"George W. Woolley's Patent Fountain Pen"

[rhr]

Here's another early misuse of the word "fountain pen". Take a look at this auction item on Ebay for a box of 12 "G. W. Woolley's Patent Fountain Pens" from 1860.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=180058012002

 

Actually, it's for a nib with a reservoir tip, not a true fountain pen. Some early-Esterbrook-nib collector should snap this up as another early Philadelphia-located Esterbrook competitor.

 

If the year 1860 is to be taken as correct, since Ebay auctions are notoriously inaccurate about tiny imprints, then the patent just might be Woolley's patent no. 30,851. G. W. Woolley is probably George W. Woolley, as evidenced by a few later patents for reservoir tips for nibs where the full name is given.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

:ph34r:

[antoniosz]

I know that you enjoy discussing this George

How can we say that they were using the term incorrectly when there was neither a "rule" nor a commonly used definition of the term yet?

 

PS> It looks that the 1860 is correct as G.W. Woolley of US110186 is in Washington DC.

[rhr]

How can we say that they were using the term incorrectly when there was neither a "rule" nor a commonly used definition of the term yet?

In 1707, Nicolas Bion was granted a French royal patent for what he called a "plume éternele". An illustration and description of this fountain pen was published first in 1709 in Bion's "Traité De La Construction Et Des Principaux Usages Des Instrumens De Mathématique", then again in Edmund Stone's English translation, "The Construction And Principal Uses Of Mathematical Instruments", in 1723. An illustration and description identical to the ones in Stone’s book also appear in "A New And Complete Dictionary [Of] Arts And Sciences" published in 1754-55, with a second edition in 1764-66, thus showing that the form of the fountain pen hadn't changed in half a century. The term "plume perpétuelle" appears in Denis Diderot and Jean d'Alembert's "Encyclopédie, Ou Dictionaire Raissonné, Des Arts Et Des Métiers", 1777-1779. By 1823 the term "fountain pen" was common enough to be included as a separate entry in "A Dictionary Of Mathematics And Physical Sciences". The term "Fountain Pen" makes its first appearance in the US patents on May 20, 1830 in Douglass W. Hyde's first-series patent no. X5,972. The "New English Dictionary On Historical Principles", the N.E.D, 1st edition, 1888-1928, and the precursor to the 1st edition of the "Oxford English Dictionary", the O.E.D, contains a definition of the word "fountain pen".

 

There shouldn't have been any confusion of the term. Mind you, I'm looking at all of this in hindsight with all the benefits of modern reference books and search tools that weren't at their disposal in 1860. ;~)

 

George Kovalenko.

 

:ph34r:

Edited December 3, 2006 by rhr

[antoniosz]

So you are implying that in these early texts (the ones in english) the term "fountain pen" was used instead of the "exact" translation of the "plume éternele"?

Also do you know whether the patent of the guy from Reading, PA was for a pen tip or for a true "fountain pen"?

 

Thanks in advance.

[rhr]

So you are implying that in these early texts (the ones in english) the term "fountain pen" was used instead of the "exact" translation of the "plume éternele"?

No, I'm not implying. I'm saying so. You, too, can look at both the French originals and the English translations.

 

Also do you know whether the patent of the guy from Reading, PA was for a pen tip or for a true "fountain pen"?

Antonios, you're being a tiny bit disingenuous. ;~) You're asking a rhetorical question, one for which you already know the answer. You've looked at the "First Series" X-patents, and you already know that all the X-patents were lost in the great 1836 fire at the USPTO, except for a few survivors, and this isn't one of them. I merely said it was the first use of the word "fountain pen" in the US patents. As for the rest, you've answered your own question about knowing exactly whether this lost patent "was for a pen tip or for a true fountain pen". We don't. You don't, and I don't.

 

But as long as you insist, here's the first US patent from the "Second Series" for which an image survives on the USPTO website, Nelson Bartlett's patent no. 3,253 from Sept 9, 1843. It's also the first use in the US patents of the word "fountain pen" to mean a true fountain pen, at least one that we know of, so far.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

:ph34r:

[antoniosz]

So you are implying that in these early texts (the ones in english) the term "fountain pen" was used instead of the "exact" translation of the "plume éternele"?

No, I'm not implying. I'm saying so. You, too, can look at both the French originals and the English translations.

 

Hey, bear with me, I am slow. It is clear in your mind but after reading your post it was still not clear to me. I am not challenging your sources. This is not my sport

 

Also do you know whether the patent of the guy from Reading, PA was for a pen tip or for a true "fountain pen"?

Antonios, you're being a tiny bit disingenuous. ;~) You're asking a rhetorical question, one for which you already know the answer. :ph34r:

 

I had an answer but I didn't know if it is fully correct ... So it is not a rhetorical question. Maybe a disingenous one

Edited December 3, 2006 by antoniosz