Pens owned by famous people

[Johnny Appleseed]

It has been said before, but if you are interested in the pens of Mark Twain, try this link:

 

The Fountain Pens of Mark Twain, by Ron Dutcher

 

I still want the one he threw out the window.

 

John

[juju]

(Post #3)

Sorry to bump this topic, I found it quite interesting as it is dealing not only with the pen as a writing tool, but also with what some people wrote with it, and eventually, with what these writings did to others, should it be emotions carried by books, or life's change due to signed political decisions.

 

In regards to this, I would obviously like to handle a pen used by Ravel to write his music, or by St Exupery to write "The Little Prince".

Even if I'm sure that the tool is not making the master...

 

Juju

[DocNib]

Hi all!

Great question and the answer is no & yes. Iowned, but sold a Sheaffer Masterpiece 14K Gold FP/PCL set owned by Jimmy Starr, the well known Hollywood columnist from the 40's. Set was filled once, then put away and got to me via one of my estate sale picker friends.

Mr. Starr was creative director for Ramada Inns in Phoenix before he retired and eventually passed away in the 90's. If you Google his name, you'll see that he started as a gopher in one of the big studios in the 20's and worked his way up the slippery ladder of Holly-weird and became a very influential "make or break your career" columnist in Tinsel Town. He was the one who supposedly helped Clark Gable become discovered when nobody really cared about him as a budding actor.

The set I sold (an offer I just couldn't refuse!) was engraved "To My Friend Jimmy Starr, From Charles Remer." What I still have is a 14K "Broker's " pencil engraved to Jimmy and in the original box from a Beverly Hills Jeweler and is engraved also. I'll scan & post it in a little while fro your perusal!

Only other one I've seen is a pen owned (and engraved) by Errol Flynn, but I can't remember what pen it is. The collector who has (or had) it is quite reputable and had some info on it's provenance.

I'm off to do the scan right now so please be patient as I try to capture the engraving on it and the box.

DocNib

[George]

Einstein's pen... definately.

As for what he used. When he wrote his theory of relativity, he used a waterman 22 tapered cap, with an add on clip. In the 30's on, he used a pelikan 100. (as far as im concerned)

[Vintage Pens Fan]

Any pens owned by Steinbeck & Hemingway. Also I'd be thrill to see Gen McArthur's Big Red Duofold (commonly believed that he used that pen to sign the treaty of Japan's surrender to end WWII.

 

My grandfather is from Singapore, he said Lee Kuan Yew (former prime minister) used a Waterman to sign the independence in 1957.

 

David

[brh]

Whose pen would I want... I'd say Elias Canetti, Franz Kafka, Søren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ayn Rand, Anaïs Nin, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, or Nicole Blackman. Any of the great feminist writers too (from Mary Wollstonecraft to Nadine Strossen!) So that's kind of a big list. Would I use them? Yes, but sparingly. Except for Plath's pen, which I would probably use daily as my poetry pen. Blackman's would quite possibly be a daily user as well.

 

-brian

[djuna]

I read somewhere, can't remember if it was in a biography or what, that Sylvia Plath used a Sheaffer. I also can't remember what model, but if anyone else knows, feel free to enlighten me.

[brh]

I read somewhere, can't remember if it was in a biography or what, that Sylvia Plath used a Sheaffer.  I also can't remember what model, but if anyone else knows, feel free to enlighten me.

I own several biographies written about her, as well as the collection of her journals... I should look through and see if any of them mention what she wrote with... I wouldn't doubt it but I'm sure when I read them I wasn't even thinking about pens.. Thanks for the tip!

 

-brian

 

edit-clarity

Edited December 20, 2006 by brh

[DocNib]

I'm back!

In between taking care of an under-the-weather wife, taking both 130lb. pups for their walk and cleaning the filters in two Koi ponds...finally, some pics of the Jimmy Starr "broker's" pencil...PHEW!

The pencil is just over 3" long, marked 14CT., imprinted with the WS Hicks & Sons logo and uses a 5.6mm large lead...

