• By Jacque Crook
• Published 09/11/2011
• Writing

It is no secret that luxury fountain pens make tremendous gifts FOR any occasion. They are not only great gifts to give others. You can always buy these high class, high quality fountain pens for yourself. Why not? They make excellent collectible items that can look wonderful in a display case. You could even prominently feature them on your desk at work. That would not be an unwise plan if you are seeking to impress those that walk though your door. Yes, they come with all manner of benefits. This is why they are so popular and why so many exquisite manufacturers produce such excellent pens. Fountain pens truly are remarkable and they have been a part of the writing instrument landscape seemingly forever. This leads us to assume they have always been around in one form of another. That really is not the case as all things have a definitive origin and this includes the classic fountain pen. When in world did the fountain pen come into existence for the first time? The answer is not lost to history as some assume. A brief look back beyond the 20th century will reveal the origins….

Believe it or not, the original prototypes of pens date back to the 10th century. It may seem surprising that such ones date back so far in human history because there is not much in terms of artifacts available which would reflect earlier versions. Honestly, the reason that you will

not see many artifacts or models of luxury fountain pens from antiquity is because there are very few. Simply put, there really were very few workable models of pens until roughly the very early 18th century. In 1702, it is commonly believed the first true fountain pen was invented. This is not entirely accurate as records from the early 17th century note there was a very crude version of the fountain oxen as it was mainly a combination of two quill pens and an ink feeding component. References to unique “fountain pens” continued to be noted through the entire 17th century and into the 18th century. However, it really was not until the 19th century that the ability to manufacture pens truly came into fruition. Mainly, this way because the manufacturing technology to create such pens was perfected. 1828 was a seminal year as Josiah Mason eveloveb the nib which is the most important accessory intended to direct the flow of the ink through the ink chamber to the tip. Since the industrial age was emerging, the ability to mass produce nibs was possible. This was a huge benefit since it allowed for the cheap production of pens and offered a viable alternative to cumbersome quill pens.

Ironically, the same reason pens became popular was the same reason they eventually fade away outside of the collector’s market. The emergence of the ball point pen hampered the popularity of fountain pens but the classic design of the pen still exists and will likely do so for many further centuries.