What make of pen did J. R. R. Tolkien use?

[Inkling]

Leafing through a random volume from my Tolkien shelf I was reminded of a video clip I saw about ten years ago of Tolkien drawing his 'logo' with a fountain pen - a video which, in fact, was very important in quickening my interest in writing tools and especially FPs. As I was completely ignorant of FPdom at the time I was perfectly incapable of identifying the pen, and now I can't relocate the clip. So: Does anyone know what kind of pen he used? From facsimilies of manuscripts he obviously used some kind of stub-like nib a lot.

 

Thanks in advance for any kind of info,

 

Inkling (and yes, my user name is Tolkien-related).

[Titivillus]

Leafing through a random volume from my Tolkien shelf I was reminded of a video clip I saw about ten years ago of Tolkien drawing his 'logo' with a fountain pen - a video which, in fact, was very important in quickening my interest in writing tools and especially FPs. As I was completely ignorant of FPdom at the time I was perfectly incapable of identifying the pen, and now I can't relocate the clip. So: Does anyone know what kind of pen he used? From facsimilies of manuscripts he obviously used some kind of stub-like nib a lot.

 

Thanks in advance for any kind of info,

 

Inkling (and yes, my user name is Tolkien-related).

 

 

I think for many things he used a dip pen but as a don he probably also did have to use an FP. Can't say that I have seen the clip but will do some looking.

 

And shouldn't it be Inklings :ltcapd:

 

Kurt

[Inkling]

And shouldn't it be Inklings :ltcapd:

 

Kurt

 

It probably should, but as I never actually was part of that circle I went for numerical accuracy instead.

 

Anyway, it was definitely an FP in the clip, as it was the first time I ever saw a twist-cap pen. And in an older post in this forum Oxonian told of a childhood memory of seeing Tolkien writing with a fountain pen in the Merton College Grounds (Oxford must be some place to grow up for the literary inclined). But, of course, the stubbed nib from the manuscripts might very well have been attached to a dip pen.

 

Edited to say something FP-related.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Inkling

[Foodwriter]

Look towards the bottom of the web page and squint hard, can anyone tell?JRRT with pen

[Shelley]

Nope definately a FP though-nice to see.

[Pariah Zero]

Being a big fan myself, I've read a number of the 'draft' books published by Christopher Tolkien.

 

It seems that Tolkien wrote far more in pencil than in pen.

 

The impression I get (and it is mentioned by Christopher) that J.R.R. tended to write first in pencil "very fast". Sometimes he would write over the pencil with pen, other times he would simply ink the penciled letters. Finally, he would use a typewriter, edit that in pencil.... and so on.

 

J.R.R. also had notes upon notes, and often didn't go through notebooks sequentially - he'd use part of one, switch to another, then go back to the first notebook.

[Pentigleo]

Inkling, some years ago I was at the Boton Spa branch of the British Lending Library and as I waited for my requests to arrive from the stacks I had the chance to look around a display of J.R.R Tolkein letters and handwritten manuscripts. There were 4 or 5 cases full of this stuff mostly written in ink, letters to Christopher, plus many letters to young fans answering questions about The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. Also drafts of The Father Christmas Letters, essays, and so on.

 

I seem to remember a rather spidery script but readable nevertheless and lots of little drawings and elvish runes over the pages. Written in fountain pen mostly (lots of line variation) with some rather faded pencil scripts too. Also included were some items from Tolkeins desk including pens! But before you get too excited I must own up, I was not into fountain pens at the time, so cannot recall the make of pen, may even have been a dip pen or two in there. I imagine an English don would have had a fairly conventional sort of fountain pen?

 

Not sure this helps but hope you find the answer somewhere

[Rufus]

Perhaps it was one of those"precious resin" pens. Sorry chaps, but I couldn't resist.

[mwpannell]

Interesting question and enough to draw this lurker in for my first post, well before my planned "introduction" post.

 

I thought I had remembered reading something along the lines of pen choice but have yet to come up with it. However there are some relative comments in "JRR Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator" that I did easily find that may be of some interest, but they are mainly related to Tolkien and media and calligraphy, speaking more to the Penmanship forum than to Writing Instuments. But anyway, the authors note that Tolkien first learned calligraphy from his mother who wrote in an ornamental style. and later used Edward Johnson's "Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering". They also discuss that he wrote in a variety of hands in his "Father Christmas letters" to his children and that he invented calligraphic styles, some of which obviously appeared in his books and certainly in his notes.

 

To quote a couple of fun passages:

 

"But he [Tolkien] knew the beauty of a page fully written in tengwar, and a few times wrote formal manuscripts of his verse in that alphabet alone. By varying the width of the pen nib, he varied the effect of his Elvish calligraphy: now like a fine copperplate script, now like Black Letter."

 

And (some of you will need to cover your ears for this one),

 

"He was modern also in his tools: in his later years he often used coloured ball-point pens. They were convenient, especialy while he was sitting with his newspaper, and they made an attractive line. [if only he'd have had Noodler's!] But he preferred pencil, coloured pencil, water colour, or coloured inks applied from a bottle when he aimed for very delicate effects."

 

And,

 

"We have described media in order of execution of prominence, and have prefered the more precise term 'coloured pencil' to 'crayon' or (Tolkien's own preference) 'chalk'. 'Ink' refers to both line and wash."

