Chesterton, Lewis, Bonhoeffer, Barfield, Frankl, And Schweitzer

[jniforat]

i've always wanted to know what pen G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Viktor Frankl, Albert Schweitzer, and Owen Barfield used, as these men have been extremely influential concerning my intellectual pursuits.

 

if anyone can help me out, that would be amazing. i know it's a long list, but i'm hoping that having this as a topic, and with all the members on FPN, some might know.

 

 

 

also, the Wade Center at Wheaton College, i believe, only has a ballpoint pen Lewis used toward the end of his life (death: 1963 -- same day as A. Huxley and Kennedy!). i'm not sure they have any pen Barfield used early in his life at the Wade Center.

 

Also, in my profile picture, is Lewis writing with what must be a fountain pen (i think this is pre-1950 shot).

[Inkling]

I'm pretty sure I've seen images of Lewis with what looks like an eyedropper in BHR, possibly a Mabie Todd?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Chesterton remained a dip-pen user until his death - I have only seen photos of him using dip pens, and never FPs. And I suppose those kinds of habits may tend to stick with you once you've acquired them. A truly great man, thought, FP-user or not!

[jniforat]

hey, thanks! it would be interesting to know exactly which lewis used .

 

as for chesterton, dip pens seems very likely. he did a lot of writing before WWI, and of course after, but i'm sure he used dip pens.

 

 

the search goes on!

[welch]

I dont know what pens they used, but you have an impressively exclectic group of influencers.

 

One tip: try to find whoever is editing the collected works of each writer. They are likely to know. For instance, John McDermott told our class that John Dewey used a Remington typewriter.

 

I met Bethge, friend and biographer of Bonhoeffer but that was more than 40 years ago. Whoever cares for DB's papers might well know what kind of pen he used.

 

On Chesterton and dip pens, I'd bet a penny or so that he "upgraded" to a fountain pen. Lewis's stepson might know how he wrote...or contact Lewis's biographer. Same with Frankl. Who has possesion of his papers? A fountain pen might have been mentioned in a will...considering that a good FP was somewhat like a PC. The word-processor of its day, along with the wood-cased pencil. (Not that you asked, but Henry Petroski mentions that John Steinbeck liked the Eberhard-Faber Blackwing pencil: "H;af the pressure, twice the speed")

[jniforat]

that's a superb idea. hopefully, some other members might know, but i'll look into that after the first of the year.

[Russ]

For Frankl, contact the Viktor Frankl Institute in Texas. I'm not sure if the site is very active, but its leader was very close to VF and can certainly tell you about his writing habitis; they had numerous personal visits over the years.

[jniforat]

great idea -- i'll get on that.

 

i suppose for barfiels / lewis, i could contact the Lewis Society in England and Douglas and Walter Hooper (if he's still around).

[SwipedFromTruman]

I know this is an old post, but I reached out to Bonhoeffer Haus. And although his study remains ostensibly untouched, they do not have any pens that they could confirm were his. Eric Metaxas, author of a recent biography on Bonhoeffer, has returned a brief message on my inquiry and will sift through some notes to see if there was anything specifically mentioned. Ill kindly provide an update if I receive one.

[sidthecat]

Manuscripts would probably answer the general question of ‘what kind of pen’, but it’s a different question than: ‘what specific pen has absorbed the author’s juju?’

[Quexoyn]

From what I've found, CS Lewis only used a fountain pen during his university years at Oxford, and went back to dip pens until he died.