Who invented the first fountain pen? Most people think it was Lewis Waterman. Waterman writing instruments are still highly collectible today but it was actually Petrache Poenaru who patented the first fountain pen on May 25th, 1827 while he was in school in Paris and wanted a way to continue note taking without stopping to dip for ink.
Waterman’s patent in 1884 was for an improvement on the existing fountain pen. Waterman patented a design in which ink was fed to the nib by gravity and air being drawn into the reservoir to allow a constant flow of ink without flooding.
Several early attempts at nibs (the tip of the pen that does the writing) have little channels that held some ink but weren’t a reliable way to regulate the ink coming down from the reservoir.
Once people understood that air needed to travel into the reservoir in order to allow ink to flow down the feed to the nib with some control the modern nib and feed system were mastered.
The original nibs were made of steel which corroded with the inks of the time.
Fine writing instruments evolved with gold nibs that were iridium tipped because the iridium is a hard metal that allows for many years of writing without wearing down and the gold was flexible enough to give lettering some character.
After the modern gold and iridium tipped nibs were invented, the ink filling mechanisms evolved and retractable nibs were introduced. The fountain pens of today are largely iterations of the pens made in the early 20th century with modernized filling mechanisms.
Fountain pens have a beautiful history and brought writing to the masses. I think I’ll bring a part of history to the modern world and start practicing my calligraphy again.
Reference: bestfountainpen.com
0