 

I've got my Tolkien fantatic friends and relatives searching out possible pen brands for us, maybe something will turn up. There are some beautiful examples of his calligraphy and noodling in the quoted book. But for now, it's back to lurking for me, I'll "introduce" myself and join the more normal discourse sooner or later.

 

 

 

[FrankB]

Foodwriter, thank you for the link. I went to check it out and ended up frittering away an hour's time. Of course, time spent with J. R. R. is never "frittered" away, but y'all know what I mean.

 

I looked at the FP and there is no way I can begin to identify it.

 

Since J. R. R. was an Anglo-Saxon (language) scholar, I do not doubt that he would be moved to use pen and ink to replicate both runes and Anglo-Saxon script. Writing implements, ink and paper were probably important to all of his circle, and I will bet good money they discussed them. I would have loved to be part of some of those discussions! In a recent thread, someone learned that H. P. Lovecraft would spend hours choosing just the right FP, testing as many as 50 pens in a single afternoon. And the pan HAD to be a black Waterman. I wonder if Tolkein and his compadres had any similar obesssions about FP's?

 

I find this thread interesting. Thank you.

[Inkling]

Thanks, all, for your comments, links and soft jokes

 

Odd that this should be such a mystery. Apparently he didn't even use one pen to write them all :ltcapd:

[mwpannell]

I have more information on Tolkien and at least one of the many pens he used. (Or could this be "the" one pen to write them all :ltcapd: ?)

 

There is a pen of Tolkien's at The Wade Center of Wheaton College, IL. The archivist there has told me a pen researcher recently informed them it was a very common pen holder (nib holder I suppose) but that the nib was an Esterbrook #314 Relief steel nib made in England. Supposedly the nib was favored by left-handers (Tolkien wasn't) because of its stub shape. I've seen other comments that Tolkien got his pens and ink free from his school.

 

Pendemonium.com sells these antique nibs, they have a shot of the nib and box on their site.

 

 

The Wade Center houses materials and research on seven English authors, with Tolkien being one and CS Lewis being the main focus. A pen they have there of his is a Biro, an early ballpoint "wonder pen".

 

And one other thing, my brother has a copy of a book from Tolkien's personal library. It's a German copy of a telling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tolkien wrote an English translation of this tale and my bother's copy is one Tolkien had for source material. Now the cool thing about it is that Tolkien wrote lots of notes and what-not in margins. I've aksed my brother to look over the book for anything that might have been done in ink--just for the fun of it!

 

Hope this helps. I'm not really Tolkien obsessed--I once was--but this topic piqued my interest.

 

Michael

[Inkling]

I have more information on Tolkien and at least one of the many pens he used. (Or could this be "the" one pen to write them all :ltcapd: ?)

 

There is a pen of Tolkien's at The Wade Center of Wheaton College, IL. The archivist there has told me a pen researcher recently informed them it was a very common pen holder (nib holder I suppose) but that the nib was an Esterbrook #314 Relief steel nib made in England. Supposedly the nib was favored by left-handers (Tolkien wasn't) because of its stub shape. I've seen other comments that Tolkien got his pens and ink free from his school.

 

Pendemonium.com sells these antique nibs, they have a shot of the nib and box on their site.

 

 

The Wade Center houses materials and research on seven English authors, with Tolkien being one and CS Lewis being the main focus. A pen they have there of his is a Biro, an early ballpoint "wonder pen".

 

And one other thing, my brother has a copy of a book from Tolkien's personal library. It's a German copy of a telling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tolkien wrote an English translation of this tale and my bother's copy is one Tolkien had for source material. Now the cool thing about it is that Tolkien wrote lots of notes and what-not in margins. I've aksed my brother to look over the book for anything that might have been done in ink--just for the fun of it!

 

Hope this helps. I'm not really Tolkien obsessed--I once was--but this topic piqued my interest.

 

Michael

 

That's fabulous - thanks a lot!

 

I have leafed through Christopher Tolkien's editions of his father's collected papers again, as I have never read them for pen info, and there are some facsimiles of elvish script which C. T. says were done with a dip pen. The stubbed Estie might very well have been the nib used for those.

 

As to the FPN sacrilege of Tolkien using ballpoints, I have found a comment in his published letters that might speak to his favour: "I can't write legibly without a proper table or with a ball-point." So there.

 

[JR Paepke]

Wow, this is a great topic.

[mcorso]

http://brandonvogt.com/wp-content/uploads/23-Tolkien-pen.jpg

[watch_art]

Cool! What a great way to bring up an old thread.

[F104]

As I recall, Tolkien's pens were discussed in Humphrey Carpenter's Tolkien: A Biography. He didn't care for fountain pens; didn't use ball points other than for drawing designs on newspapers already read; but rather did his ink writing with dip pens. I believe there's even a quote from Tolkien's diary in which he reminded himself to pick up nibs when he next did his shopping. I don't think any brand of pens/nibs, either dip or fountain, was mentioned, however.

 

Myself, I'm just glad he put his pen, of whatever type or manufacture, to paper, and gave us such wonderful treasures.

[discopig]

This is a thread from 2007

[F104]

That still has life in it, apparently.

[Shaughn]

That still has life ink in it, apparently.