The Universe of Writing Culture
STAEDTLER comes full circle
DAVID OSCARSON’S La Sagrada Familia: all about family
VISCONTI goes Wild West
AUGUST 2016 $6.95US $7.95CAN
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The American Dream
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VOLUME 29, NUMBER 5
ON OUR COVER: Staedtler Pen of the Season, Californian Winter
27 Goulet Pens
An online pen shop with a passion for education uses modern technology for old-school customer service.
34 ink it up
Explore the vibrant ink colors of Caran d’Ache, Graf von Faber-Castell, and Franklin-Christoph.
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38 signatures with style
It’s not just the way you sign your name, it’s the color you use.
48 go West!
Italian company Visconti’s Wild West fountain pen explores America’s pioneering spirit.
50 a work in progress
David Oscarson pays homage to Gaudí—and his family—with the new La Sagrada Família.
53 not just another Hero
Explore the world of vintage Chinese fountain pens...and their Western influences.
57 rose-tipped fingers
On the hunt for the King of the Sheaffer Balances, Rose Glow.
61 back to the drawing board
How the legendary Parker 61 came to be.
50 48
44 Staedtler’s Calling The German writing instrument brand brings fullness of purpose to everything it creates.
departments 06 view
meet PW’s newest editor-in-chief
08 mail
our readers speak
10 news 14 now 22 date 24 show 30 strokes
people, places, and events
new pens and products
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mark your calendar
D.C. and San Francisco
41
Steve Light
41 shop
Dodd Printing and Stationery of Fort Madison, Iowa
65 contributors
the faces behind the words
68 network 70 source 72 imho
meet our writers
brand contact information
a mother’s legacy
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Winner, Best Fine Art Pen PEN WORLD Readers’ Choice Awards
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2014 Tropical Fishes • 2013 Storks
It All Circles Back to Pens BY NICKY PESSAROFF
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Moon Panda Bears Each unique one-of-a-kind magnum emperor with special N8 nib andebonite feeder.
Not only perfect writing instruments, but also your own museum that is always with you. One-of-a-kind & limited edition pens. Custom ordered pens and desk sets. www.artuspen.ru • artuspen@inbox.ru TEL: +7-4932-478-111
ifteen years ago, I interviewed at a magazine for my first post-college job in my chosen career, that amorphous concept of “professional writer.” It started pretty standard. The editor-in-chief gave me a bunch of sample articles to edit, she asked me about myself, told me about the position. Then she gave me a pen, and things got weird. “This is what you’ll be writing about,” she said. “Are you familiar with it?” I knew it was a fountain pen but only because the editor called it such. It sure wasn’t like any pen I’d ever seen. I recognized it as some sort of stylus, but where the ball point should have been, there was a strange gold arrowhead. I imagined that the ink came out the arrowhead, but I had no idea how. So I lied, claimed that I was completely comfortable with the subject matter, and I got the job. It was the best lie I ever told. Over the next number of years, I learned all about fountain pens, calligraphy, ink, paper—a world of fascinating and idiosyncratic information. I also met some of the kindest, most interesting, and most passionate individuals it’s been my privilege to know. For 15 years, I hopped from job to job, field to field. I accrued a graduate degree and its corresponding debt. I got married and became a father. My beard started silvering, my back went sciatic. Through it all, I wrote for Pen World. In a life and career that has seen seven states and countless false starts, fountain pens provided a steady, wet line that propelled me forward. Taking on the editorship of Pen World is the greatest honor in my career.
This magazine’s almost-30-year history is a testament to the dedication of its staff, its readers, the pen brands and shops it features, the individuals it highlights. Magazines are magazines, but Pen World is exactly what it says it is: a universe of writing culture. In this issue, we explore a number of facets of that universe. First-time contributor Suzanne Lee wrote our cover story on Staedtler’s Pen of the Season: Californian Winter and the company’s partnership with master penman Michael Sull (p. 44). For those Laura Chandler lovers out there, our editor emeritus has two pieces in this issue: a profile of penmaker David Oscarson and his homage to Gaudí’s basilica (p. 50), and an overview of two unique pen shows, D.C. and San Francisco (p. 24). You’ll also find a profile of the social media pen sales dynamo Goulet Pens, along with insights on ink and signatures to personal journeys of collections and discovery to a quick jaunt through Dodd’s Printing and Stationery store to a run-down of children’s author Steve Light’s new offerings. It’s an expansive issue for an expanding universe. I look forward to exploring it with you in the years to come!
