The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[Opooh]

@fpupulin The Faber Castel TK 9400 anniversary edition 50 years in 925 solid silver is a nice addition to the perfect pencil. Where the latter only has B hardness, the TK can be filled with mines from 6H to 6B

[fpupulin]

Wow, @Opooh, pretty expensive but gorgeous tool nonetheless! I had never saw it before.

[fpupulin]

Another page from the "Notebook of the Alphabets" and another example of English cursive, with its peculiarities.

 

 

A relatively simple model, quite true to the original English cursive.

[fpupulin]

Here's a photo of another English cursive alphabet from my "Notebook", very similar to the one I showed in the previous photo. This one, too, is a relatively simple Copperplate and likely close to the original version of this style, originally created for engraving.

 

It's interesting to see practically the same alphabet, but originally written by a different hand (here, the hand is obviously mine). It's interesting to see how small variations in some letters, or even just some of the details of the letters, can make a difference.

 

 

Okay, okay... these are the pages of the Montblanc 149 Calligraphy flexible pen, and the alphabet in the "Notebook" (and its proof) was written with the Omas Lucens nib from an Omas Ogiva Arco.

To demonstrate that the same can be done with the darling of these pages, I wrote it again with the 149:

 

[fpupulin]

This was shot hand held with a Nikkor 50 mm f/2.8, one of the humblest lenses out there, fully open.

 

"The future of photography is not better cameras".

 

 

[Opooh]

Amazing picture of amazing letters, much bokeh for f 2.8. Full frame and distance under 0,5 meter?

[Christopher Godfrey]

Letters?  Letters?!  Those look like "lellers" to my old eyes!  Franco, I can detect <no> cross hatches on your central Ts, sir!

 

Maybe it <is> my eyes...?

 

PS: It is hardly worth my time to pay compliments to His Lordship the Calligrapher, for we all know how beautifull is his writing, don't we?  😀

[fpupulin]

Good, good eye, @Opooh! I wrote wrong, the 50 mm is the old, classic, cheap Nikkor f/1.8 (not f/2.8), here used fully open. It is a bit wide-angle (and vignetting) on the larger MF sensor.

 

@Christopher Godfrey, I’m taking you seriously… Cross-hatching the “t” may be substituted by a wave line OVER the vertical, even in everyday writing. It was a common feature of Spencerian, and it confers handwriting some “lightness” and movement, like a dance on the paper. I clearly read “letters”, but it may be I am just used to the change.

[Vintage_BE]

On 11/24/2025 at 2:07 PM, fpupulin said:

Good, good eye, @Opooh! I wrote wrong, the 50 mm is the old, classic, cheap Nikkor f/1.8 (not f/2.8), here used fully open. It is a bit wide-angle (and vignetting) on the larger MF sensor.

 

@Christopher Godfrey, I’m taking you seriously… Cross-hatching the “t” may be substituted by a wave line OVER the vertical, even in everyday writing. It was a common feature of Spencerian, and it confers handwriting some “lightness” and movement, like a dance on the paper. I clearly read “letters”, but it may be I am just used to the change.

I agree with @fpupulin. The cross-stroke flourish continues to be used today in American cursive script.

[Christopher Godfrey]

<...The cross-stroke flourish continues to be used today in American cursive script>

 

@fpupulin and@Vintage_BE: thanks, both -- I never knew that; but then I have never studied calligraphy at all and neither is it generally <taught> in British schools -- or wasn't when I was a lad!  🙂

 

Franco: you saw my earlier comment about the Ibis?  (I have the small model (1937, I think) and it has the <most> flexible nib!)

[fpupulin]

@Christopher Godfrey, I haven't been able to find a post of yours specifically referring to the Pelikan Ibis, but
the mention of this pen strikes a particularly interesting chord for me. I own an Ibis from the 1950s or early 1960s, with a medium oblique steel nib. It writes beautifully, with a good amount of flexibility, a generous and perfectly continuous flow, a reservoir that holds plenty of ink, a convenient window to check the level, and a simple, clean, understated design that I greatly appreciate.

 

What makes this pen even more special to me is the fact that so much perfection has been achieved for a simple, humble school pen! Now that so many manufacturers are fitting their expensive pens with pseudo-flexible nibs that are honestly pitiful, the Ibis represents a perfect example of how to make an excellent, unpretentious pen that writes perfectly. It's a pen that should be used as a benchmark for those who pretend to sell far worse products at ten times the price...

[Nick T]

On 11/26/2025 at 2:21 PM, Vintage_BE said:

I agree with @fpupulin. The cross-stroke flourish continues to be used today in American cursive script.

@Vintage_BE do you know what this ink is? It’s gorgeous!

[Christopher Godfrey]

@fpupulin: Franco, my mistake: the Ibis reference was in the thread <Can a bespoke Montblanc pen fix my horrible handwriting?>, page 3, in which I quoted a childhood game "I spy with my little eye..."  And in that case it was "something beginning with the letter I", meaning...Ibis!  ;^)

[Vintage_BE]

On 11/28/2025 at 8:33 PM, Nick T said:

@Vintage_BE do you know what this ink is? It’s gorgeous!

Homemade walnut ink (from walnut husks).

[Nick T]

51 minutes ago, Vintage_BE said:

Homemade walnut ink (from walnut husks).

@Vintage_BE That’s nuts. Couldn’t resist…. 
You made this ink? Is there a recipe with directions published?

[fpupulin]

On 11/26/2025 at 1:21 PM, Vintage_BE said:

I agree with @fpupulin. The cross-stroke flourish continues to be used today in American cursive script.

 

The single word of your text is written in the most exquisite American cursive!

[nm4]

On 11/3/2025 at 4:49 PM, fpupulin said:

Another page from the "Notebook of the Alphabets" and another example of English cursive, with its peculiarities.

 

 

A relatively simple model, quite true to the original English cursive.

Love the Aqua Terra - the blued hands and indices are lovely.  You, sir, are a man of immaculate taste and great talent.

 

N

[Vintage_BE]

22 hours ago, Nick T said:

@Vintage_BE That’s nuts. Couldn’t resist…. 
You made this ink? Is there a recipe with directions published?

Simply google “home made walnut ink recipe” and you’ll see 10+ posts. The recipe is simple, but don’t believe that it’s as easy as some posts pretend to end up with ink that’s sufficiently dark (and not too runny). Trial and error. As with handwriting practice, enjoy the process.  

[Vintage_BE]

3 minutes ago, Vintage_BE said:

Simply google “home made walnut ink recipe” and you’ll see 10+ posts. The recipe is simple, but don’t believe that it’s as easy as some posts pretend to end up with ink that’s sufficiently dark (and not too runny). Trial and error. As with handwriting practice, enjoy the process.  

And on this forum: 

 

[Nick T]

@Vintage_BE thank you so much for the link! I am intrigued by the process and will give this a go. Cheers!