The Esterbrook Project - A Good Update

[AAAndrew]

I've posted a full announcement over on the main forum but thought I'd also alert y'all that I have finally published the new (and hopefully improved) site for The Esterbrook Project. 

 

https://theesterbrookproject.com/

 

The site was begun over 10 years ago by Phil Pursley, and artist and graphic designer. It quickly grew into the largest repository of information on the dip pens of Esterbrook anywhere. Phil had originally hand-crafted the site using whatever information he ran across or was given. While he did a fantastic job, the site needed some work, and had become unstable of late. I have been working on this project for the last couple of years, much of that gathering the various catalogs, advertisements, photographs, etc... to create a more complete database of information on each nib. The nib sheets now contain images of many nibs that were missing photos in the old site. Some are photos, and many are from the various sources I have gathered together. 

 

With the recent increase in instability, I have expedited my creation of the new site and went instead for functional first, and complete second. I have included all of the nib pages, but a little less than 2/3 are just in DRAFT form. This means that I have included any images and/or basic information I could include quickly. These pages are clearly marked DRAFT but will be improved over time. In total, there are currently 340 nib pages, of which about 130 are absolutely complete with all of the information. 

 

I have also included additional information including adding my two-part history of the Esterbrooks and their company through the dip pen era. This originally appeared in The Pennant, the magazine of the Pen Collectors of America, back in 2023. 

 

So, enjoy!

 

Andrew

[Estycollector]

I am sure I speak for everyone, thank you, Andrew. Perhaps your work can be moved to a top position on this forum. 

[AAAndrew]

I've added a page that may be useful to some. It's a page where you can look up a pen by their name. 

 

https://theesterbrookproject.com/esterbrook-nib-lists/look-up-by-name/

 

Where this gets useful is if, for example, you're wondering which pens were marketed as "School" pens? Or you may know the secret that any pen with "College" in the name is generally a nicely flexible pen and you want to see what numbers have been called College pens at some time in their life. Not all pens kept the same name over the years. The Vertical Writers, Natural Slant and Modified Slant pens, for example, were originally marketed, and named, for penmanship systems that went in and out of favor. These were often later marketed as just "School" pens, e.g. "School Medium Firm." 

 

This is also useful if you remember a name, like The Poet's Pen, but can't remember the number, this will help you out. (it's #1892, if you're curious)

 

Some pens are also better known by their name, like the Relief Pen, which Esterbrook used as the name for their popular gold-nibbed fountain pen. You can now look it up and see it's a #314, and see what the original dip pen looked like. 

 

If people would find it useful, and the moderators would want to pin something at the top, I'd be happy to post updates to the Esterbrook Project in a single thread so that they don't get lost in the shuffle of the forum. That's up to the moderators. Just let me know and I'd be happy to create an Esterbrook Project Updates post to be pinned.

 

Cheers, and happy Esterbrooking!

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

This is great. Thanks!

[AAAndrew]

An additional Update. A new nib number has been found in the wild and added to The Esterbrook Project. A private collector was sorting through a big assorted batch and came across a #101 School Pen and she sent a couple of photos. This is not a number found in any list or catalog, and I've never encountered a photo of one either. But I now have two photos. 

 

 

 

 

There are a couple of interesting things to notice about this pen besides its unusual number. One is the high grind that seems to go up past the pierce. It's a pretty aggressive grind and higher than normally found. The second is the curved imprint. These curved imprints have, to date, only been seen on early pens from the 1870s and 80s. Such as the very early National Series Pens: 

 

 

 

This later one, the 303 dates to pre-1872 when Gillott successfully sued Esterbrook who had to change the 303 to the 333. 

 

 

Or this 86 from an 1874 Salesman Sample book. 

 

 

 

While neither of these are proof, they are fairly strong indications that this is an early pen. An finding an unknown number is always an exciting prospect. 

 

The aggressive grind, and the fact that it's only a single grind (only across the median line of the pen, not parallel to it as you see in the other double-grind older pens above) may indicate it was a lower-quality pen for school use. A quick swipe across the pen was sufficient for students. Again, just a guess. 

 

Feel free to contact me either through here, or the Contact Me page on the Esterbrook Project website should you find an interesting Esterbrook dip pen. 

 

[Estycollector]

Wow! Thank you @AAAndrew