...and is imprinted as follows:

TO JIMMY

FROM HARRY

JIMMY STARR-HOLLYWOOD,CALIF.

 

...also, the box is imprinted:

ROBERT ARNSTEAD

EXCLUSIVE REMEMBRANCES

BEVERLY HILLS,CALIF.

 

...and inside the satin-lined box is written in one corner "6-10-35"...so we could assume it was given to him June 10th, 1935 and since he was always getting gifts from studio heads or the big Hollywood bosses, "Harry" could be Harry Warner of Warner Bros. Studios. Purely hypothetical, but quite possible...but could also have been his stock broker, Harry, since it was a "broker's pencil" which was used on the trading floor of the stock exchange to write orders.

Anyway, here are the pics, so ENJOY!

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p113/DocNib2006/JimmyStarrPCL3.jpg

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p113/DocNib2006/JimmyStarrPCL1.jpg

 

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p113/DocNib2006/JimmyStarrPCL2.jpg

 

DocNib

[johnnash]

John Nash, I actually met him at a game theory conference. And Leo Tolstoy.

 

 

Andy

I think I like my own pens. But for somebody else's pen - maybe Parker's Parker.

 

JN

[Sharkle]

Coco Chanel. I'd at least like to see it.

[tzmcneill]

I'd like to own Beethoven's pen/quill, especially the one he used to write his 6th symphony. Same goes for Mozart's quill that he used to write "The Magic Flute". Other famous pens/quills the quill used to sign the Declaration of Independence.

 

tom.

[Nihontochicken]

As far as touching genius, I would like to have any quill dip pen used by the greatest mind (okay, IMO) in recorded history, Isaac Newton. Not likely, I know, provenance would be hard to prove. Still, to have something that might have penned Principia ... Then again, a lesson for us lesser mortals, for all his brights and accomplishments, Newton was a rather unhappy individual, and generally not a jolly acquaintance. So I guess I'll give up my Newton quill pen for the good company on this web site. Happy holidays, everyone!

[Johnny Appleseed]

Vintage Quills were usually disposable. They needed regular trimming - every page or so - and discarded when used up. The chance of having a quill belonging to a famous person prior to 1800 is pretty slim. However, many carried special quill knives - so perhaps one could find Newton or Beethovens quill knife and cut quills with it.

 

I don't know that any quills from the signing of the Declaration still exist (I would imagine some used their own quills, and at least one signer - Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut - was sick in July of 1776 and signed it some time after that, so I imaging there might be more than one).

 

However, there were metal pens owned by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, one of which Washington carried throughout the War for Independance. For more info, check out Ron Dutcher's series of articles and ongong research on Presidential Pens

 

John

[AJP]

I would have to agree with 221bbakerst, a pen used by Sir Winston Churchill.

[Mary P]

I would love to have a pen that Eleanor Roosevelt used. I have no idea what kind or kinds of pens she used but I know that she corresponded with some of the most interesting people.

[D.R.Mabuse]

I suppose Fritz Lang's.

[gylyf]

Above all, I would want Michel Foucault's. Also, perhaps Jean-Paul Satre's. Best,

David

[LapsangS]

At least I now know that our (Finnish) former president Urho Kekkonen used Pelikan 4001 ink. I took this clip from a 1970's documentary film about the "day in the life of the president". However, i am not quite sure what model the pen is...

 

http://koti.phnet.fi/sa271078/kekkonen.jpg

 

http://koti.phnet.fi/sa271078/kekkosen%20kasi%20taskussa.jpg

 

http://koti.phnet.fi/sa271078/kekkosen%20kyna.jpg

 

http://koti.phnet.fi/sa271078/kekkosen%20muste.jpg

[penmanila]

they wouldn't be famous much anywhere else, but as a writer myself, i've undertaken a personal project to ask a pen each from our finest writers in the philippines--doesn't matter if it's a gold parker 51 or a maki-e pilot (yes, some people have given me those) or a chewed-up bic; here, it's the history that counts.