I don't want to advocate for him in this forum, but I saw this photo on the website of the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel of the note Senator Obama left in the City of Berlin's guestbook.

I would swear that this had to be written with a fountain pen, and by the looks of it could have been Waterman Blue-Black. Just look at that shading!

I haven't seen any photos yet of him using a fountain pen, or McCain for that matter, but this really caught my eye.

Whaddaya think, folks?

--ADMINS: if I posted this in the wrong forum, I apologize and please move it with all haste!--

Looks like an FP to me. He has nice handwriting.

I don't think that sort of shading is possible with anything but a fountain pen.

It is definitely a FP, but it looks too blue for me to be WM blue-black. I may be wrong though.

I agree: he most certainly used a FP.

The ink? How's about just "plain" Parker Quink blue black? Maybe we can send him an e-mail and ask?

Mr. Obama's got one helluva nice hand to him! Wish I could write like that.

I agree, it has to have been written with a fountain pen. I don't see how you could get the ink to shade like that with a ballpoint or a rollerball.

Stipula Calamo Blue.

I think I read somewhere - a German FP forum where someone had sent letters/e-mails to ministries and the like to ask what pens & inks they used for important signatures - that on occasions like that special guestbook-pages are prepared by a calligrapher (the head, giving the date, name of the guest etc. - you can actually see that in the picture, too) and the guest is given a fountain pen to write his note. The replies all said they usually used a German-made fountain pen (Lamy/Pelikan/Montblanc) and on more 'representative' occasions probably a Montblanc.

So - little as I like them - my guess is a Meisterstück 149 with MB Blue or Blue Black. Actually in my opinion (am for some reason not able to write with round-nibbed MBs) Obama should be congratulated on being able to write with the pen at all !!

I share with Nelly all her exposition. And the ink looks pretty much MB/ Lamy BB to me....

Good spelling too

I hope he composed this himself rather than have someone compose it for him

I was thinking the same thing. But since he likely knew he would need to do the book signing ahead of time, he probably had his staff come up with the appropriate words which he committed to memory beforehand.

This is not meant to disparage Sen. Obama, just an observation of how things work at that high diplomatic level.

I don't think that looks like MB Blue-black. I think it looks like Pelikan blue-black

Nice handwriting! I can see no smudging despite the fact that he's a left-handed writer, so the ink is either quick-drying, the paper very absorbent, the weather *very* dry, or he waited in between writing each line
At first I thought Parker Quink Blue-Black...but probably because it's one of my favourite inks

That gives even more credence to my theory of staff preparation beforehand.

In terms of ink colour this compares very well with Quink Blue Black from my Sheaffer & Lamy pens though I think it unlikely that Quink would be used on Official German documents

In terms of nib I have had similar results from felt tip pens like Pentel but I think that unlikely in this case

he certainly used a MB 149. Found an interesting article about lefthandedness and US presidents. http://www.romow.com/news-blog/left-handed...-for-president/

I agree - defo FP and NICE script

It is good to see that his writing is neat and legible - I wonder how many attempts he needed to get it that perfect....???
and I love the way he has extended the last letters on the lines to justify the text

I don't know what ink or pen was used, but the penmanship I do like. A lot.

I love his signature (surely that couldnt have been written by anyone else!) It is so falmboyant and confident - mine still looks like it did when I was 11 years old.
Tawanda

Seconded. Totally awesome.