What About Hicks?

[sidthecat]

I got my hands on a Hicks dip pen recently: a mother-of-pearl with a sliding gold mount. It's got a crack in it so I need to take it to my jeweler. The nib, however, is very nice. It's similar to the nib on my Tiffany pen: semiflex, but producing a graceful line and very pleasant to handle.

I keep forgetting I have three of them. I should ask Mr. Zorn if he's made any progress on my little Cartier.

Anything to keep me from buying another one.

[sidthecat]

Update: I got another one: a somewhat-battered GF ringtop with what looks like a nice little stub nib. It has some interesting decoration on it, and I got it for (relatively) cheap.

We'll see how it cleans up.

[pennooob]

Hello,

 

I just got this pen/ pencil. It has William S. Hicks New York No 4 NIB.

Anyone know anything about this pen/ pencil?

Is the entire thing Hicks or just the NIB?

I don't see any other markings

[sidthecat]

Thats a nice little trinket. I just got a similar one: a Fairchild mark on the extender; a John Hall nib. It may have once held a pencil but no longer, so yours has all the bits.

 

Im going to suggest that while the nib is Hicks, the pen itself is probably not. Hicks sold nibs to many fine jewelers, so it may have been a product of one of them.

Edited January 1, 2019 by sidthecat

[sidthecat]

Update: I won an auction for a dip pen with a #4 Hicks nib. The dealer had posted a Mabie Todd that ended at the same time; all the attention went there so the Hicks went for a reasonable price. I’ve noticed a steady appreciation of dip pen prices, which seems to happen when I get interested in something.

[AAAndrew]

Update: I won an auction for a dip pen with a #4 Hicks nib. The dealer had posted a Mabie Todd that ended at the same time; all the attention went there so the Hicks went for a reasonable price. I’ve noticed a steady appreciation of dip pen prices, which seems to happen when I get interested in something.

 

Ain't it the truth. 'course maybe I should have shut my yap about how great steel dip pens are.

[sidthecat]

No lie...I paid an unconscionable amount of money for a Gillot Tit Quill, which sounds like a punchline but was Edward Gorey's favorite nib. I had to have one just on principle.

[sidthecat]

Update:

Edward Gorey was more than a noted and flagrant eccentric...now that I see the tool he used for those densely-hatched backgrounds I'm convinced he was (as they say in Texas) "brown-bat crazy". The Tit Quill is a nib that makes a Crow Quill look like The Incredible Calligraphic Hulk. It's maybe 3/4 of an inch long, with a short and delicate business end. Here's what they look like:

I don't even have a holder small enough to accept it: not even a #1.

Edited February 12, 2019 by sidthecat

[AAAndrew]

Is it a barrel end like a crow quill, just smaller?

 

If it is, I think I might have an equivalent. It's a Blanzy Poure Plume Lilliput, No. 320. It came on its own tiny wooden handle about the width of a fat toothpick. It's about 1/3 the size of a standard crow quill. I tried to see if I could take it off of the handle, but it seems like it doesn't want to come off.

 

With a barrel pen, sometimes drilling a hole in the end of a wooden dowel can hold the nib in if it's just slightly too small.

Edited February 13, 2019 by AAAndrew

[sidthecat]

I was thinking along the lines of a long cotton swab, but that is only a partial solution.

I dont suppose the Blanzy Poure Plume Lilliput, No. 320 is much more available than the Tit Quill?

Edited February 13, 2019 by sidthecat

[AAAndrew]

They're selling for 2 euros each at http://shop.kallipos.de/en/produkte/drawing-nibs

[sidthecat]

We'll have a look-see.

[Nyoko]

Does anyone know anything more about this particular Hicks pen? Nib is marked "W.S. Hicks - 14k - Sons" on the nib. No other markings on the body except "Sterling" The bulb filler functions well with new bulb installed (just a short end of an ink sack), and it's a great writer.

 

It's a "vest-pocket" size pen, about the length of modern Kaweco Sport but thinner. If not for the nib engraving, I wouldn't have been able to identify this pen at all. I'm guessing it's from the 1920's. I am wondering if it was made for Tiffany's as some Hick's pens were.

 

 

 

 

[sidthecat]

The specifics escape me, but I know a treasure when I see one.

[sidthecat]

AAAndrew,

I found the mantrap you recommended to me and ordered a sufficiency of esoteric pen-gear. Looks like fun.

 

And I nabbed another Hicks ringtop! People on eBay don’t know Hicks from Adam.

[AAAndrew]

Always glad to further the obsession hobby.

 

The problem with sharing your new-found, until-now-unknown, great findings is that now it's known.

[sidthecat]

Perhaps if more eBay shoppers hung out on this forum I wouldn’t get a Hicks pen for the starting bid. I shouldn’t sound disappointed. It’s similar to how a certain pen named after a mountain gets people excited while other pens of equal-or-better quality are ignored.

[sidthecat]

Heres the new arrival: an unusual all-Hicks eyedropper. The lettering is partly effaced but it reads: W.S. HICKS NEW YORK and 18 CT. PLATE with a lovely little monogram Ive never seen before. Its very flexible but needs a bit of TLC. Pictures below:

D

[sidthecat]

Update: I bought a collection of nibs, mostly 14k nails, in order to get my greedy hands on a loose Hicks nib. I haven't had a chance to write with it yet, but it's got some nice flex.

It's the kind of thing that will happen if you spend your days off looking at random lots of nibs on eBay.

The consequence of having no life.

[TinyTim]

Update: I bought a collection of nibs, mostly 14k nails, in order to get my greedy hands on a loose Hicks nib. I haven't had a chance to write with it yet, but it's got some nice flex.

It's the kind of thing that will happen if you spend your days off looking at random lots of nibs on eBay.

The consequence of having no life.

Hi Sidthecat

 

How was the loose nib you got? any more hicks to your collection?