Thomas Jefferson's Fountain Pen

[LuckyKate]

This is probably well known to FPN but new to me, so apologies if I repeat what is well known. I spent the day at Monticello and was entranced by all of Jefferson's cool gadgets. Among the many neat writing instruments he had (a pantograph that made copies and a couple of other copying devices) in the museum I saw a remarkably beautiful fountain pen, which I examined up close. It looks like an eye dropper. I was able to get a good look at it.

 

Here's a picture The pen looks like it was made yesterday, very sleek and shiny.

 

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html

 

 

And here's some correspondence in which he orders the pen:

 

1824 May 13. (Jefferson to Bernard Peyton). "I saw yesterday in the hands of Mr. Dyer, a fountain pen, one of the best I ever saw. He said it was made for him by Mr. Cowan, a watchmaker of Richmond and cost him 5 D. The outer tube was silver, but the two leaves of the pen were gold, and not other metal will resist the corrosion of the ink. Pray get the favor of Mr. Cowan to make such an one for me and add this to the many kind offices you render me, and which entitle you to my affectionate attamt."^[3]

1824 May 16. (Bernard Peyton to Jefferson). "I will have the pen made for you, by Cowan, as requested, immediately, and forwarded by some safe private hand."^[4]

1824 May 20. (Bernard Peyton to Jefferson). "I have procured the fountain Pen you wish, which shall be ford. by the first safe private hand-price $5."^[5]

1824 May 27. (Bernard Peyton to Jefferson). "Your Pencil or rather fountain Pen, forwarded the other day, by Mr. Winn of Charlottesville, to whom I had. dft: in his favor."^[6]

 

I would have thought fountain pens were after Jefferson's time. But according to guide he was an "early adopter." He just adored any kind of new gadget.

Edited May 23, 2015 by LuckyKate

[TradArch]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[PS104]

How about making Tom an honorary member of FPN?

I can't think of a suitable handle right now. Waiting for inspiration.

[georgeb]

The portable writing desk from the linked website looks nice too.

[Bemo]

Wonder what they made the feed out of?

[Tasmith]

Thanks for sharing!

[jar]

Wonder what they made the feed out of?

 

I doubt it had a feed.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I've read of fountain pens being available long before the period we normally associate with them, but this is a fascinating specific example. Thanks for sharing.

 

By the way, going by the site measuringworth.com, $5 in 1824 would be $127 in 2014 going by the consumer price index, which is the comparison I usually use, or $1180 using the unskilled wage, which might be a better indication of how many people could afford it in this case.

[sidthecat]

How's this for a handle?

POTUS03

[Brotzmann]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing.

[corgicoupe]

If you think you'd like to build a reproduction, the plans and instructions are in a book, Building Small Projects, published by Taunton Press. I have built a couple that are much simpler.

 

[LuckyKate]

I'm glad some others think it's neat! I didn't see a feed, but the pen definitely had a reservoir.

 

I doubt it had a feed.

 

 

 

I've read of fountain pens being available long before the period we normally associate with them, but this is a fascinating specific example. Thanks for sharing.

 

By the way, going by the site measuringworth.com, $5 in 1824 would be $127 in 2014 going by the consumer price index, which is the comparison I usually use, or $1180 using the unskilled wage, which might be a better indication of how many people could afford it in this case.

 

Five dollars was worth $1180 in 1824 --that is pretty incredible. I wonder if the pen was auctioned off at the Jefferson estate sale and if so for how much?

 

The shop did sell replicas of the lap desk on which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.

 

 

POTUS03

 

`Such a visionary intelligence, Jefferson was a remarkably effective human being with mind boggling flaws. It's rare that a person's deepest flaws and transcendent vision have the consequences that Jefferson's did. That feedless pen with its futuristic good looks and undeveloped potential says a lot about Jefferson himself.

[jdllizard]

That is seriously cool. Interesting too, that fountain pens of the day were made by watchmakers. Gives an idea of the intricate metal work needed to craft something like that at the time.

 

Add me to the list of people who had no idea fountain pens, other than feather or quill dip pens, even existed back then.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Medsen Fey]

They used to make and sell replicas of this pen. I have a couple. They have no feed. The end of the barrel with the initials unscrews. This opens an ink reservoir that you fill similar to an eyedropper. There is a small hole near the nib that allows ink to come out but only if you give it a gentle shake (preferably with the cap on). It does work. It is a big improvement over quill and inkpot, but is a far cry from the modern fountain pen introduced by Mr. Waterman.

 

For a handle, how about Wahoo1 since being the founder of the University of Virginia was one three accomplishments he wanted on his tombstone.

[spacecoastpenny]

Very nice Thanks for sharing!

[Chef Boyardee]

Thanks for sharing the lap desk info. I would like to make one some day.

[Vintagepens]

Note that the photo in the original post is from the late John Loring's website, and shows not the original Jefferson pen at Monticello, but one of the modern reproductions formerly sold at the Monticello gift shop.

[LuckyKate]

Note that the photo in the original post is from the late John Loring's website, and shows not the original Jefferson pen at Monticello, but one of the modern reproductions formerly sold at the Monticello gift shop.

 

Thanks for this--the replica is indeed photographed from the website of the late John Loring. I just tried to edit that credit info into my post but for some reason my original post won't allow edits.

 

In any case here is a tiny photo--if you scroll down to the bottom of the page--of the original which in person looks very much like the replica.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html

 

There is surprisingly little information about the pen on the web. It would be fun and helpful if someday a vintage expert could arrange to examine the pen, its nib, feed, and filling instrument as well as find out more about the maker of the pen William Cowan.

 

There's a story there waiting to be told, as for the moment the pen is a bit of a mystery, in spite of the replicas (who knows how accurately they reproduce the qualities of the original nib for example or whether Jefferson would have found the pen's nib adequate to his very beautiful font).

[Vintagepens]

I was at Monticello last summer, but hadn't made any arrangements ahead of time. Perhaps this summer I'll see if I can get a closer look. Indeed, there isn't a lot of info online, though the supporting primary source documents are all available. I am particularly interested in the original pen's nib, which is not clearly photographed in any image I've seen. The repro nib is nothing like it -- they just used an obviously modern off the shelf plated nib. There's quite a bit on Jefferson's experiments with metal nibs in the book on his writing machines.

 

There is no filler, nor a feed -- it is a drip/leak system.

[LuckyKate]

I was at Monticello last summer, but hadn't made any arrangements ahead of time. Perhaps this summer I'll see if I can get a closer look. Indeed, there isn't a lot of info online, though the supporting primary source documents are all available. I am particularly interested in the original pen's nib, which is not clearly photographed in any image I've seen. The repro nib is nothing like it -- they just used an obviously modern off the shelf plated nib. There's quite a bit on Jefferson's experiments with metal nibs in the book on his writing machines.

 

There is no filler, nor a feed -- it is a drip/leak system.

That would be fantastic if you could touch (or at least look under a loupe) at the nib.