As promised

William

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are two:

second:

Nice pen and nice review, Will!
I have a couple of 0.9mm *cursive* italics done by Pendemonium's anonymous nibmeister and am very pleased with them (and the prices were very good!). Is the nib on this Agio a crisp italic, or a cursive italic?

Thanks!

It was a crisp italic grind --- as I noted, I was trying to match / replace my Platignum plastic calligraphy pen and it had a straight nib w/ no noticeable rounding of the corners, though I did wear it down to a 45 degree angle after almost 2 decades of use --- Hopefully the Sheaffer w/ its tipping material will last longer.

William

OMG! That book is very familiar: It can be legally downloaded here:

The TeX Showcase

I really should read it some day. I don't know about content, but I guess its typographical outlook is very beautiful, because it is made with TeX or its macro-extension called LaTex .TeX and LaTeX rock!

Thanks for the review. You have very nice italic handwriting!

juhtolv,

I'm flattered that you recognized it! I printed and bound 6 or 7 of them as gifts, and put it in my on-line portfolio ( http://members.aol.com/willadams/portfolio.html ) and in addition to the TeX Showcase it's linked to from the Wikipedia article on tea. It's well worth reading --- if reading my version electronically isn't convenient the old hardcover by Charles E. Tuttle is quite niceand easily found.

Ged,

Thank you for the kind words!

William

A transcription of the text in the image:

Sheaffer Agio Barely Black medium nib
(custom ground to a 0.8mm italic by Pendemonium)
Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink)
on Ampad 1/4" Efficiency pad

DESIGN
Lovely. An austere cylinder enriched by the wonderful
snake-skin-like ``Barely Black'' finish. Decorative
chrome endcaps and sensible military clip enlivened
by the signature Sheaffer ``white dot''.

SIZE/WEIGHT
Capped ~5.125" Uncapped ~ 4.875" Posted ~5.875"
With a brass barrel and cap and metal furniture,
this is the heaviest pen I own, excepting a multi-
function Rotring Quattro. Nicely balanced though,
it's a joy to write with.

NIB
Purchased because I found an Olive Agio bought
as a gift nearly irresistible. The nib, although short,
has a graceful, purposeful appearance, enhanced by
the ``sunburst'' like tines reminiscent of a 3xxx-
series Esterbrook nib. The italic grind is a precise
match for the 0.8mm Platignum fine italic which
it replaces.

FILLING MECHANISM
Cartridge/converter. While not offering the nicety
of a lever filler, the convenience of carrying
cartridges for when the converter runs dry is
a worthwhile convenience.

FIT/FINISH
Perfect except the barrel end cap was loose until
tapped tight with a mallet and punch.

OVERALL VALUE
List price $45.00 Pendemonium and most on-line vendors
have it at $35.00. Nib custom-grinding was $15.00
and well worth it.

William