While browsing in the local Borders book store this weekend I decided to see what they had in the FP arena in regards to books (of course). I came across a hard back edition of Fountain Pens: Past and Present and to my dismay, they "glossed" over Esterbrooks and had very few pictures. Low and behold, on page 284 (vitually the last page) there was a full set of pictures of Esterbrooks. At the bottom of the page was Brians name along with a ladies name I had not seen before. I called my wife over and stated that "I know this guy" well in a way, via the FPN. She smiled then gently patted me on the head..............

I know this book has been around for a while just never noticed the last page so Kudo's Brian

Yes! I bought that book about a month ago and I noticed that too! I was happy to see those Esterbrook pens and credit given to Brian, but I was sad that the book didn't have more Esterbrook--guess I need to buy a bigger book!

--Stephen

You are aware that most of the photography in there was done by our very own Davis Isaacson right?

Ahh! I knew the style and quality of many of those photos looked familiar. Now that I'm looking at the book again, I clearly see his name now. I paid around $20 for this book so I didn't know what to expect knowing that other books out there cost so much more, but I was very impressed with the quality when it arrived--it's a rather large book (roughly 8.5x11 inches), and every page is full color with photographs. I haven't even had a chance to read it yet because I always get distracted with all the eye candy.

I also just now noticed that in the front (pages 56-59), the book features some Esterbrook history along with some examples of Esterbrook advertisements. I completely overlooked this before. I think this may actually be an addition to the second edition that wasn't included in the first edition.

On another note, does anyone recommend "The Fountain Pens of Esterbrook" by Paul Hoban? I'd like to buy that soon and don't know why I don't already own it!

--Stephen

I highly recommend Paul Hoban's book. I have it and I have learned so much from it.

Cheers,
Laura

I'll second that. I bought mine off of E-Bay for probably more than I should have but they are not the easiest to get. Bills Pens has it for bout $20

I did not notice nor did I know that. I type among celebrities. Kudo's to Davis also.

Actually, the first printing of the book (which I bought as soon as it came out) didn't have me listed at all. Lisa Hanes and I had David I take pictures of our esterbrook in Chicago several years back, and since we did it at the same time, they were all attributed to Lisa. Thankfully there were other changes that need to be made so Paul changed it for me. I don't have the book handy, but the yellow cracked ice, and the grey marble $1.50 pen on that page are mine. Probably one or two more in there are mine as well.

I'd say that's probably the hight of nerdiness. I don't just collect pens, I'm in a book about pens.

Oh, and while the Paul Hoban book may be somewhat dated and contain some (now) misleading information, it was monumental in the world of collecting Esterbrook, since there was nothing like this before it was released. My copy is practically falling apart I reference it so often. It's cheap enough, so it should be in your pen library if you are even remotely interested in the brand.

Best-
Brian