Staedtler comes full circle with Pen of the Season: Californian Winter.
Seasons and BY SUZANNE C. LEE
Synergy
Introducing Staedtler’s Pen of the Season: Californian Winter, design by U.S. FIMO artist Sarah Shriver.
ase and mechanization define modern production. While the benefits of this system are clear in terms of efficiency, the segmented nature of manufacturing can result in inconsistencies, dooming a potentially perfect product to inferiority; it has mostly destroyed the true artisan, the visionary who sees a product’s construction from start to finish. Note the caveat “mostly.” Friedrich Staedtler, referenced in Nuremberg city annals as early as 1662, was the quintessential artisan, the first to oversee each element of the pencil manufacturing process, from initial idea to active construction to the meticulously finished result. Although the German writing instrument company wasn’t officially founded until Friedrich’s descendant, J. S. Staedtler, did so in 1835, his holistic approach and dedication to unity remains, even now, one of Staedtler’s essential values. The emphasis of Staedtler Mars GmbH & Co. KG on cohesion requires a careful, orchestrated attempt to continuously germinate as well as tend. Handwriting education,
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therefore, is a top priority; conceived as a means to breed interest and to help the general population comprehend the vital importance of the culture of handwriting, Staedtler participates in many programs and projects intended to do just that. One exciting example is the company’s involvement in Campaign for Cursive, a program designed to further increase awareness and provide children with the opportunity to learn at a faster rate, spell better, and discover—or rediscover—cursive. Staedtler, whose North American headquarters are outside Toronto, Canada, has sponsored the Canadian competition for 2016, a contest for grades one through six wherein entrants are assessed according to various criteria, including “legibility, quality of handwriting basics, and overall composition,” according to Campaign for Cursive’s official website, cursiveiscool.com. Staedtler is eager to continue its support of writing culture. Enter Michael Sull, master penman, whose remarkable talents are yet another conduit for Staedtler’s
commitment to and involvement in education. Recognized internationally as the United States’ most significant master penman of the past half-century, Sull is deemed the individual most responsible for reinvigorating interest in handwriting culture through workshops he conducts throughout the United States and abroad. The breadth of his expertise is astonishing, and his credentials are so profuse as to demand a separate article. Luck was on Staedtler’s side when Corey Cooper, pen expert in his own right and assistant product manager of writing instruments for Staedtler-Mars Limited, North America, met the respected penman at the San Francisco International Pen Show. Subsequent correspondence convinced them both that a partnership between Staedtler and Sull was ideal. As Cooper says, “We had common beliefs on the future of writing and its importance. When we met again at the L.A. Pen Show, we came to the conclusion that pairing together would be beneficial for both Staedtler and Mike to reach a larger audience and share our common love for all forms of writing we come
across. We have supported and continue to support his workshops and classes with product for his students and have made ourselves available to assist in any way possible moving forward.” Sull is now an ambassador for Staedler, and the result has been absolute synergy, with the master penman endorsing one of Staedtler’s premium line of pens, the Initium Lignum Premium. Part of the company’s mid-level price-point line of premium writing instruments, company literature describes the Lignum Premium collection as “different in a special way. The Initium Lignum fountain pen captivates with its distinctive design and play on contrast.” In fact, the sleek beauty is a symbol of wholeness composed of the interplay of its elements—precious metal and exotic woods of plum or maple. The collection has price points between $189 and 279 and is available in all four modes. Along with the fountain pen’s luminous mattechromium trim, it has a threaded cap with Staedtler’s traditional triple-window clip and Mars head logo and a solid wooden body. The steel iridium-tipped nib comes in sizes from extra-fine through broad and
The Lignum line of pen models are available with plum or maple bodies. Above—Lignum ballpoint in maple and fountain pen in plum.
