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William A. Ludden

sidthecat

By sidthecat
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sidthecat Antique

sidthecat

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Im bidding on a dip pen with a William A. Ludden nib. He was a maker who operated in Manhattan in the 19th century. Anybody have more information?

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AAAndrew Antique

AAAndrew

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Gold?

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog. 

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

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AAAndrew Antique

AAAndrew

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Quick random search in 1860 NYC directory shows that he was at 169 Broadway.

 

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/59b5b330-52be-0134-feef-00505686a51c/book#page/529/mode/2up

 

I just chose 1860 at random. Head over to my list of directories and find out when he worked.

 

https://thesteelpen.com/2017/11/15/research-resources-new-york-city/

post-47048-0-14316100-1531021413_thumb.jpeg

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog. 

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

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sidthecat Antique

sidthecat

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It is gold, and his concern seems to have moved several times during the later 19th century.

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sidthecat Antique

sidthecat

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An update: it’s a wonderful nib - very flexible, but it likes a VERY light hand to get the best out of it. I’d say it’s made for ladies or the better sort of clerk to write the most delicate Spencerian script. It’s light years away from even the finest fountain pen nib. I wouldn’t even be able to use this nib if I hadn’t developed a light hand from years of doing animation, and even then it requires more self-control than I generally have. It’s a real time-travel experience to write with this thing.

 

Here's a picture:

fpn_1531626820__william_a_ludden.jpeg

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sidthecat Antique

sidthecat

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Yes it is - a lot of energy seems to have gone into experiments in annealing, soldering and welding harder metals onto gold nibs. The less successful ones pitted or simply fell off, making nibs useless unless you want to throw some serious money into retipping.

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AAAndrew Antique

AAAndrew

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From 1853. Re-tipping service for Piquette in Detroit. Re-tipping costs 1/3 or so of the cost of the original pen.

 

fpn_1532816459__piquette_gold_pen_point_

 

 

 

Piquette made this rare oblique pen marked as good for Spencerian writing.

 

fpn_1532816728__piquette_spencerian_obli

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog. 

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

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