspapers
• Early Written Histories of the Steel Pen
• The Esterbrook Project
• The Esterbrook Project – A Request for Help
• British Patents
• New York City
• Philadelphia and Camden, NJ