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American pen master Michael Sull (above) personally endorses the Lignum fountain pen and is a Staedtler brand ambassador, partnering with the company on a number of projects.
takes standard cartridge/converter. The result is triumphant, the artisan’s ideal. When Sull wrote with a Lignum fountain pen, his natural erudition led him to observe with poignant clarity, “The sharing of thoughts and emotions through your own written word is the most personal expression of visual speech. Share your dreams as no one else can, for handwriting is a direct path to a person’s soul.” Just as Staedtler insists on inclusion in all aspects of its products’ manufacture, so Sull demands that education remain an essential component in all of his work. To that end, an intriguing project supported by Staedtler and developed, in part, by Sull winks with promise on the notso-distant horizon. With Pen in Hand: The Journey of American Handwriting will be the first film of its kind, focused on the rich history and vibrant culture of handwritten expression. Educational documentary filmmaker John Altman has worked tirelessly alongside Sull to challenge the idea that tradition and innovation are binaries and thus mutually exclusive. The result will be a tour de force, an hour-long documentary that examines Spencerian script and calligraphy, exploring both the context of modern cursive and its living culture through new and archival on-camera interviews that feature numerous academic luminaries and renowned calligraphers. Historical still photographs and motion picture footage complement the fascinating narration, while highlights of students learning handwriting today showcase the modern handwriting movement. 46
The website promoting the film, withpeninhandmovie.com, explains, “The film will explore the major significance of handwriting in our country’s history, from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents, through our growth as a nation. It will document the continuing value of handwriting as a contributing factor in motor skill development of our children, as an important means of artistic expression through calligraphy, and in traditional correspondence. The film will emphasize handwriting’s inherent service as a universal means of spontaneous communication.” Slated for completion in 2017, estimates suggest that the documentary will, within just two years, be viewed by at least five to six million people, in addition to its ultimate appearance in classrooms and overseas markets. Staedtler is unique in its ferocious devotion to artisanry and detail. Marrying disparate elements of creation and craft under the guidance of a single conductor is a vision difficult for any company to maintain in a globalized marketplace, but Staedtler has managed to do it at least four times a year, with its Pen of the Season. These singular instruments are commissioned each year by Staedtler from four international artists and are greatly respected by collectors. In fact, Staedtler’s 2015 Pen of the Season: Autumn won a PW Readers’ Choice Award this year for Best Interpretation of a Theme. The same basic model of pen is imagined as a canvas for the artists’ efforts: a body of the company’s proprietary polymer clay, FIMO; palladium-coated metal fittings; the company’s
triple-window overlay clip and Mars head logo; and an 18 karat white gold platinum-coated nib. The ethos behind this particular series of impeccable fountain pens reinforces Staedtler’s belief in systemic participation, the oversight of all components of its creation, and the company’s almost moral insistence on that wholeness. Its newest Pen of the Season, Californian Winter, is the pristine result of Staedtler’s devotion to artistry. From stem to stern, Californian Winter is composed of that which Staedtler supplies, in terms of both raw material and the practical impetus needed to manifest the ultimate piece’s existence. “All artists were given artistic freedom to design and create their Pen of the Season set using their signature millefiori caning techniques,” Cooper says. U.S. FIMO artist Sarah Shriver is responsible for Californian Winter, and the intial run of 90 limited edition pens is already nearly sold out. Cooper explains, “Due to the great success of her pen worldwide, Shriver was asked to create a second limited edition set specifically for the North American market.”
Shriver’s brilliant design reimagines winter as dazzling, a season of possibilities rather than retreat. As a special limited edition of only 25 pieces within North America, each pen is engraved with a limited edition number, comes with a certificate of authenticity, and retails for $1,200. Staedtler not only precipitates and concludes the cycle of creation, it also constantly reinvests in the artisan and the earth, both of which finally compose its magnificent pens. Perhaps it is this marriage of the physical and ethereal, of the established and the cutting-edge, that causes one’s breath to catch when examining a Staedtler fountain pen. A piece so perfect is the result of meticulous attention and principled synthesis; the only word for its effect is “synergy.”
Visit staedtler.com or statedtler.us to find worldwide retail locations.
Teals and greens lend Californian Winter a crisp beauty. Left—Staedtler Pen of the Season: Autumn 2015 won PW’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Interpretation of a Theme.
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Grand Prize: Montegrappa American Dream fountain pen and essay published in Pen World & on Facebook
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